• Comment
• Print Article
• Email
• Permalink

Psychologists Warn Against Sexualization of Girls in Media and Advertising

Written on

Feb 20, 2007 

Author

Sarah Novotny  |

Share

Psychologists Warn Against Sexualization of Girls in Media and Advertising

Too many sexualized images of girls and young women in media and advertising hurts their self-image and development, says a study released by the American Psychological Association (APA).

According to the APA, sexualization occurs when a person’s value comes only from their sexual appeal, behavior, or appearance. The report combines psychological research, theory and clinical examples. The organization also examines advertising campaigns and merchandising that targets young girls, showing that such objectification can lead to social and cognitive impairment.

“We have ample evidence to conclude that sexualization has negative effects in a variety of domains, including cognitive functioning, physical and mental health, and healthy sexual development,” said Eileen L. Zurbriggen, PhD, the chair of the APA’s special task force in a statement.

According to the APA’s research, this kind of sexualization can lead to emotional and self-image problems among young girls, mental and physical problems such as eating disorders and depression, and a reduced ability to develop a healthy sexuality.

The report points out the prevalence of sexual imagery in every form of media from music to video games, and says that the proliferation of those types of images is increasing, most likely due to the growing reach of new media sources like the Internet.

“As a society, we need to replace all of these sexualized images with ones showing girls in positive settings—ones that show the uniqueness and competence of girls,” added Dr. Zurbriggen.

The APA also finds that women, more often than men, are objectified and display an unrealistic standard of sexuality and physical beauty.

The APA formed a special Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls after hearing concerns from child advocacy groups, parents and journalists to address this particular issue.

Tags: case_study and females

• Comment
• Print Article
• Email
• Permalink

Article Sponsor

More News

• Covario Issues Annual Client Awards for SEO/SEM Success
• BlueKai Report Explains DMPs to Publishers
• Funding in Brief: $10M for Spongecell, $8M for Prolexic
• Google AdMob Axes Minimum Bids, Targeting Fees
• Infographic: HootSuite Analyses Social Media Impact of Super Bowl Ads

• Right now, at the beginning of 2012, what are you watching the most closely for its ad and marketing opportunities?

  • Mobile. Smart devices have become standard, and advertising is only going to become more creative there.
  • Online video. It's a real competitor to TV now, and it presents really interesting ways to engage viewers.
  • Social media. The new Facebook timeline and the surge of Google+ have cracked the game wide open again.
  • Tempting as it might be, I don't want to get too involved in one aspect.
  • See, I think this might be a good time to see what would happen if we revisited MySpace, but made the ads slightly bigger... with more strobe effect.

  View Results

   Loading ...

• Polls Archive

Latest News

• Covario Issues Annual Client Awards for SEO/SEM Success February 10th 2012 ADOTAS - Search engine marketing/SEO services provider Covario issued the [...] more »
• BlueKai Report Explains DMPs to Publishers February 10th 2012 ADOTAS - BlueKai released a report this week on the [...] more »
• Funding in Brief: $10M for Spongecell, $8M for Prolexic February 9th 2012 ADOTAS – Rich media ad company Spongecell has raised $10 million [...] more »
• Google AdMob Axes Minimum Bids, Targeting Fees February 9th 2012 ADOTAS - As of Feb. 15, Google will change its [...] more »
• Infographic: HootSuite Analyses Social Media Impact of Super Bowl Ads February 7th 2012 ADOTAS - So, it’s the Tuesday after the Super Bowl, [...] more »
• Facebook to Serve Mobile Ads in Coming Weeks February 6th 2012 ADOTAS – According to a Financial Times report, Facebook will [...] more »
• Survey: 39 Percent of Mobile Users Responded to Super Bowl Ads Via Mobile February 6th 2012 ADOTAS - During the Super Bowl yesterday, mobile ad network [...] more »

News Archive

Features

• Infographic: The Online Ad Industry Is Like the Stock Market February 10th 2012
• Mobile Search: More Intent, More SMB Opportunity February 10th 2012
• BlueKai Report Explains DMPs to Publishers February 10th 2012
• Attribution Online: Introducers and Influencers and Closers… Oh My! February 9th 2012
• With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a Name February 9th 2012

Features Archive

Spotlight

Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for MobileADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech firm Sponsormob has remained relevant in an industry characterized by [...] more...

Reader Favorites

Classifieds

• PS Technical Writer - SEO Data Analyst
• Interactive Project Manager
• Media Buyer
• PHP Software Engineer (Facebook Platform/Social AP
• SEO/Marketing Internship at Green Education Startu

Recent Comments

• HootSuite Social Media Management » More Apps, Open API, and the Solution Partner Program ~ News Roundup: [...] mentioned in our HootSuite’s Super Bowl XLVI Social Media Recap, adotas and MediaPost analyzed our
• News about Google Adwords issue #412: [...] ads for AdWords to adCenter and align with industry standards, adCenter has chang
• VB: What exactly makes an ad "high quality"?
• Survey: 39 Percent of Mobile Users Responded to Super Bowl Ads Via Mobile - ADOTAS | Mobile2 | Scoop.it: [...] background-position: 50% 0px; background-color:#222222; background-repeat : no-repeat; }