Womens Sex Appeal vs. Mens Sex Appeal - Research Paper Example

HERE HERE YOUR HERE HERE Women’s Sex Appeal vs. Men’s Sex Appeal INTRODUCTION When ifying sex appeal, men and women have radically different views on what constitutes sexiness. There are also cultural factors that must be taken into consideration when determining sex appeal that differ depending on the values and beliefs of men and women in foreign countries. For example, Western society is inundated with sexually-explicit materials in many advertising formats as a means of gaining male or female devotion to a particular product or service. Depending on the imagery and the market, whether male or female, it can often create a stimulus response that ultimately leads to higher sales volumes for the product. In Asia, visual representations of partially-clothed men and women are much less common based on regulatory presence or stern, traditional cultural beliefs on sexuality. The most common similarity between men and women, when determining sex appeal, is based on physical appearance and not biological factors, such as chemical pheromone response. Advertising and the development of a liberal culture related to sex seem to be the most important factors that have created the modern view of sex appeal in both men and women. THE FEMALE VIEW Men clearly consider the importance of female sex appeal which is evident with the high volume of sexually-explicit materials that sell annually to male audiences. It is also evident with the large amount of advertising that is constructed and promoted to male consumers depicting women in various sexual postures. However, women seem to have a distorted view of their own sex appeal that might well be a product of advertising. The company Victoria’s Secret, a lingerie company specializing in underwear products (bras and panties), uses very slender and fit models in their on-air advertising and print promotions as a means of gaining consumer attention for the female market. One might automatically think that this type of advertising would be more effective for male consumers rather than female buyers considering the imagery used depicts same-gender models dressed in scant Victoria’s Secret products. However, women have a distorted view of sex appeal when measuring themselves to the models displayed in this type of advertising. They think, “Wow, she looks awesome. I should get that outfit so I can look that good too” (Blair, Stephenson, Hill & Green, 111). Why is this? Where most Victoria’s Secret products are sold, the cultures are liberal and Westernized where this type of advertising is acceptable at the social level. The high volume of companies that use this type of advertising, realizing how women view themselves in proportion to more sleek and toned models, continue to reinforce that this is the pinnacle of modern beauty and that women should actively seek to model these images. It is not, then, so much a product of personal or biologically-borne belief that this is the highest aesthetic of beauty, it is a product of engrained cultural imagery depicting slender women that has become a cultural norm related to beauty. Though there are some companies that defy this symbolic view of beauty by using larger, fuller models, the majority of sexually-oriented imagery continues to reinforce the slender form as the most ideal model for women to strive to achieve. Advertising such as Victoria’s Secret give women a goal to achieve related to beauty as it is a somewhat armored cultural belief that has remained durable over the past several decades. Thus, when a woman is asked what constitutes sex appeal in another woman, it is likely they will draw on these slender models as a guide and proclaim that female sex appeal is akin only to the type of women portrayed in this type of advertising and television or print imagery. In other cultures, such as in Asia, “women are very comfortable with being women and they are comfortable with their own sexuality” (Kautzky, 20). Women in Singapore were asked whether they ever purchased sexy lingerie and over 80 percent indicated they had, at some point, considered buying it (Kautzky). This is a form of liberalization movement that was created by globalization and the impact of Western civilization as these countries developed using Western models of society and culture. However, it again reinforces that lingerie and the slender form are becoming universal concepts in how women rate themselves in terms of their own sex appeal and the type of bodies they should strive to develop. Despite this self-view created by culture and society, women judge men and their sex appeal considerably different. A recent study involving 12 different women who were shown men in a series of photographs were asked to rate the sex appeal of the models in the images. A face-only and a body-only photograph of each model were shown to each participant in order to measure their ratings of sexiness. The study identified that 52 percent of the women rated men’s sex appeal on faces, while only 24 percent believed the body constituted attractiveness (Anitei, 1). Why is this? According to an expert from the University of Western Australia, “women focus especially on the face because they are better at picking up emotional cues which are key to partner suitability” (Anitei, 1). This measure of male attractiveness indicates a gender difference between men and women, based on inherent emotional responses that are commonly found in females. In general, women are biologically more expressive and sensitive than males and therefore respond differently to stimuli that arouses their feelings and emotions. Even though there was no concrete data that could refute that women find faces more aesthetically sexy, it may very well be that sex appeal is based on more demonstrative features when assessing men, such as facial expressions, that feed a long-term need for sociability and poignant relationship factors that women find important in potential mates. In this same study, only 47 percent of men scored beauty by the face which serves to reinforce the importance of emotional cues, for women, when assessing and classifying sex appeal in men. THE MALE VIEW Men are often driven to procreate based on the importance of the sexual act itself and place sex, itself, as the most primary driver behind their desire to engage in sexual intercourse with women. This biological drive likely plays a role in how men gauge women for their sex appeal and their selection of potential mates. Though it was identified that a large portion of men find attractiveness in women’s faces, there are other factors that determine female sex appeal in the eyes of the male assessor. In Las Vegas, a community where showgirls and sexually-explicit materials are commonplace, sex appeal is often measured in more than just physical characteristics in women. Popular shows often present topless dancers, thus indicating that exposed breasts are more stimulating to men. However, these shows are often described as promoting females “dressed in rhinestone costumes, feathers, and furs” who mix and inter-mingle after the performances (Baker, 80). This has been a common theme since the 1800s when women were dressed in similar gaudy and flashy attire in Western saloons in an effort to gain the interest of gambling and drinking men. Thus, it might be offered that men consider ostentatious or flamboyant displays to be part of what constitutes female sex appeal. If this type of gaudy display was not creating sexual responses in the customer base, it is likely it would have been discontinued long ago in the days of the saloon prostitute waving her feather boa over the banister. Men also have a somewhat distorted view of their own sex appeal that is likely, similarly to women, created by cultural factors and advertising. Men tend to believe that the body most people are attracted to is 15 to 20 pounds more muscular than what is actually desired in society (unh.edu, 1). Thus, for those who have made exercise a part of their regular lifestyle in a means to approve sex appeal, they are striving for something unrealistic with massive muscle development. This is supported by the statistics that indicate men spent over four billion dollars on home exercise equipment and gym memberships in 1999 (unh.edu). At the same time, the market for men’s fitness magazines has jumped exponentially in the last decade. When men classify their own sex appeal, they are motivated by a hazy and indistinct understanding of what society finds attractive in real-life culture. CONCLUSION What comprises female and male sex appeal, as identified, is significantly different when being assessed by different cultures and different genders. Self-view is radically different, for both men and women, than how they are assessed by the opposite gender. Men tend to believe, essentially, based on the data, that bigger is better which is in exact opposite accord to the female view who consider plumpness and the ample figure to be without much sex appeal. Culture clearly impacts these beliefs as well as the presence of advertising materials that reinforce the socially acceptable model that men and women should strive to achieve. For the most part, the research evidence indicated that biological factors are much less important when assessing sex appeal. The measurement of female versus male sexiness is unique with each gender and differs with the self-view and knowledge contained with each gender making the assessment. More studies are clearly needed on sex appeal in order to understand and concretely ascertain the factors that make up sex appeal in the minds of men and women. Bibliography Anitei, Stefan. “Women look at a man’s face, not body, to assess his sex appeal”. Accessed March 28, 2011 at http://news.softpedia.com/news/Women-Look-on-a-Man-039-s-Face-Not-Body-to-Assess-His-Sex-Appeal-54596.shtml Baker, Amy L. “Gentlemen’s Clubs and Casinos in Las Vegas”. UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal. Vol. 14, Iss.1. (2010). Blair, J., Stephenson, J., Hill, K. & Green, J. “Ethics in Advertising: Sex Sells, but Should it?”. Journal of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues. Vol. 9, Iss. 1/2 (2006). Kautzky, Christina. “No Sex in Adverts Please, We’re Asian”. Media. February 21 (2008). Unh.edu. “Men – Body Image & Compulsive Exercising”. Accessed March 28, 2011 at http://www.unh.edu/health-services/ohep/pdf/men_bodyimage.pdf Read More