Womens Health

Popular media’s hypersexualization of women may be worse than you think

 
A study by University at Buffalo sociologists has found that the portrayal of women in the popular media over the last several decades has become increasingly sexualized, even “pornified.” The same is not true of the portrayal of men.

These findings may be cause for concern, the researchers say, because previous research has found sexualized images of women to have far-reaching negative consequences for both men and women.
Erin Hatton, PhD, and Mary Nell Trautner, PhD, assistant professors in the UB Department of Sociology, are the authors of “Equal Opportunity Objectification? The Sexualization of Men and Women on the Cover of Rolling Stone,” which examines the covers of Rolling Stone magazine from 1967 to 2009 to measure changes in the sexualization of men and women in popular media over time.
The study will be published in the September issue of the journal Sexuality & Culture

 Rolling Stone magazine covers

UB sociologists Erin Hatton and Mary Nell Trautner are the authors of "Equal Opportunity Objectification?," which examines 43 years of Rolling Stone magazine

“We chose Rolling Stone,” explains Hatton, “because it is a well-established, pop-culture media outlet. It is not explicitly about sex or relationships; foremost it is about music. But it also covers politics, film, television and current events, and so offers a useful window into how women and men are portrayed generally in popular culture.” [continue reading…]

The Second Half of Your Life



Every now and again, a women’s book comes along that promises to change our thinking forever. In the Sixties it was Helen Gurley Brown’s Sex and the Single Girl; in the early Seventies,Germaine Greer’s The Female Eunuch hit the spot, and later on, Marilyn French’s The Women’s Room got us all talking about why we put up with bad treatment from men. Now it is the turn of Jill Shaw Ruddock to shake us all up and ask new questions about our lives.

Her book, The Second Half of Your Life.is about the menopause and after. At this point, you may yawn and say: oh no, not again. Haven’t there been a million books about the menopause and growing old gracefully (or disgracefully)? Why should I clutter up my shelves with yet one more? Well, you should certainly read this one. Because in common with all the best life-changing books, the author’s startling message transmits itself from the page with a kind of electricity. Read the article (PDF, 140kb)

Source: The Second Half of Your Life. The Lady (Feb 2011 Issue)

Women are much more likely to be persuaded to either eat healthily or undertake dangerous dieting by other women, not men, according to new ANU research.

The research by PhD student Tegan Cruwys, released during National Psychology Week, found that both healthy, and unhealthy, messages delivered by men had little effect. Additionally, she found that when a healthy eating message is delivered by someone women identify with, it was likely to change their behaviour. The findings highlight the importance of carefully targeted health messages. [continue reading…]

Women more lonely and depressed in old age

depressed woman

Image Credit: iStockphoto

Women become more lonely and depressed with age, but men grow more content with their lives in retirement, a study has found.This may be because men are happier once they stop working, but older women are more likely to feel lonely or be living alone.
The BBC reports today on findings from University College London researchers who have tracked more than 11,000 men and women aged over 50 from 2002-09 as part of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Curious?Keep reading
Source: BBC