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Abstract
Sexually objectifying messages about girls and women are common in U.S. popular culture. As a consequence of exposure to such messages, girls may develop “internalized sexualization,” or internalization of the belief that sexual attractiveness to males is an important aspect of their identity. We hypothesized that internalized sexualization is associated with behavioral and psychological consequences, including sexualized clothing use, body surveillance, and body shame. In two studies of early adolescent girls (total N = 330, age range = 10-15), we found that girls with higher levels of internalized sexualization wear more sexualized clothing (Study 1) and show higher levels of body surveillance and body shame (Study 2) than girls with lower levels of internalized sexualization.
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Author Biographies
Sarah J. McKenney is an evaluator at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. This work was completed while she was a postdoctoral scholar at the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University, where she studied the causes and consequences of internalized sexualization among adolescent girls and the development of early adolescent romantic relationships.
Rebecca S. Bigler is a professor of psychology and women’s and gender studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She studies the causes and consequences of social stereotyping and prejudice among children, with a particular focus on gender and racial attitudes. She has also worked to develop and test intervention strategies aimed at reducing children’s social stereotyping and intergroup biases.
