Objectification is something that we are conscious of in society, but I don’t think we fully grasp the power of it. Within that is self-objectification. I think for my research paper, I want to talk about both objectification as well as self-objectification. Objectification is just the idea that humans, women in particular, are seen as bodies for someone else’s pleasure versus valuable human beings. This is an action done by society to groups of people. Self-objectification, however, is when those groups objectify themselves in that way based on how society views them. Objectification is maintained and perpetuated by self-objectification, and I think that is one of the main things I want to talk about in my paper. I want to show the difference between the two and that self-objectification is just as much of an issue as objectification.

Another part I want to focus on is “fat talk” and “age talk”. These two are very prevalent among women, and they are means of self-objectification. Fat talk is when women make comments about their weight and being dissatisfied with it. These can be as simple as “I need to diet” to “Look at my rolls”. Age talk is when women make comments about them looking aged or older than they are. A lot of these comments deal with things like wrinkles on the woman’s face. These are things that just slip into vocabulary of women, and so I think that is why I really want to focus on these. This will make women more aware of how they are talking to themselves with the hope that this will bring this issue to light.

I have a lot of studies looking at what women really think of themselves and how this can not only affect self-esteem, but also health. It can help cause things like anorexia, depression, bulimia, and sexual dysfunction. I want to focus on both the health aspect and self-esteem aspect, because both are equally important. I think bringing about awareness for them goes hand in hand. Once you start to fix one, the other will follow. I think I also want to talk a little bit about the beauty industry and how self-objectification makes those thrive. I think just the idea that an individual is not alone in this struggle is comforting and would be for women to see. These are just a few of the main points that I hope to touch on in the article on self-objectification for Wikipedia. 

References

Arroyo, A., Segrin, C., & Harwood, J. (2014). Appearance-Related Communication Mediates the Link Between Self-Objectification and Health and Well-Being

Outcomes. Human Communication Research40(4), 463-482. doi:10.1111/hcre.12036

Aubrey, J. S. (2005). Effects of Sexually Objectifying Media on Self-Objectification and Body Surveillance in Undergraduates: Results of Two-Year Panel Study. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 1-34

Aubrey, J. (2008). Looking Good Versus Feeling Good: Effects of Media Frames of Health Advice on Women's State Self-Objectification. Conference Papers -- National Communication Association, 1

Aubrey, J. S., Henson, J. R., Hopper, K. M., & Smith, S. E. (2009). A Picture is Worth Twenty Words (About the Self): Testing the Priming Influence of Visual Sexual Objectification on Women's Self-Objectification. Communication Research Reports26(4), 271-284. doi:10.1080/08824090903293551

Hofschire, L. (2003). The Media’s Role in Enhancing Self-Objectification and Eating Disorders. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 1-33. doi:ica_proceeding_11495.PDF

Hopper, K. M., & Aubrey, J. S. (2013). Examining the Impact of Celebrity Gossip Magazine Coverage of Pregnant Celebrities on Pregnant Women’s Self-Objectification. Communication Research40(6), 767-788. doi:10.1177/0093650211422062

McKay, Tanjare’. (2013). Female self-objectification: Causes, consequences and prevention. McNair Scholars Research Journal. 6(1).

Vandenbosch, L., & Eggermont, S. (2012). Sexually Objectifying Media Exposure and Girls' Internalization of Beauty Ideals, Self-Objectification and Body Surveillance. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 1-32

Vandenbosch, L., & Eggermont, S. (2012). Understanding Sexual Objectification: A Comprehensive Approach Toward Media Exposure and Girls' Internalization of Beauty Ideals, Self-Objectification, and Body Surveillance. Journal Of Communication62(5), 869-887. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01667.x