Sexually objectifying women leads women to objectify themselves, and harms emotional well-being

When women are treated as objects, they momentarily view their own bodies from the perspective of the person objectifying them. In turn, they become preoccupied with their physical appearance and sexual value to others.

This process of “self-objectification” leads women to experience unpleasant feelings such as shame and anxiety. If repeated, it can eventually lead to long-term psychological harm.            

More than 65% of women in this study were personally targeted by sexually objectifying behaviour at least once during the monitoring period. 

Women reported being preoccupied with their physical appearance roughly 40% more when they had recently been targeted by sexually objectifying behaviours, compared to when they had not.