An Experimental Analysis of Young Women's Attitude Toward the Male Gaze Following Exposure to Centerfold Images of Varying Explicitness

Abstract

Centerfold images (i.e., still-shot depictions of lone, provocatively posed, scantily clad women) are one of the most enduring, pervasive, and popular forms of sexual media. This study measured young women's attitude toward the male gaze following exposure to centerfolds of varying explicitness. Explicitness was operationalized as degree of undress. Women exposed to more explicit centerfolds expressed greater acceptance of the male gaze than women exposed to less explicit centerfolds immediately after exposure and at a 48 hour follow-up. These results support the view that the more media depictions of women display women's bodies, the stronger the message they send that women are sights to be observed by others. They also suggest that even brief exposure to explicit centerfolds can have a nontransitory effect on women's sociosexual attitudes.

Keywords:

• Male Gaze
• Media Effects
• Sexual Explicitness
• Sexualization

Notes

It should be noted that when the women who did not complete the follow-up survey were included with the women who did complete the follow-up survey in an analysis of immediate effects (i.e., original sample, n = 57 in each condition), women in the more explicit condition (M = 5.01, SD = 0.75) expressed stronger acceptance of the male gaze than women in the less explicit condition (M = 4.59, SD = 0.99) (F (1, 112) = 6.64, Eta squared =.06, p = .01). Thus, when the ethnic minority women who did not complete the follow-up survey were included in the immediate effects analysis, the result was the same as when they were not included.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul J. Wright

Paul J. Wright is an Assistant Professor in the Media School at Indiana University.

Analisa Arroyo

Analisa Arroyo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Georgia.

Soyoung Bae

Soyoung Bae is Faculty in the Department of Communication at Maryland University.