Announcement Earn $40 by participate in online survey! Qualification: –African American & Latino/Hispanic, age 18 or older eligible to participate. –Access to computer with Internet Call:

Gender & Body Dr. Sanchez

Class Outline Body image –The role of media –Self-objectification –Mental Health and Interpersonal Cost Gender Differences/Similarities –Assertiveness –Interdependent Self-Construal –Math performance

The role of the media Product and Producer Unrealistic images of beauty for men and women Underrepresentation of women of color Overrepresentation of women as “parts”

Unrealistic Body Images The ideal female body is unattainable, unrealistic, and dangerous Men are coming under increased pressure to obtain muscular, lean ideals (25 years) Naked male image is more frequent in the last decade “Metrosexual” Still, this new emphasis on male image is not equivalent to women’s.

Images of Women of Color (Baker, 2005; Coltrane & Messaneo, 2000) Tokenism Under Representation Bias –Under 10% of mainstream TV ads include people of color Subtle Racism –Inconsequential –Subservient to White Sexual images

Women as “Parts” Pervasive tendency to depict women’s bodies more than their faces Faceism = index of facial prominence Lowest Faceism Index: Black Women

Video Clip Faceism Clip

Self-Objectification Living in a culture that sexually objectified women more than men Women learn to view themselves as objects Objectification = tendency to regard one’s physical self primarily in terms of appearance and to adopt an observer’s perspective on the physical self Mental Health and Interpersonal Costs

Self-Objectification Questionnaire NSTRUCTIONS: We are interested in how people think about their bodies. The questions below identify 10 different attributes. We would like you to rank order these body attributes from that which has the greatest impact on your physical self-concept, to that which has the least impact on your physical self-concept. NOTE: It does not matter how you describe yourself in terms of each attribute. For example, fitness level can have a great impact on your physical self-concept regardless of whether you consider yourself to be physically fit, not physically fit, or any level in between. Please first read over all of the attributes. Then, record your rank by writing the letter of the attribute. WHEN CONSIDERING YOUR PHYSICAL SELF-CONCEPT, HOW IMPORTANT IS… 9 = most important and 0 = least important a. physical coordination? f. physical attractiveness? b. health? g. energy level (e.g. stamina)? c. weight? h. firm/sculpted muscles? d. strength? i. physical fitness level? e. sex appeal? j. measurements (e.g.chest, waist, hips)?

SO Score Sum of appearance related traits Sum of competence related traits Subtract competence from appearance related traits Higher numbers = Greater objectification

States of Objectification Cover Story: Consumer Product Evaluation Two conditions: Women and men asked to try on speedo swimsuit or sweater DV: Level of objectification, shame and math performance Measure of SO How many cookies they ate

Swimsuit v. Sweater: Self-Esteem

Swimsuit v. Sweater: Body Concerns

Swimsuit v. Sweater: Body Shame

Swimsuit v. Sweater: Math Performance

Effect of the Swimsuit (non speedo)

That swimsuit becomes you Both men and women in speedos (of various ethnicities) showed: –Lower SE –Higher Body Shame –Worse Math Performance –Greater Self-Objectification –Other outcomes? = Gender Identity, Racial Identity

Gender Differences Main effect for gender: –Women always rated themselves higher on body shame and self-objectification. Different methodologies: –More recent studies show that exposure to idealized images affects body image perceptions of both men and women

Measuring Up- Where does shame come from? Fallon & Rozin (1985) What did they do? –Ratings of average, self, and opposite sex preferences for body size What did they find? –Women thought they were heavier than ideal Men actually prefer heavier than women believe –Men thought they were about the same as ideal Women actually prefer smaller than men think What are the implications?

Mental Health and Interpersonal Correlates Self-objectification links to eating disorder symptoms Self-objectification linked to depression Self-objectification linked to sexual dysfunction and satisfaction

Physiological Disconnect Insensitivity to body sensation Women are less accurate in estimating their heartbeat, blood glucose levels, and stomach contractions than are men. Women’s subjective experience of arousal correlated to a lesser degree with their physiological sexual arousal than men.

Why do we care about appearance? Appearance is often paired with ROMANCE and RELATIONSHIP SUCCESS Women hear that men value appearance over all else! –Single Ads Study

Testing the link Exposed men and women to relationship primes or neutral primes Relationship primes: marriage, romance, relationship, partner Neutral primes: door, house, gate, brick Measured SO

Link between romance and body for Single Women

The romance of self-objectification Single Women primed with relationships self-objectified compared to single women not primed with relationships. What if you are someone who highly values relationships?

Basing SE in Relationships Contingencies of self-worth The extent to which SE is connected to relationship status –Connected to higher body shame –Connected to greater symptoms of disordered eating –Connected to greater mate urgency