Intimidated For All The Wrong Reasons?

Last week, Halloween costumes were a popular topic amongst bloggers. A lot of points were brought up about how, as girls get older, dressing more promiscuously on Halloween becomes more normalized. Sam discussed in her post from a few weeks ago that as promiscuous costumes become the norm, the idea that women should objectify themselves in order to get the attention of men also gets perpetuated through society as a norm. Maura took this point one step further in her post about the Walmart Halloween costume scandal. She related the costume scandal to some concepts in the Taylor reading. First, Maura discussed how these ads for Walmart Halloween costumes, which sexually objectify women’s bodies, might be detrimental to the way women view their body image. Maura then noted that men are also affected by that the way the ideal male body image is portrayed in the media can affect how concerned men are with their own muscularity and fitness (Taylor, 2008). She asked readers to consider if the roles were flipped and men were shown in these ads, how might the ads differ in relation to body image? This idea of men comparing themselves to women in Ads for Halloween costumes really got me thinking. Especially in regards to the costume ad seen below which was featured on Amazon. The costume is titled “Delicious Women’s Phd Darling Sexy Costume” and needless to say, it was not well received amongst women with PhDs.

I came across a blog that highlighted some of the best reviews on Amazon.com of this costume by women who have earned their PhDs. Their comments really resonate with some of the major themes we have been talking about in class and have seen referenced in our readings. On a general scale, all the women’s comments about this costume addressed the issue that this costume completely throws all the hard work they have put in to earn a PhD out the window. One user sates, “I’m sexy! Forget the 7 years I spent sweating out a dissertation and engaging in innovative research! SEXY!!!!” (Champion, 2014). This comment and many comments just like it indicate that this costume reinforces the idea that instead of being praised for their hard work and intelligence, women are objectified and judged primarily only in relation to their sexual conduct (Kim et al., 2007). But what happens if men are only encouraged to define women in regards to their sexuality rather than their intelligence or accomplishments?

These sexual scripts that perpetuate the idea that men need to only consider women in terms of their sexuality have become the norm in our society. And it is interesting to note that they have negative effects on men and women. In the Aubrey and Taylor reading, it was brought to our attention that men who are exposed to Lad magazines, or magazines that feature sexually suggestive images of women, reported higher levels of appearance anxiety and appearance related motivations for exercise (Aubrey & Taylor, 2009). These men were feeling self conscious because they believe that they can only romantically successful with these women if they conform to an idealized appearance standard (Aubrey & Taylor, 2009). So what would happen if men were exposed to accomplishments women have made? Or the intelligence that they have put forth by doing research and working towards a dissertation? What if women were praised for, “…earning 4 degrees in 10 years with 96 more academic credits than [were] needed to graduate with a PhD in clinical psychology with a specialization in neuropsychology while raising a child, running a home AND working…” (Champion, 2014)? Would men still feel self-conscious by comparison? Would they feel that they don’t add up in terms of success if the comparison was focused on education and accomplishments rather than on sexuality or body image? I think interesting on this type of comparison where my complex and dynamic elements of a woman’s being, like her academic and professional success, would be interesting and very enlightening and refreshing for women everywhere.

Aubrey, J. S., & Taylor, L. D. (2009). The role of lad magazines in priming men’s chronic and temporary appearance-related schemata: An investigation of longitudinal and experimental findings. Human Communication Research.

Champion, Matthew. (2014, November 1). Women with actual PHds review ‘sexy PhD costume’ on Amazon. Retrieved from http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/women-with-actual-phds-review-sexy-phd-costume-on-amazon--gJPL-5W-De

Kim, J. L., et al. (2007). From sex to sexuality: Exposing the heterosexual script on primetime network television. Journal of Sex Research.