2015 Association for Women in Psychology Conference

Objectification theory posits the objectification of women by their culture leads to a mental separation of the woman from her body, creating self-valuation tied closely to societal ideals (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997; Stratemeyer, 2012). A variety of mental health issues have arisen from women's experience of objectification (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Objectification also negatively impacts women's interpersonal relationships (Daniels & Zurbriggen, 2014) and leads to increased violence against women (Stratemeyer, 2014). This symposium presents three perspectives on the application of restorative justice to women’s objectification. A restorative justice approach is more humanistic in nature focusing on victim-centered reparations and often includes community involvement (van Wormer, 2009). Several considerations will be reviewed regarding the way objectification of women has been perpetuated through US culture. These considerations may provide a pathway to social justice by deconstructing women's objectification experiences and initiating opportunities for community healing. The current considerations include objectification of women in Christian purity culture, social media as perpetuating objectification and sister relationships as a potential mitigating factor for adolescent girls’ experience of objectification. We intend to focus on the way women are impacted by objectification as it intersects with religiosity, social media, and sibling relationships separately. Our presentation will focus on literature surrounding these topics and the ways current research can be applied to working with women dealing with intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of objectification. The purpose of this symposium is to initiate a conversation regarding contemporary factors related to objectification of women with a focus on restorative justice. References Daniels, E.A., & Zurbriggen, E.L. (2014). The price of sexy: Viewers' perceptions of a sexualized versus nonsexualized Facebook profile photograph. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, advanced online publication. doi: 10.1037/ppmm0000048 Fredrickson, B.L., & Roberts, T.A. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173-206. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x Stratemeyer, M. (2014). "Here's looking at you": Psychological perspectives on sexual objectification. Issues, 107, 24-26. van Wormer, K. (2009). Restorative justice as social justice for victims of gendered violence: A standpoint feminist perspective. Social Work, 54(2), 107-116.

As evidenced by recent attention from the press, questions around institutional policy, and public outcry, politics regarding sexual violence have become particularly pertinent within Western culture. These articulations play out across an array of discourses, including media landscapes. Drawing from popular culture and contemporary literature, television, and film, the papers in this symposium will utilize feminist frameworks to delineate how our society understands and reacts to sexual violence. This symposium serves to ask: Where and how do we learn about sexual violence? Why do media outlets so often romanticize and glorify abusive relationships? What are the implications of consuming these problematic media images? Both presenters will extrapolate from their continued research on rape culture to analyze the real-world impact of these media depictions. The specific and insidious abusive links within several popular television series and novels, among them Scandal, Game of Thrones, Twilight, and 50 Shades of Grey, are analyzed. The presenters assert that the marketing and development of these media series suggest that abuse is acceptable and favorable, and that rape serves to function primarily as a plot device. Norms of masculinity, femininity, and heterosexuality all play a role in constructing images of victims and abusers, “good girls” and “bad girls”, and notions of true love. Furthermore, these portrayals contribute to the existence and proliferation of rape culture. The presenters find that these media examples actively harm individual consumers and inspire the creation of similarly problematic media-- an effect which is exacerbated when that content is disseminated across the globe. Additionally, the presenters bring an activist dimension to their work by including victims’ words and experiences, and by confronting the culture of silence that surrounds sexualized harm. This symposium strives to cultivate new directions for feminist social justice efforts, particularly in approaches to rape, resistance, prevention, violence, and victimhood.

Three presenters address aspects of women’s lives which have been marketed to the general public in a false and misleading way to support the billion dollar profits of the medical-pharmacological industry. The authors challenge the marketing and “science” that objectify women’s bodies, or render women’s bodies and experiences a series of symptoms, diseases, and dysfunctions that require pharmaceutical or surgical intervention by medical professionals. Each presenter addresses the marketing of a specific “condition” in which the marketing is designed to misinform or misrepresent women at the expense of corporate America. The session is part of a larger movement that critically challenges the marketing associated with the medical-pharmacological industry. In addition to a scientific critique, the presenters provide a gender lens. For example, the labeling of the menstrual cycle- related experience as a syndrome (PMS) is based on a culturally pejorative perspective on women’s bodies and bodily process, which has resulted in the widespread experience of reproductive shame (Chrisler & Caplan, 2002; Johnston-Robledo, Voigt, Sheffield, & Wilcox-Constantine, 2007). Presenter 1 examines the marketing of menstrual suppression to avoid the problem of menstruation, and questions the impact of this campaign for women’s experience of their bodies. Presenter 2 critically examines the pinking of breast cancer, the proliferation of pink products which are alledgedly promoting awareness of breast cancer, and contributing resources to breast cancer research. She advises that we think before we pink. Presenter 3 examines the misleading information about women’s sexual functioning that has been used to argue for drugs for women’s FSD. She focuses on the recent campaign of the drug industry to pressure the FDA to approve drugs for women, to Even the Score. In each case marketing techniques and misinformation are cleverly used to convince women to adopt behaviors that are not conducive to women’s health and well being.

The presenters in this symposium work in the same University department and campus community. Our work addresses current challenges confronting women: microaggressions, rape culture, facing chronic illness Parkinson’s Disease) at a young age, and the drastic increase in selfies on social media. Our responses to these issues vary in scope and innovation but our intention is to offer symposium attendees a model for community collaboration. This year, the United States celebrates the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act. “Empowering Change”, was a campus-wide initiative to celebrate this act and most panelists were heavily involved in the planning and implementation. This initiative allowed us to examine current racial and other microaggressions that occur on our campus through a classroom generated photo campaign. Images are powerful and increasingly used in activist strategies like the above mentioned photo campaign. Two of us use images in very different ways. Selfies have exploded in popularity yet virtually nothing is known about the effect on self-esteem, body image, and attractiveness in young women who post these images on social media. New data will be presented on this phenomenon. Working with a filmmaker, one of us combines personal narrative with images of a young single mother newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. With the changes in Title IX reporting on sexual assault and rape, college campuses need to understand those student groups who are more at risk for being embedded in rape culture and adopting rape myth attitudes. Data from a study examining rape myth acceptance will be shared. It is hypothesized that those in Greek life and who play sports will show higher rape myth acceptance scores than those in other extracurricular activities.

The Be Present Empowerment Model® provides tools for constructive dialogue and collaborative problem-solving among people with diverse viewpoints, values and needs. It supports individuals, families and institutions to sustain transformative change. Presenters will describe how the Model supports restorative justice work in the courts, the prison system, and after release.