The sexy lie: Caroline Heldman at TEDxYouth@SanDiego

A leading advocate for spotlighting how the mainstream media contributes to the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and influence in America, Caroline Heldman offers straight talk and an often-startling look at the objectification of women in our society. She illustrates how it has escalated, how we have become inured to its damaging effects and what we can do individually and collectively to demolish the paradigms that keep us from a better world.

Chair of the politics department of Occidential College in Los Angeles, Dr. Heldman appeared in the acclaimed documentary, Miss Representation and is co-editor of "Madame President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House?" She is a frequent commentator on radio and television and a regular contributor to Ms. Magazine.

Good afternoon! Are we having
a transformative afternoon so far?

Well, I am here today
to talk about a lie.

In specific, a sexy lie.
I know there are lots of lies,

some of them are sexy,
some of them are very unsexy.

But I'd like to talk specifically
about the lie or the idea that

being a sex object is empowering.

And I'd like to convince you
that it is not empowering.

First by talking about what
sexual objectification is

and then moving on to theoretical and
data driven analysis of why it's damaging,

and, lastly, provide
you a plan of action

so you can both navigate
objectification culture

and change objectification culture.

So let's jump right in-
what is sexual objectification?

It's the process of representing
or treating a person like a sex object

one that serves another's
sexual pleasure.

What's so interesting about
sexual objectification

is that we used to have
a vocabulary for it.

In the 60s and 70s, we were concerned
about sexual objectification

and its harm on girls and women.

In the 80s, 90s and today,
we've actually been relatively quiet

when it comes to public discourse.

And so even though our sexual
objectification culture is more amplified

we see more images,
and 96% of them are female,

of sexually objectified bodies,

we don't have a vocabulary
to talk about it.

And young people have even mostly
lost the ability to identify it.

As a friend of mine said,
it's like being raised in a red room,

pulled out of that red room
and asked to described the color red.

So I built on the work of others,
and I put together a sex object test,

and if the answer is "yes"
to any of these 7 questions

then you are looking
at a sexual objectifying image.

First, does the image show only
parts of a sexualized person's body?

In other words,
does a part stand in for the whole?

This woman's derrière, for example,
in this advertisement.

Does the image show a sexualized person
as a stand in for an object?

In this image a woman
becomes a table.

Does the image show
the sexualized person as interchangeable?

That is, as one of many items
that can just be swapped out.

Does the image affirm
the idea of violating

the bodily integrity
of a sexualized person

and that person can't consent?

In other words,
is that person being acted upon

as though she is a sexual object?

Does the image suggest that
the sexual availability of the person

is the defining characteristic
of that person?

The text for this ad reads:

"You know you're not her first,
but do you really care?"

And it's being used to sell
pre-owned vehicles.

Does the image show
a sexualized person as a commodity?

Something that can
be bought and sold?

In this advertisement, you see
women in a vending machine

and a man is choosing a woman
and this is to sell men's shoes.

And, lastly, does the image treat
the sexualized person's body as a canvas?

And I'm not talking about inking
or tattooing that a person decides

but rather marketers using the body
as a specific type of canvas.

New objectification culture
has emerged in the past ten years

and it's marked by two things.

One is an increase in the number of
sexually objectifying ads and television,

movies, video games, music videos,
magazines and other mediums.

And the second advertising component,

is that the images have become
more extreme, more hypersexualized.

So, why are we experiencing
this now?

It can really be boiled
down to technology.

New technology has increased
the sheer number of images

that you are exposed to every day.

So in the 70s we saw
about 500 ads a day.

Now we see about 5,000 ads a day

and children ages 8 to 18
spend an average of 8 hours a day

hooked up to devices where
advertisers can reach them.

So what do advertisers do?
They cut through the clutter

with increased emphasis on violence,
hyperviolence and hypersexualization.

So how is this not empowering?

I want to make an appeal
first to logic.

When we're talking about sex objects,
we're talking about dichotomies.

In Western thinking, we think
of black and white, yes and no.

Two opposing categories.

When we're thinking about sex objects,
we're thinking about

the object-subject dichotomy.

Subjects act, objects
are acted upon.

So even if you become
the perfect object,

the perfect sex object,

you are perfectly subordinate because
that position will always be acted on.

So there's not power in being a sex object
when you think about it logically.

But beyond that this idea that sex sells-
I'd like to challenge that directly

because the fact is, if sex sold,
most women are heterosexual

and we are sexual beings

so why wouldn't we see
half naked men everywhere in advertising?

(Cheers and laughter)

I would like to propose...

(Laughter)

I would like to propose something else
is being sold here.

To men, they are being sold this idea
constantly that they are sexual subjects.

They are in the driver's seat.

It makes them feel powerful to see
images of objectified women everywhere.

And for women, we are being sold

this idea that this
is how we get our value

and this is the way to become
the ideal sex object.

Which is why, instead
of sex selling,

these ideas of subjectivity
and objectivity are being sold.

So we see men's magazines
with scantily clad women

and we see women's magazines
with scantily clad women.

Moving now to the research.

Self-objectification
is a phenomenon

where we, girls and women,
view our bodies as sex objects.

And all of us do
to a greater or lesser extent.

This varies somewhat by sexuality
and somewhat by ethnicity

but, by and large,
all women face this in the US.

So self-objectification,
10 years of research,

mostly done by psychologists.

We know that it has
some pretty severe effects.

I'm going to run through the list

but I want to concentrate on
just a few of these items.

First, the more
we think of ourselves

and internalize this idea
of being sex objects,

the higher our rates of depression.

We also engage in habitual body monitoring

much more when we view
ourselves as sex objects.

What is habitual body monitoring?

The men in the audience,
this might be news to you.

It is not news to the women
in the audience.

We think about the positioning
of our legs, our hair,

where the light is falling,

Who's looking at us?
Who's not looking at us.

In fact in the 5 minutes
I've been giving this talk,

on average the women
in this audience

have engaged in habitual body
monitoring 10 times.

That is, every 30 seconds.

Eating disorders
are much more prevalent

with those who see
themselves as sex objects,

as well as body shame.

And depressed cognitive functioning.

If we're engaging in
habitual body monitoring,

it simply takes up more
mental space

that could be better used
completing math tests

completing your homework.
It just sucks our cognitive functioning.

Also sexual dysfunction.

So this idea that sex sells.

Isn't it strange that if you think
of yourself as a sex object,

and we're raised in a society

that raises little girls
to view their bodies

as projects to work on
and be sex objects

that it actually gets in the way
of good sex.

So what tends to happen is that women
who are high self-objectifiers

actually engage in what's called
"spectatoring" during sex acts.

So instead of being involved and engaged
in the pleasure and what's happening

you tend to view yourself
from a third party perspective,

a spectator's perspective

where you're worried about
rolls of fat hanging out,

what that leg looks like.

So, again, it gets in the way
of sexual pleasure.

So if there is anything I can pitch to you
about why you don't want

to live in a culture that
sexually objectifies

it diminishes your
sexual pleasure.

It also lowers self esteem,
it lowers GPAs

and it's not negligible the difference
that I found in my research.

It is the difference between
going to graduate school

and not going to graduate school
for college women.

It also lowers political efficacy or
the belief you have a voice in politics.

And it lowers your ability
to get along with other women.

We engage in female competition.

We see male attention as
the holy grail of our existence

and so we compete with other women
for our own self esteem,

because we see it as this finite resource,
this cherished finite resource.

So we go into parties

and we know where we are
in the pretty girl pecking order

And when another woman
is valued for being a sex object,

it actually makes us feel
bad about ourself.

What can we do about this-
a plan of action.

First I'd like to propose
some personal actions.

Because what sexual objectification
does is actually set up a sexy ceiling

that damages or harms women

personally, politically
and professionally.

I want to focus on the personal here.

What can we do?

We can stop consuming
damaging materials - girls, women,

because we know within the first 3 minutes
that our self esteem goes down

when we're looking at
fashion magazines.

We can stop competing with
other girls and women.

When we see a woman
who is getting attention for this

we can understand that
she is part of a system

where the rules
are stacked against us

She is not a problem,
she is a symptom of a problem.

And we can stop seeking attention
for our bodies.

We raise our little boys
to view their bodies

as tools to master
their environment,

We raise our little girls
to view their bodies

as projects to constantly
be improved.

What if women started
to view their bodies

as tools to master
their environment?

As tools to get you
from one place to the next.

As these amazing vehicles for moving
through the world in a new way.

And for boys,
be a supportive ally,

understand what's happening
around you,

What's going on in the minds
of the women around you.

Don't evaluate girls and women
based upon how they look

evaluate them for what
they say and what they do.

Finally, use your
position of privilege strategically

to speak out against objectification.

So moving beyond the personal
to the political,

You can boycott,
you can simply refuse

to consume materials that
sexually objectify girls and women.

You can contact media producers
when something is offensive to you.

You can produce your own media.

Get behind the camera!

Write! Act! Direct!

And you can also engage in
new media activism.

There's an incredible
world at your disposal

to bring about political change.

And I want to provide
just a few examples.

First, Sociological Images,
a blog run by Dr. Lisa Wade

worked with students to pull
Abercrombie & Fitch's padded bras

or padded swimsuits for toddlers.

And they ran a campaign where
they blogged about it,

it got some press coverage.
There were some petitions

and they pulled the product
nationally from their stores.

This is my hero.
Her name is Julia.

She's a 14 year old who got
change.org to put a petition together-

85,000 signatures,
and she went to New York

and Seventeen magazine agreed

that they would not Photoshop
any of their models from here on out.

So, lastly, I'll leave you with
this idea of imagining a different world.

I'd like you to imagine a world
where girls and women

don't spend an hour
every morning

putting on their makeup
and doing their hair.

I'd like you to imagine a world,

where women are valued for
what they say and what they do,

rather than the way they look.

I'd like you to imagine a world where
instead of spending time on appearance

we actually directed our energies
to dealing with serious problems.

Like human trafficking,
sexualized

violence, homophobia,
poverty, hunger.

And, lastly, because you are
the architects of your future.

I would like to remind you that sometimes
architects have to demolish paradigms

in order to build a better world.

So my question for you is:
what better world will you build?

Thank you.

(Applause)