MTV and Sexual Objectification

MTV was launched in 1981 and transformed many parts of entertainment and news. However, it was criticized for its sexual content, especially of women. Since then, there have been content analysis studies as well as audience centered studies. From these studies, researchers concluded that sexual objectification is very prevalent in the content of MTV shows. Sexual objectification is defined by Dianna Russell, a feminist writer and activist, as “the portrayal of human beings – usual women – as depersonalized sexual things.” Studies have also found that adolescents use the content they see on MTV for socialization.  This can be extremely damaging among young adults with the sexual objectification so prevalent in what they are watching.