An exploration of women’s body image and self-objectification in relation to the consumption of violent and sexually explicit media

Widespread internet use has increased access to violent and sexually explicit media content, which disproportionately objectifies women. Consequences of consuming sexualized and violent content for women’s body image and self-perceptions are largely unexplored. To address these issues, 157 women completed an online survey examining their consumption of violent and sexually explicit media, body image, and self-objectification. Analyses examined associations between the independent variables of violent and sexually explicit media consumption and the dependent variables of women’s body image and self-objectification. Results showed that frequent consumption of sexually explicit media was significantly correlated with self-objectification subscales.Consumption of both sexual and violent media were significantly correlated with lower self-care and greater body encumberment. Post hoc analyses were used to probe interactions between media consumption and self-objectification in predicting body image outcomes. Women with higher body surveillance (a self-objectification subscale) experienced a stronger negative association between violent media consumption andbody image components compared to women with lower body surveillance. Findings indicate that exposure to graphically violent or sexual media may be linked to women’s increased feelings of discomfort with their own bodies and decreased receptivity to their own needs.