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Gregor Etaryan
John Kubler
English 114B
8 May 2014
The Empowerment of Sexualization
During the 1800s, it was very scandalous for a women to be showing their ankle in
public and when looking over the years everyone can see that the way women dress today is way
more provocative then it was back in the days. If someone was only showing their ankle in
todays society people would call them old fashioned or weird just because they were not dressed
the way other people in society dress. The roles of women have changed and the amount of skin
they show definitely defines the type of empowerment they are trying to portray to the society.
Sexualizations have become a form of power used strategically by women to woe and subdue
men.Who knows how far society will go with the way women dress over the years to come.
The biggest issue that has caused this sex craved society is the media. Media has
portrayed women as more sexual entities, rather than the strong and independent beings they
truly are. In the article The Evolution of Bitchiness by Olga Khazan- a wirter at The
Atlantic- she quotes from another research article that evidence favors the view that women
have worked to stifle each others sexuality because sex is a limited resource that women use to
negotiate with men, and scarcity gives women an advantage (Khazan 1). The reason behind the
fact that women use their sexuality to entice men and even entice other women is all due to the
fact that media portrays a certain image in societys mindset and people are brainwashed by the
fact that, that is the way they should look and be. The media portrays models as beautiful, tall,
and skinny and if that is all that both women and men are seeing that is what the men are going
to be attracted too and that is what women are going to want to look like, because men are
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attracted to that look. Personally, I believe the reason behind the manipulation is due to one singe
fact- it works! In our technologically advanced era even women are threatened by, [other]
women who appear and/or act promiscuous (Khazan 1). Media has set a standard (stereotypical)
basis as to what the ideal (perfect) women should be. Through time society has dwelled on this
idea and adapted to this standard as basis.
The influence that media has on both women and men is phenomenal. Back when I was
growing up, sexuality was not as provocative as it is today and although many women today still
follow the traditional format at what has been passed down as proper, even that is dying out.
This is definitely affecting the younger generation today, because I have seen little girls dancing
like they are at a club when they are only 10 years old (i.e. Giggles and hugs Child day camp).
The twerking sensation has taken over and many kids are caught twerking nowadays and that
really got me to wondering as to what is going to happen to this younger generation when they
get older and what will become of humanity. For instance the video that Miley Cyrus created-
Wrecking Ball- really showed a complete different side to her. Many people knew her as the
innocent Hannah Montana, the sweet little girl from Disney channel and now she is fully naked
in the music video. What type of a message is she portraying to the younger generation, because
many people follow up with her and are influenced by her. They see what she is doing and little
girls believe that its ok to be naked in front of people. Shows like Jerry Springer or Jersey
Shore just show a certain image of both women and men and so many in the younger generation
are influenced by these people and start to believe that, this is the new norm, a life of partying,
drinking and hooking up. It is very empowering over women. This also impacts men too,
because they see women as objects.
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Men know when a girl is portraying themselves more sexually in order to attract attention
to themselves. Women know that they have the power to do that and control men with their looks
and men get drugged to it in a way and will do unreasonable things in order to be with that
women. It amazes me the power women can have over men and I say this off of personal intrigue
in women due to the way I have (unfortunately) been manipulated by media.
The way women even express sexuality as a causally daily occurrence also surprises me.
In the novel Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi, Marjis friend Julie states, Oh, youre the pure,
timid, innocent virgin who does her homework. Im not like that. Ive been having sex for five
years (Satrapi 28). In a way Julie is making fun of Marji, because she is still a virgin and
doesnt have sex like most of her friends do. Unlike Marji, Julie grew up in an Anglo American
society where being provocative and showing ones sexuality was a normal thing while on the
other hand Marji was raised with cultural views. Her views of being all covered up and only
being with one man the rest of her life. Marji ended up being engulfed in the western civilization
so much that she was slowly changing her ways. She even managed to deny [her] nationality
because she wanted to fit in with society so bad and didnt want to be different then the people
around her (Satrapi 41). That goes to show how much of an impact media has on society and
how society impacts the people around them in order to assimilate into their ways of living a
normal life style. Marji began to change not only her life style, but her looks as well and she
began starting to date and wanting to have sex so she wouldnt be labeled as a virgin anymore.
Western society is so harmful that it made this woman want to lose her virginity- when she knew
it was wrong to do until marriage- in order to be able to fit in society.
Since media and society have portrayed such a bad image of women it affects the men
in a way that it shows them that women are sexual objects. There have been times where I
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personally see women only as sexual objects; this rude fact is due to their portrayal in that type
of manner. When I go to a house party or to a club I dont go to find the love of my life; I go to
have fun and meet women and I see these women sexually and so do all the other men there.
Society has embedded that image in our head and both men and women live up to it, because
they see that as the normal thing to do. When going out to a party, every woman that goes
through the door is dressed provocatively and most are looking for a male to hook up with,
whether its just to dance or to go all the way.
In the YouTube video clip Medias Impact on Sexualization it states that, media and
technology are delivering content that is shaping our society. The way technology has
flourished over the years gives people a new outlet for reaching and connecting to people and
that creates more connection to the media which brainwashes the mind into thinking and acting
certain ways. There is an app called Skout, this connects you with people in your area and you
get to post statuses and pictures and talk to people. On this app all you see people doing is
desperately trying to get at one another and it is mainly men trying to get women. The women on
this app- not all of them- post pictures of themselves half naked and statuses of wanting to party
and go out and have fun, this combined with their sexual statuses. Now how can that not change
the way men and women act in society when people act like this in real life. People might say
that if a person is raised right then their morality will take over and they would not become
totally brainwashed by society.
In todays generation both men and women use each other as sexual objects and it is
obviously depicted every day in society. Media portrays a certain image to everyone and society
is engulfed by the media in todays time especially due to all the technology so it is most likely
that society as we know it has become sex craved. Many men see women as sexual objects and,
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because women know that they have the power to control men with their sexuality; they do. The
empowerment over sexuality is staggering, the rise as the years go on is infinite and no one really
knows how the next generation will truly react to this. Sexuality has become part of our daily
lives, but it is how one defines it in their own ways that shapes them.





















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Works Cited
Khazan, Olga. "The Evolution of Bitchiness." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 20 Nov.
2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.
The Media's Manipulative Influence over Your Morals. Dir. Jeniffer Newsom. Perf. Marissa
Mayer. Miss Interpretation, 2011. Youtube.
Wrecking Ball. Dir. Terry Richardson. Perf. Miley Cyrus. Sony Music Entertainment, 2013.
Youtube.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return. New York: Pantheon, 2004. Print.