Showing papers on "Sexual objectification published in 2017"

From Orgasms to Spanking: A Content Analysis of the Agentic and Objectifying Sexual Scripts in Feminist, for Women, and Mainstream Pornography

Abstract: Historically, pro- versus anti-pornography debates have been positioned around the concepts of sexual objectification versus sexual agency—arguing that pornography, especially Mainstream content, results in objectification of women versus arguing that pornography, especially Feminist pornography or erotica, depicts and can lead to female sexual empowerment. To date, however, no one has examined the content of Mainstream compared to Feminist pornography. The present content analysis of 300 pornographic scenes compares categories of internet pornography aimed at women (including Feminist and For Women) to Mainstream pornography, examining indicators of both sexual objectification (including stripping, cumshots, aggression, genital focus, and gaping) and agency (including self-touch, orgasm, and directing and initiating sex). Results suggest that Mainstream pornography contains significantly more depictions of female objectification than both Feminist and For Women content. There is an objectification gender gap between men and women in all categories, which is significantly wider in Mainstream content than in pornography aimed at women. Focusing on empowerment, queer Feminist pornography contained significantly more indicators of female sexual agency than both For Women and Mainstream categories, although primarily heterosexual Feminist pornography did not. Findings suggest that different categories of pornography provide women with different scripts related to sexual objectification, agency, and gender dynamics, which may impact sexual behavior.

The Relationship Between Online Pornography and the Sexual Objectification of Women: The Attenuating Role of Porn Literacy Education

Abstract: Media literacy interventions partly aim at preventing undesirable media effects at a later point of time. However, longitudinal research on the interaction between media literacy education and media effects is lacking. In this longitudinal study among 1,947 13–25-year-olds, we started to address this lacuna by examining the potential of porn literacy education at schools to attenuate the longitudinal relationship between exposure to sexually explicit Internet material (SEIM) and views of women as sex objects. A two-way interaction effect emerged: The relationship between SEIM and sexist views became weaker, the more users had learned from porn literacy education. No gender or age differences occurred. This study thus provides some first evidence for the role of media education in reducing undesirable media effects.

Selfies, Relfies and Phallic Tagging: Posthuman Part-icipations in Teen Digital Sexuality Assemblages.

Abstract: Inspired by posthuman feminist theory, this paper explores young people’s entanglement with the bio-technological landscape of image creation and exchange in young networked peer cultures. We suggest that we are seeing new formations of sexual objectification when the more-than-human is foregrounded and the blurry ontological divide between human (flesh) and machine (digital) are enlivened through queer and feminist Materialist analyses. Drawing upon multimodal qualitative data generated with teen boys and girls living in urban inner London and semi-rural Wales (UK) we map how the digital affordances of Facebook ‘tagging’ can operate as a form of coercive ‘phallic touch’ in ways that shore up and transgress normative territories of dis/embodied gender, sexuality and age. We conclude by arguing that we need creative approaches that can open up spaces for a posthuman accounting of the material intra-actions through which phallic power relations part-icipate in predictable and unpredictable ways.

Sexual objectification in women's daily lives: A smartphone ecological momentary assessment study

Abstract: Sexual objectification, particularly of young women, is highly prevalent in modern industrialized societies. Although there is plenty of experimental and cross-sectional research on objectification, prospective studies investigating the prevalence and psychological impact of objectifying events in daily life are scarce. We used ecological momentary assessment to track the occurrence of objectifying events over 1 week in the daily lives of young women (N = 81). Participants reported being targeted by a sexually objectifying event - most often the objectifying gaze - approximately once every 2 days and reported witnessing sexual objectification of others approximately 1.35 times per day. Further, multilevel linear regression analyses showed that being targeted by sexual objectification was associated with a substantial increase in state self-objectification. Overall, individual differences had little impact in moderating these effects.

Sexual Harassment and the Construction of Ethnographic Knowledge

Abstract: It is not uncommon for women researchers to experience sexualized interactions, sexual objectification, and harassment as they conduct fieldwork Nevertheless, these experiences are often left out of ethnographers’ “tales from the field” and remain unaddressed within our discipline In this article, we use women's experiences with harassment in the field to interrogate the epistemological foundations of ethnographic methodology within the discipline of sociology Based on more than 50 qualitative interviews, we examine three “fixations” of contemporary ethnography that inform women ethnographers’ understandings of and reactions to harassment in the field These fixations are solitude, danger, and intimacy Our data show that these fixations not only put researchers in danger but also have implications for the construction of ethnographic knowledge They contribute to silence surrounding sexual harassment, and are motivated by and reproduce androcentric norms that valorize certain types of fieldwork We argue that acknowledging and analyzing experiences with harassment and other unwanted sexual attention in the field is part of a more fully developed understanding of ethnographic research itself

Internalizing objectification: Objectified individuals see themselves as less warm, competent, moral, and human

Abstract: People objectify others by viewing them as less warm, competent, moral, and human (Heflick & Goldenberg, 2009, J. Exp. Soc. Psychol., 45, 598; Vaes, Paladino, & Puvia, 2011, Eur. J. Soc. Psychol., 41, 774). In two studies, we examined whether the objectified share this view of themselves, internalizing their objectification. In Study 1 (N = 114), we examined sexual objectification, and in Study 2 (N = 62), we examined workplace objectification. Consistent across both studies, we found that objectification resulted in participants seeing themselves as less warm, competent, moral (Study 2 only), and lacking in human nature and human uniqueness. These effects were robust to perceiver gender and familiarity (Study 1), and whether another person or a situation caused the objectification (Study 2). In short, the objectified see themselves the manner they are seen by their objectifiers: as lacking warmth, competence, morality, and humanity.

Masculine norms, peer group, pornography, Facebook, and men’s sexual objectification of women.

Abstract: In this study, we examined the relations between 3 dimensions of traditional masculine gender role adherence (playboy, power over women, and violence) and likelihood to sexually objectify women via body evaluation and making unwanted sexual advances. In addition, we examined the moderating roles of association with a male peer group that abuses women, pornography consumption, and Facebook use in these links. Participants were 329 heterosexually identified undergraduate men who completed an online survey. Results revealed that endorsement of playboy and violence masculine norms and higher levels of pornography use uniquely predicted more body evaluation of women. Pornography use, Facebook use, the interaction of playboy norms and association with abusive male peers, the interaction of power over women norms and association with abusive male peers, and the interaction of violence norms and association with abusive male peers were unique predictors of making unwanted sexual advances. Conformity to playboy, power over women, and violence masculine norms each predicted making unwanted sexual advances toward women for men with high association with abusive male peers but not low or moderate association with abusive male peers. The findings underscore the need to target adherence to traditional masculine norms, negative male peer group associations, and pornography and Facebook use in interventions aimed at reducing men’s sexual objectification of women.

The Development and Psychometric Properties of the Interpersonal Sexual Objectification Scale-Perpetration Version

Abstract: Objective: This research developed and examined the psychometric properties of the 15-item Interpersonal Sexual Objectification Scale—Perpetration Version (ISOS-P). Method: Specifically, the ISOS-P was developed by modifying the original Interpersonal Sexual Objectification Scale (Kozee, Tylka, Augustus-Horvath, & Denchik, 2007) to assess sexual objectification perpetration. Results: Exploratory factor analyses revealed 3 correlated factors for both men and women—body gazes, body comments, and unwanted explicit sexual advances—with bifactor hierarchical structure. Confirmatory factor analyses supported bifactor structure with 3 specific group factors. Results did not support measurement invariance of the ISOS-P across women and men, suggesting that ISOS-P scores do not represent the same underlying construct across these groups. Supporting its construct validity, the ISOS-P was positively associated with self-objectification, other-objectification, and sexual violence perpetration, as well as hostile sexism, benevolent sexism, and enjoyment of sexualization. Conclusions: The current study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the objectification phenomenon that is inclusive of both victims and perpetrators of objectification.

Effects of objectifying gaze on female cognitive performance: The role of flow experience and internalization of beauty ideals

Abstract: Although previous research has demonstrated that objectification impairs female cognitive performance, no research to date has investigated the mechanisms underlying such decrement. Therefore, we tested the role of flow experience as one mechanism leading to performance decrement under sexual objectification. Gaze gender was manipulated by having male versus female experimenters take body pictures of female participants (N = 107) who then performed a Sustained Attention to Response Task. As predicted, a moderated mediation model showed that under male versus female gaze, higher internalization of beauty ideals was associated with lower flow, which in turn decreased performance. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to objectification theory and strategies to prevent sexually objectifying experiences.

From Attire to Assault: Clothing, Objectification, and De-humanization – A Possible Prelude to Sexual Violence?

Abstract: In the context of objectification and violence, little attention has been paid to the perception neuroscience of how the human brain perceives bodies and objectifies them. Various studies point to how external cues such as appearance and attire could play a key role in encouraging objectification, dehumanization and the denial of agency. Reviewing new experimental findings across several areas of research, it seems that common threads run through issues of clothing, sexual objectification, body perception, dehumanization, and assault. Collating findings from several different lines of research, this article reviews additional evidence from cognitive and neural dynamics of person perception (body and face perception processes) that predict downstream social behavior. Specifically, new findings demonstrate cognitive processing of sexualized female bodies as object-like, a crucial aspect of dehumanized percept devoid of agency and personhood. Sexual violence is a consequence of a dehumanized perception of female bodies that aggressors acquire through their exposure and interpretation of objectified body images. Integrating these findings and identifying triggers for sexual violence may help develop remedial measures and inform law enforcement processes and policy makers alike.

Objecting to Objectification: Women’s Collective Action against Sexual Objectification on Television

Abstract: Media often portray women as mere sexual objects, but to date no known research has explored relations between exposure to such media content and willingness to engage in collective action. In the present study, Italian participants (78 men; 81 women) were exposed to a nature TV documentary (Control video), a television clip portraying women as sexual objects (SO video), or to the same sexually objectifying television clip including a commentary against such degrading depiction of women (Critique SO video). After exposure to the Critique SO video, women, but not men, reported greater collective action proclivity and behavioral intention to support a protest against female sexual objectification, as compared to the Control condition. Importantly, results further demonstrated that anger was the mechanism underlying women’s collective action proclivity, as well as intention to react. These findings suggest that media literacy messages in the form of critique videos may be valuable tools to promote more active and critical media consumption and that media specialists, concerned citizens, and social media activists may use such messages to motivate women to collectively take action against sexual objectification.

Sexual objectification: The common thread connecting myriad forms of sexual violence against women

Abstract: In this article, the authors focus on the linkages between objectification and current societal manifestations of sexual violence toward women to make the case that everyday instances of objectification can provide the foundation for more extreme forms of violence. First, they formally introduce the notion of objectification and explain its origins and its consequences in those who perpetrate and those who experience it. Next, they use objectification as a lens through which to consider several related, but distinct, societal problems, including: sexual assault of college women, harassment of women in work settings, and sex trafficking of women in the United States and around the world. Finally, they offer potential solutions, which, if implemented at individual, organizational, and societal levels, could reduce violence against women in its many forms. (PsycINFO Database Record

A Listening Guide Analysis of Lesbian and Bisexual Young Women of Color’s Experiences of Sexual Objectification

Abstract: In the present study, I utilize objectification theory and compulsory heterosexuality as theoretical lenses to investigate lesbian and bisexual young Women of Color’s sexual objectification experiences. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight Black and Latina 16–19 year-old young women who identified as lesbian or bisexual. Using the Listening Guide method of narrative analysis, two voices pertaining to young women’s objectification experiences were identified: a Voice of Surveillance and a Voice of Self-Surveillance. Findings suggest that young women experienced sexual objectification as rooted in their gender, sexuality, and racial identities. Experiences were further shaped by the contexts in which objectification occurred: participants voiced distinct struggles navigating (a) sexual harassment and violence in relationships with peers and romantic partners, (b) sexual harassment and discipline in school, and (c) street harassment and violence from men. Findings highlight the importance of understanding sexual objectification experiences as they are informed by gender, sexuality, and race, as well as the ways that young women actively cope with and resist objectification. Psychologists, activists, and mental health professionals are encouraged to consider how sexual objectification is rooted in multiple forms of oppression, its implications for young women’s identity, desire, and well-being, and how young women can be supported as they struggle against it.

Up for Grabs? Sexual Objectification as a Mediator Between Women’s Alcohol Use and Sexual Victimization

Abstract: Sexual objectification, the tendency to reduce women to their bodies, body parts, or sexual functions for use by others, has been theorized to set the stage for more severe acts of violence but has been largely absent from the existing sexual victimization literature. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of sexual objectification in mediating the well-established link between women's alcohol use and sexual victimization. A large sample of undergraduate women ( N = 673) reported their alcohol use (frequency and quantity), experiences of sexual objectification (body evaluation and unwanted explicit sexual advances), and sexual victimization. Results indicated positive bivariate correlations among all study variables. Path analyses showed that mild forms of sexual objectification (body evaluation) mediated the link between the frequency of alcohol use and more extreme forms of sexual objectification (unwanted advances). Furthermore, the combined effect of sexual objectification (body evaluation and unwanted advances) mediated the link between alcohol use (frequency and quantity) and sexual victimization. The current findings are among the first to evaluate sexual objectification as a mechanism in the link between alcohol use and sexual victimization. Results suggest that efforts to prevent alcohol-related sexual violence may benefit from addressing sexual objectification.

Objectification and System Justification Impact Rape Avoidance Behaviors

Abstract: There is little recent research on women’s adoption of rape avoidance behaviors, and there has been no known investigation into how adoption of these behaviors relates to various system justification beliefs or experiences of sexual objectification. We surveyed 294 U.S. women aged 18 to 40 to assess experiences of objectification, belief in a just world, gender-specific system justification, benevolent sexism, rape myth acceptance, and engagement in rape avoidance behaviors. Belief in a just world, gender-specific system justification, and benevolent sexism were conceptualized and analyzed as a “system justification” latent factor due to similarities between constructs regarding how they influence worldview, particularly regarding fairness and relations between dominant and subordinate groups. Our hypothesized model had good fit to the data and illustrated that experiencing objectification was related to increased rape myth acceptance and system justification, which, in turn, were related to implementation of rape avoidance behaviors. Further, system justification was significantly positively related to rape myth acceptance. Results show the continued importance of understanding the role of objectification in the endorsement of rape myths and assessments of societal fairness, as well as how women’s attitudes about society may ultimately affect their assessment of rape myths and their personal behavior. This research provides new information and groundwork for researchers developing rape education programming in addition to those interested in the complex relationship between women’s experiences and behavioral outcomes.

Dress and Sex: A Review of Empirical Research Involving Human Participants and Published in Refereed Journals

Abstract: Our research purpose was to assess research addressing relationships between dress and sex. Our review was focused on a 25 years span (i.e., 1990–2015) and on empirical research utilizing human participants published in refereed journals. Three main areas of research emerged: (1) dress used as cue to sexual information, (2) dress and sexual violence, and (3) dress, sex, and objectification. Our analyses revealed parents do invest their young children with sex-typed dress however sometimes children demand to wear such dress. Some women intentionally use dress to communicate sexual information but inferences about women who wear sexy dress can be misinterpreted and are sometimes negative. Observers link wearing sexy dress to violence including sexual coercion, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and unwelcome groping, touching, and grabbing. Certain items of sexy dress that reveal the body have been linked to self-objectification. The fit of the items may also contribute to the body revealing nature of clothing styles that elicit self-objectification. The use of sexual images of women and children has increased over time and viewing such images is also linked to self- and other-objectification. Suggestions are provided for future research.

Perpetuation of sexual objectification: The role of resource depletion

Abstract: Women are sexually objectified when viewed and treated by others as mere objects. Abundant research has examined the negative consequences of being the target of sexual objectification; however, limited attention has focused on the person doing the objectification. Our focus is on the agent and how self-regulatory resources influence sexual objectification. Consistent with prior evidence, we reasoned that people have a well-learned automatic response to objectify sexualized women, and as such, we expected objectifying a sexualized (vs. personalized) woman would deplete fewer regulatory resources than not objectifying her. Findings across three studies confirmed our expectations, demonstrating the extent to which people objectify a sexualized woman or not is influenced by the availability of regulatory resources, a case that heretofore has been absent from the literature. These patterns are discussed in the context of the sexual objectification and self-regulation literature.

From “I Want To Hold Your Hand” to “Promiscuous”: Sexual Stereotypes in Popular Music Lyrics, 1960–2008

Abstract: Media content analyses indicate that gender-based differences in sexuality are common and consistent with gender stereotypes. Specifically, women are expected to focus on love and romantic relationships and have sexually objectified bodies, while men are expected to focus on sexual behavior. Although decades of research have documented the presence of these stereotypes in a broad variety of visual media, much less is known about the content of popular music lyrics. Relying on a database of 1250 songs across five decades (the top 50 songs from even-numbered years from 1960 through 2008), we documented the presence or absence of a dating relationship, the word “love” (and its uses), sexual activity, and sexual objectification of females and males (separately). Analyses revealed that the vast majority of songs addressed at least one of these themes, primarily dating relationships. Although female performers were proportionally more likely to address romantic relationships than male performers, raw counts reversed this pattern because male performers substantially outnumbered female performers. Males were proportionally more likely to sing about sexual behavior and to objectify both females and males. References to romantic relationships became less common over time, while references to sexual behavior and objectified bodies became more common. Content varied across genres, with rap being the least likely to reference dating and most likely to reference sexual behavior. Implications for sexual development are discussed.

The Relationship Between Television Sports Exposure and Rape Myth Acceptance: The Mediating Role of Sexism and Sexual Objectification of Women

Abstract: Rape affects a large proportion of women in the United States but is one of the most underreported crimes. It is believed that rape myth acceptance contributes to low reporting rates. We tested whether television sports exposure was indirectly related to higher acceptance of rape myth beliefs. An online survey involving 465 undergraduate students showed that viewing TV sports was positively related to hostile sexism, benevolent sexism, and sexual objectification of women. Through these variables, TV sports was indirectly and positively associated with rape myth acceptance. These results suggest that sports programming contributes to the perpetuation of rape myths in society.

The sexual objectification of girls and aggression towards them in gang and non-gang affiliated youth

Abstract: Sexual objectification is related to various negative attitudes and outcomes, including rape proclivity and reduced moral concern for the objectified, which suggests that objectification has implications for aggression. Our study examined the relationship between objectification and general aggressive behaviour in adolescents, including gang-affiliated youth. We hypothesized that (1) objectification would correlate with aggression towards girls, (2) gang affiliation would correlate with objectification and aggression towards girls, and (3) objectification and gang affiliation would interact such that strongly affiliated participants who objectified girls would be most aggressive towards them. We also hypothesized that sexual objectification would be a significant predictor of aggression above and beyond other factors, such as trait aggression. As predicted, objectification correlated with aggression towards girls and with gang affiliation, which also correlated with aggression. In addition, object...

Sexual objectification in music videos and acceptance of potentially offensive sexual behaviors.

Abstract: Little is known about how adolescent and college-aged women interpret music media or how their perceptions of music media are related to their acceptance of physical or nonphysical forms of sexual behavior by male peers. Adolescent and emerging adult women (n = 259) viewed and responded to randomly selected music videos. Results from MANCOVA indicate that viewers’ perceptions of women in music videos differed by age/social context and, after accounting for their perceptions of the videos’ entertainment value and realism, differed within the music video sets. College women were more likely than high-school-aged women to perceive women in music videos as attractive and powerful. Viewers were more likely to perceive women in music videos to be attractive when they also perceived them to be sexual objects but not when they perceived the women in music videos to be powerful. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that participants who accepted sexual objectification and who were entertained by the music videos were less likely to be offended by nonphysical potentially offensive sexual behaviors (POSB) such as dirty jokes or cat calls. Women who accepted sexual objectification of women and perceived the music videos to be realistic were less likely to be offended by physical POSB (e.g., being touched or grabbed, unwanted sexual advances). Results suggest that personal attitudes and finding music videos to be entertaining or realistic may together inform attitudes that normalize the acceptance of POSB.

Links among Familial Gender Ideology, Media Portrayal of Women, Dating, and Sexual Behaviors in African American, and Mexican American Adolescent Young Women: A Qualitative Study

Abstract: Utilizing grounded theory methodology and drawing from sexual script theory as a research lens, we examined familial gender ideologies, media portrayals of Black and Latina women, dating attitudes, and sexual behaviors among 33 low-income early adolescent (aged 11–14) African American and Mexican American young women. Themes revealed divergent experiences for African American and Mexican American young women. In particular, African American participants reported egalitarian familial gender ideologies and sexual objectification of Black women, as well as more open and positive attitudes toward dating and sexuality. In contrast, Mexican American participants reported patriarchal familial gender ideologies and the portrayed mistreatment of Latinas in telenovelas and Spanish language songs, along with cautious attitudes towards dating and sexuality. Additionally, Mexican American participants reported that they censored their communication about sexual matters with their family. Overall, findings suggest that interventions should be tailored accordingly for African American and Mexican American youth. Interventions with African American young women should focus on providing accurate information on safer sexual practices, whereas interventions with Mexican American young women should focus on promoting constructive conceptualizations of gender roles, which could help foster self-efficacy around sexual communication with parents and potential partners.

Treating objects like women: The impact of terror management and objectification on the perception of women's faces

Abstract: There is a modern trend whereby women’s beauty and attractiveness tends towards the artificial, which appears to be an extreme manifestation of objectification culture. Research suggests that sexual objectification has the ability to alter the way we perceive women. Objectification occurs, in part, because women’s bodies pose a unique existential threat, and objectifying women is believed to mitigate concerns about mortality because it transforms women into something inanimate and thus less mortal. We therefore hypothesized that priming death concerns should impact object-person recognition of women. In the present study we recruited 177 undergraduate students from a U.S. Midwestern university to participate in exchange for course credit. We utilized face-morphing techniques to create a series of images representing a continuum of artificial-to-real faces, and after being exposed to a death reminder (as opposed to a pain reminder comparison condition), we asked participants to rate the extent to which the image appeared artificial. Results suggested that death awareness biases people towards reporting artificial female (but not male) faces as real. Existential concerns about death have an impact on perceptual assessments of women, specifically women who have been turned into literal objects. Future research directions, limitations of the current study, and implications for improving women’s health and well-being with this added knowledge about objectification are discussed.

Objektifikasi Perempuan dalam Iklan Televisi : Analisis Lintas Budaya terhadap Iklan Parfum Axe yang Tayang di Televisi Indonesia dan Amerika Serikat

Abstract: This research is concerned with t he objectification of women in the television advertisement.I employ qualitative methodology (critical discourse analysis) to highlight how sexist media construct objectified images of feminine . This research analyzes the content of television advertisements from Axe fragnance in Indonesia and the U.S to know how beauty is encoded in terms of sexual portrayal. These findings suggest that beauty in the western perspective, may be constructed more in terms of the body. Th isstudy also discusses how feminist critiques of the sexual objectification of women in advertising may need to be considered within Ea stern perspective. I argue that the image of an ideal woman, as presented in advertisements of Axe fragrance, relegates women to objects of desire, leisureand sex . Keywords: Women objectification, feminim, critical discourse analysis, capital

Resisting oppression: body psychotherapy techniques to empower women

Abstract: Many women regularly experience sexist events and are the targets of sexual objectification. Objectification theory claims that repeated exposure to sexual objectification is likely to result in self-objectification, where value is put on external appearance over internal experience. Ambivalent sexism theory explains a two-factor system, made up of hostile sexism and benevolent sexism, which acts to keep women in a marginalised position. Both theories expose a plethora of potential negative consequences, including body shame, self-doubt, and self-harming tendencies. Somatic literature demonstrates that oppression can live in the body and posits that an important path to healing can be through the body. The theoretical model presented here aims to decrease self-objectifying behaviour in women by proposing body psychotherapy techniques intended to increase internal somatic awareness and cultivate greater relationship with the body.

Sexual Objectification of Pinoy Males in Billboard Advertisements

Abstract: Male models in skimpy undergarments showing their Adonislike physique, presented in sexualized poses with disturbing bulges or crotches is one of the common landscapes in the Philippine advertising today. The author found the conflicting idea of a nation rich in morals, values and principles but endure high profanity or obscenity through sexualized male bodies as seen in billboards of fashion brands and gratification of visual desire among its spectators. Advertising promotes this phenomenon stimulating the idea that sex truly sells, male models are objectified as sexual objects capturing consumers’ attention resulting to persuasion and eventual consumption of the product. Ads showing Pinoy males’ chiselled bodies in silhouettes communicating sexual innuendos constitute a contemporary marketing technique; a ploy for companies to earn profit yet an avenue for public scrutiny and moral outcry.

Sex Talk: Discourses About Female Bodies in Hong Kong Media

Abstract: Sex and Chinese culture appear to be at odds with one another. Sex talk, however, has been on constant supply in Hong Kong media in the past decade. Considering that Chinese culture prefers to conceal, rather than reveal, sexual matters, this study probes into the phenomenon which sees the proliferation of sex-related debates and controversies in news media in this predominantly Chinese society. Two cases about photobooks of female models were used to illuminate the dominant discourses regarding female bodies in Hong Kong media. Since 2009, photobooks featuring teenage models in sexy poses have become standard provisions in the annual Hong Kong Book Fair. In 2015, a 6-year old girl participated in the production of a photobook. It soon caught the attention of critics who questioned the sexual connotations of a few pictures. Despite the decision to recall all copies, the incident provoked debates on child pornography and a rare discussion about sexual agency. This study has identified various discourses in mainstream news media and social media. It was found that morality and money are two keywords that best summarize how Hong Kong responds to sex matters, while changing media technologies are opening up space for alternative views.