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Very little is known about viewers' attitudes toward sexualized portrayals of men on social media platforms. Using an experimental methodology, the present study investigated the effect of a sexualized versus non-sexualized Tinder profile of a young White man on college students' perceptions of the profile owner. The impact of multiple aspects of sexualization including a self-sexualizing self-description on one's profile (i.e., interested in casual sex) as well as a sexualizing appearance (i.e., muscular and shirtless) were investigated. U.S. college students (N = 567) viewed a mock Tinder profile and then rated the target's competence, social appeal, physical attractiveness, and likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behavior. Findings indicate a young White man with a sexualized self-presentation on a dating app may be perceived as less competent and as a sexual risk-taker. These results contribute to the small body of research documenting the impact of self-sexualization on a dating app profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex is ubiquitous in advertising, yet little research has explored the effect of exposure to sexual imagery on preferences. Although sex and romance tend to go together in real-world relationships, the authors find that exposure to sex-based ads decreases preference for romantically linked products and services in men. Furthermore, the authors find that the effect is one directional, such that exposure to romantic imagery in ads does not decrease men's preference for sex-related products. Finally, the authors find that exposure to sex-based ads does not lead to a decreased preference for romantically linked products in women. The authors explain this pattern of results through the relatively opportunistic nature of the sex drive in men. They close with a discussion about implications for theories of fundamental motives and for the effect of sex-based ad-vertisements on dating and relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the representation of love and sexuality in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) through the socialist publication "Das Magazin." Topics discussed include the significance of the openness of GDR about pre-marital sex, women's reproductive rights, single motherhood and gay and lesbian rights, effect of formal gender equality and women's economic independence on the sexuality experience of people, and ideal of love, self-care and women's sexuality promoted in the publication.

Prior research into the portrayal of females in sport media has demonstrated that females are given less written coverage than males (e.g., Fink & Kensicki, 2002), and that the coverage given is more sexual in nature (Hardin, Lynn, & Walsdorf, 2005). Internet-based sports blogs have become both an alternative and a competitor to traditional sport media (Fleming, 2008; Hardin & Zhong, 2009; King, 2009). As such, it becomes necessary to examine the portrayal of females in sports blogs, to compare the medium's content to traditional forms of sport media, and to establish a baseline for future research. Utilizing content analysis of the 10 most popular sports blogs, the study discovered that males received significantly more photographic coverage in sports blogs than did females, and that female portrayals were far more likely to be sexually suggestive in nature. These and other findings are discussed, and recommendations for future studies are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study set out to better understand how sexual entertainment media may be related to college students' heteronormative beliefs about sexuality and how these beliefs may be related to college students' hesitance toward resisting unwanted hookups. In a 2-month two-panel survey, cross-lagged models found 292 U.S. college women's sexual media habits were related to higher endorsement of heteronormative scripts, and their endorsement of heteronormative scripts were related to a hesitance toward resisting unwanted hookups. In addition, a half longitudinal mediation model found college women's sexual media habits were indirectly related to a greater hesitance toward resisting unwanted hookups through their endorsement of heteronormative scripts. The same analyses involving 88 U.S. college men were not significant, although the sample size for men did not reach the level needed for statistical power. These results provide some initial evidence that college women's, but not men's, hesitance toward resisting unwanted hookups could be related to beliefs reinforced by their habits regarding sexual entertainment media, which suggests the importance of educating young adult women about sexual agency, consent, and how to combat the role to which they are relegated within heteronormative scripts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay uses cultural and film studies theories to examine black sexuality in the discontinued WGN television series "Underground" and the film "The Watermelon Woman," by Cheryl Dunye. Topics covered include erotic representation in "Underground," expansive possibility of illegible desire in "The Watermelon Woman," and how illegibility and scattering delineates the versatility of black sexuality and desire.

Cinematic pornography and nudity are believed by many feminist critics to be a fertile site of women's sexual objectification. In view of this, many conservative actresses-particularly Black Africans-perceive pornography (in the form of acting explicit sex or nudity scenes) as a serious potential danger to their personal dignity and that of women in general. Using observations, literary sources and online interviews with Nollywood stars, this paper examines how Nigerian actresses perceive the increasing sexualization of Nollywood films and the act of playing nude or pornographic roles. The paper argues that Nigerian actresses mostly sound culture-sensitive and religious (thus conservative) on the two issues. They mostly associate soft/hard porn and acting sexualized scenes with women's sexual objectification. However, liberal voices within the industry view pornography as an inevitable component and a phenomenon with great aesthetical potential. Such liberal actresses either do not see pornography as a sexual objectifying institution or are just "unafraid" to be objectified or to objectify themselves for what they perceive as a kind of "advancement" in the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author talks about the role played by mass media in sexual advice by referring to the book "Mediated Intimacy" by Meg-John Barker, Rosalind Gill, and Laura Harvey. Topics discussed include the representation of men and women in media, female sexuality in context with television programs such as "Girls", "Fleabag" and "Insecure", an increase in the representation of LGBT people and relationships in mainstream media, and heteronormativity.

In academic and popular debates about sexualisation, the “mainstreaming of sex in the West” is a common catchphrase. As noted by post-colonial and critical race scholars, categories such as “the West” remain powerful discursive ideas shaping how both researchers and researched border and construct race, difference, and sexuality. However, there is very little research that employs a post-colonial analysis of young people’s negotiations of sexualised media, most particularly studies that elucidate how the oppositional frameworks of colonial discourse sets up normative and “othered” subjectivities. In order to address this gap, I turn to Stuart Hall’s classic paper The West and the Rest to reflect on a project undertaken in South Australia with young people from a broad range of cultural backgrounds. In a fascinating set of reflections, the young people present a powerful set of challenges to the binary of the West and the Rest through their narratives on sexualised media. Taken together, these complex and sometimes contradictory narratives remind us of the problems associated with talking in generalised and universalising ways about “sexualisation in the West.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment utilizing television commercials and programs was employed to examine the effect of controversial sexual content on the communication effectiveness of advertising messages. Three measures of communication effectiveness were employed: interest in commercial, affect toward product, and purchase intent. Results of the experiment suggest controversial sexual content affect the communication effectiveness of advertising in a complex manner. Controversial sexual content in the commercial failed to improve effectiveness, apart from merely making the commercial more interesting, while controversial sexual program content influenced the processing of advertising messages for males but not for females. However, the presence of a significant commercial-by-program interaction for males suggests the actual effect of controversial content in the program environment depends upon the level of controversy present in the commercial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study offers a cross-cultural comparison of sex and relationship advice columns in contemporary women’s magazines. This study aims to investigate the prevailing messages and values women’s magazines promote to their readers and the way they present such values in relation to the norms and values of each society. Sixty advice articles on sex and relationships (ten from each magazine) were obtained online from six home-grown English language women’s magazines from three different contexts, which are, Malaysia, the US, and two Middle Eastern countries (Egypt and the UAE). In addition to analyzing the data for themes which are foregrounded, messages that are either backgrounded or omitted were also analyzed as scholars such as Huckin state that information that is backgrounded or even omitted say as much about a text and its values as messages which are explicitly foregrounded. The findings from the study reveal that there is a clear connection between the production of texts and the society the texts are set in. The writers of these texts are aware of the social norms and values of their society as they try to reflect that in the texts. Finally, the study finds that in all three contexts, women appear as empowered but this empowerment is situated within a traditional framework of male-female roles and heterosexist relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effects of exposure to sexually objectifying music videos on viewers’ subsequent gazing behavior. We exposed participants (N = 129; 68 women, 61 men) to music videos either high in sexual objectification or low in sexual objectification. Next, we measured participants’ eye movements as they viewed photographs of 36 women models with various body shapes (i.e., ideal size model, plus size model) and degree of dress (i.e., fully dressed, scantily dressed, partially clad). Results indicated that sexually objectifying music videos influenced participants’ objectifying gaze upon photographs of women with an ideal size, but not plus size, body shape. Interestingly, that effect neither differed among men and women nor depended upon the models’ degree of dress. Altogether, once primed with sexually objectifying imagery, participants looked at women’s sexual body parts more than they looked at women’s faces. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examined the processing of primary biologically motivating content commonly found in popular music videos—sex and violence—from a motivated cognition perspective (Lang, 2006, 2009). Participants (N = 68) were presented with music videos containing different combinations of primary biologically motivating content (i.e., sex, violence, both, neither). Secondary task reaction times were used to index resources available for encoding and a visual recognition task was applied to measure memory. The results indicate that music videos that contained both sex and violence provided the most engaging and memorable experiences, potentially even flow experiences. Implications for processing these types of information in these ways are discussed and future research is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Little is known about how exposure to sexually explicit Internet material (SEIM) relates to a performance-focused orientation toward sex. Based on a three-wave panel study among adolescents (N = 1,022), we found that watching SEIM predicted a sexual performance orientation from Wave (W) 2 to W3, but not from W1 to W2. A sexual performance orientation at W2 predicted adolescents’ exposure to SEIM at W3. The relationship between exposure to SEIM and a sexual performance orientation was explained by a two-step mediation model. The more adolescents were exposed to SEIM at W1, the more they enjoyed consuming this content at W2. In turn, enjoyment of SEIM (W2) predicted adolescents’ perceived utility of SEIM (W2). This increased perceived utility at W2 predicted a more intense performance orientation towards SEIM at W3. Within this 2-step model, we also found full support for a reciprocal relationship between using SEIM (W1/W2/W3) and enjoyment of SEIM (W1/W2/W3) and partial support for a reciprocal relationship between sexual performance orientation (W2) and perceived utility of SEIM (W3). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) women exist as a population with an increased complexity in the relationship between themselves and their sexuality. For the LGBTQ community, sexual behaviors are often silenced or erased. This exploratory qualitative research examines 186 memorable messages that emerged from 91 LGBTQ women and gender minorities who participated in a national study. Each participant was asked to share memorable messages they received about sex, sexuality, and sexual health. Consistent with past research, "advice" was a common memorable messages form; however, negative attributes and media-derived messages emerged. The results contribute to understanding the messages that LGTBQ individuals confront on topics of sex and sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexualizing media content is prevalent in various media types. Sexualizing media messages and portrayals emphasize unattainable body and appearance ideals as the primary components of sexual desirability. The internalization of these ideals is positively related to self-objectification and sexual body consciousness. In turn, self-objectification and sexual body consciousness affect adolescents' sexual behavior, albeit in opposing directions. While objectifying self-perceptions are linked to higher levels of sexual behavior, body consciousness during physical intimacy is linked to lower levels of sexual behavior. Based on this knowledge, the present three-wave panel study of 824 Belgian, predominant heterosexual adolescents (M age = 15.33; SD = 1.45) proposes a dual-pathway model that investigates two different pathways through which the internalization of media ideals may impact adolescents' sexual behavior. An inhibitory pathway links media internalization to lower levels of sexual behavior through sexual body consciousness, and a supportive pathway links media internalization to higher levels of sexual behavior through self-objectification. Structural equation analyses supported the proposed dual-pathway, showing that the impact of media internalization on adolescents' sexual behavior proceeds through an inhibitory pathway and a supportive pathway. Regarding the supportive pathway, media internalization (W1) positively predicted sexual behavior (W3), through valuing appearance over competence (W2). Regarding the inhibitory pathway, media internalization (W1) positively predicted body surveillance, which, in turn, positively predicted sexual body consciousness (all W2). Sexual body consciousness (W2) is negatively related to sexual behavior (W3). From a sexual developmental perspective, these findings emphasize the importance of guiding adolescents in interpreting and processing sexualizing media messages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cybersex is an important manifestation of sexuality among adolescents and young people. However, there is not enough information about this sexual expression, in particular, in cultures such as Latino culture, which has a traditional perception of human sexuality. This study evaluates online sexual activity among Hispanic adolescent and young people. For this purpose, 2,227 participants from Mexico and Spain (between 15 and 25 years old) completed the Internet Sex Screening Test. Our findings reveal that the most common use of cybersex is recreational, although men and women show risk for cybersex abuse. This is associated with pornography consumption, anal sex, sexual orientation, and gender for adolescent and young people. The more conservative and gendered tradition seems to modulate some aspects of cybersex in both groups, who have revealed some differences in their behaviors. Therefore, cybersex is also an expression of sexuality among Hispanic adolescent and young people and should be considered in sexual health promotion programs and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Representations of gender and sexuality in mainstream media operate to both shape the contours of, and contest the limits to, sexual citizenship. The ‘citational practices’ of media representations mould contemporary understandings of these limits. In this article, the author examines mainstream and social media reports of two separate same-sex wedding ceremonies in Japan; the first at a queer community event in 2007 and the second at a major theme park in 2013. Through citations and quotations, a multitude of voices are embedded in the media texts. In the 2007 case, increased media visibility is mitigated by citational practices that clearly mark the same-sex wedding as devoid of legal standing. Whereas media reports situate the 2013 ceremony in the context of marriage equality trends internationally, an instance of possible discrimination is emphasised as being a ‘misunderstanding’. Similarly, a microanalysis of a light news documentary of the ceremony uncovers citational practices that highlight the importance of ‘forgiveness’ or ‘tolerance’ for ‘mutual coexistence’ in society. Furthermore, the reporting confines the ceremony to a ‘fairytale’-like ‘foreign’ domain. The process of ‘othering’ issues of sexual citizenship is linked to a cyclical process since the 1950s wherein representations of queerness are posited as ‘new’ forms of being in Japan. Discourse surrounding sexual citizenship is thereby projected into a non-domestic, non-specific future time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyze television series '30 Rock,' 'The Delinquents,' and magazine 'Twenty-First Century Teenage Monsters: Representations of Coming of Age on the Fringes of America' is presented. Author investigates teenager's fantasy genre within a history of American teen cinema and reflects shifting modes of films and television productions including dominant ideologies of race, class, and gender by utilizing place and social aspect of homogeneity and heterogeneity are also presented.

There are a few instruments available to measure pornograhy consumption-related constructs, and this lack of instruments can compromise the validity of research findings. The Pornography Consumption Inventory (PCI) assesses four motivations for pornography consumption, and it has been validated in hypersexual men and medical students. However, whether the psychometric properties of this instrument are comparable across genders remains unclear. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) was used to verify the invariance of the structure of the PCI across male (100) and female (105) university students. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for each group showed a reasonably good fit of the data to the four-factor model. The MGCFA model included only factor loadings constrained to be equal between both genders (ΔCFI < 0.01 andp> 0.05). However, the ΔCFI did not support a strong and strict factorial invariance, ΔCFI > 0.01. Although both genders seemed to agree with the conceptualization of pornography and motivations for consuming it, the PCI was not gender-invariant, as men showed a stronger degree of motivation to consume pornographic material than women did. The implications of these findings regarding the measurement of motivations for pornography use are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Little research to date has focused on adolescents’ initiation of watching sexually explicit Internet material (SEIM) and its antecedents. Based on 400 adolescents who hadneverwatched SEIM at baseline (in a three-wave panel study among 1,467 13–17-year-old Dutch adolescents), we examined antecedents of the initiation of watching SEIM one year later. Logistic regression analyses indicated that boys were more likely to start watching SEIM than girls. A hypergender identity increased the likelihood to initiate watching SEIM among girls, whereas frequent exposure to the sexy self-presentation of others in social media especially increased boys’ chance of watching SEIM. An interaction effect between sexual experience and age was also found. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examined whether the development of sexualized media consumption and permissive sexual attitudes would be more strongly interrelated when adolescents perceived sexualized media images as highly realistic. We used data from a three-wave longitudinal sample of 444 Dutch adolescents aged 13-16 years at baseline. Results from parallel process latent growth modeling multigroup analyses showed that higher initial levels of sexualized media consumption were associated with higher initial level of permissive sexual attitudes. Moreover, increases of sexualized media consumption over time were associated with increases of permissive sexual attitudes over time. Considering the moderation by perceived realism, we found these effects only for those who perceived sexualized media as more realistic. Findings for male and female adolescents were similar except for the relations between initial levels and subsequent development. Among male adolescents who perceived sexualized media images to be realistic, higher initial levels of permissive sexual attitudes were related to subsequent less rapid development of sexualized media consumption. For male adolescents who perceived sexualized media to be less realistic, higher initial levels of sexualized media consumption were related to a subsequent less rapid development of permissive sexual attitudes. These relations were not found for female adolescents. Overall, our results suggest that, in male and female adolescents, those with a high level of perceived realism showed a correlated development of sexualized media consumption and permissive sexual attitudes. These findings point to a need for extended information on how to guide adolescents in interpreting and handling sexualized media in everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The media form just one of the main discursive arenas in which normative forms of sexuality, including scripts, are constructed. This article reports on the results of an analysis of sexual themes in the Slovak media focusing particularly on the political and violent contexts in which they occur. The research was conducted on electronic media (public service television and Markíza, the most popular commercial channel in Slovakia) and also print media (Nový čas and SME, the most widely-read tabloid and non-tabloid daily newspapers respectively). The period monitored was the years 2005/2006 and 2012/2013. Quantitative and qualitative research was performed on the media items. The results show that discussions of sexuality underwent marked differences in the seven-year gap and that there are differences in the electronic and print media as well. Media type is also important with differences evident in public service vs. commercial and tabloid vs. non-tabloid. The findings are discussed in relation to the potential consequences for quality of intimate and sexual life, sexual health and intimate citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]