Sexual Objectification of Female Bodies in Beauty Pageants, Pornography, and Media

Abstract

Have you ever watched a beauty pageant contest? What about mainstream pornography? These two capitalistic industries continue to enforce the misogynistic view that the female body is to be consumed by the male population. I argue that the societal standards we commonly consider to be the norm affect female embodiment and what it means to be a woman in contemporary society. Beauty standards, gender roles, sexualization, objectification, and the male gaze all point towards this ideology that the female body is to be consumed by men. I argue we need to abandon these societal standards that control female bodies and behaviors in a heteropatriarchal world and advocate freedom from the male gaze for all women.