"Women" in the Media or Sexual Puppets?

There is no question that a woman's body these days is over sexualized more than ever...there is not one magazine out there that isn't telling a woman how to get a "tighter butt" or how to make her boobs look "fuller and firmer." In fact, I find it quite comical that men today proudly state whether they are a "boob or butt" guy.  Sadly, I've had a couple male friends who refuse to date a girl without  large breasts or a perfectly firm "J-Lo" booty...these men are still single, shocker.  

According to Ward, "women more frequently than men are presented

in provocative and revealing clothing" (354). In addition, "In R-rated movies, the

presence of nudity is equally asymmetrical; here, instances of female nudity

are reported to exceed those of male nudity in a 4:1 ratio" (354).  While these observations are not earth shattering, I feel that most women are not 100% okay with feeling victimized as sex objects in the media, right?

While most women might turn up their noses to men's magazines portraying women as "too sexy," I'd ask these women to look at the female-oriented magazines in their homes. For example, in looking at the Cosmo magazine cover pictured above, what do you notice? I notice Ashley Greene in a sexually suggestive position with her boobs very visible So, while some women highly disapprove of men's magazines that picture women posing in "naughty" ways in minimal clothing, how is this women's magazine any different?

Take a Look at Kim Kardashian's Cosmo Cover Shoot and tell me this isn't over-sexualized?

• This leads me to my main point: women's magazines objectify women's bodies as much as men's magazines do.  

An article from the Atlantic states as follows:

"One curious thing about popular culture is that men's magazines and women's magazines often follow the same general formula. Men's magazines are mostly based around heavily eroticized images of women. And women's magazines are also based around heavily eroticized images of women." 

When you take a moment to think about this, it's actually a bit embarassing that we, as women, don't approve of being objectified in men's magazine among other media formats, while women in our own magazines we love, are actually being just as objectified.

This finding does come at a bit of a surprise to me, I wonder if this will ever change in the near future? For example, will women readers ever recognize that they are subscribing to a dose of monthly objectification of women's bodies just as men subscribe to their monthly dose?

While the answer to this question will unfold in the near future...ask yourself to what extent are you objectifying women?