Objectification Theory
- provides a framework for understanding the array of psychological experiences that appear to be uniquely female
- formulates a life-course analysis of some womens' mental health risks
- organizes existing empirical data regarding womens' lives
- offers specific predictions to guide future empirical work
- women adopt an observers perspective on their physical self
- attractiveness functions as a prime currency for women's social and economic success
- physical beauty = power - if i am thin/pretty/sexy, i will achieve
Shame
- exposed constantly to images of youth, slimness and whiteness
- comparison that a woman makes between herself and the ideal
- ongoing efforts to change body and appearance through diet, exercise, fashion, surgery, eating disorders - reveal a body based shame
- body correction is motivated by shame, this elevates the task of meeting societal standards of beauty to a moral obligation - obliged to change
- shame that is recurrent, difficult to alleviate and constructed as a manor of morality
Anxiety
- experienced when people anticipate danger or threats to self - threats are ambiguous, as a pose to fear
- appearance anxiety and safety anxiety
- not knowing when/how a body will be looked at and evaluated
- roots in early-life social experiences - negative body comments
- manifests in checking and adjusting ones appearance
- fused with concerns about safety - some men who rape see attractive women as a threat to their power
- "asking for it" - refers to appearance
- more attractive rape victims are assigned more blame
- sexual objectification is a component of sexual violence
- continuous stream of anxiety provoking experiences
Peak Motivational States
- activities interrupted when others call attention to their appearance/body functions
- become more infused with direct overtones of heterosexuality - appearance, weight, breast development
- lose self-consciousness in order to achieve flow
- womens internalisation of an observers perspective on their bodies by definition creates a form of self-consciousness
Awareness of Internal Bodily States
- habits of restrained eaters may lead to a generalised insensitivity to internal bodily cues - hunger etc
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