Vietnam

Women are NOT objects

Le Quynh Anh Laby Le Quynh Anh La
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Do you frequently see female models wearing revealing clothes in advertisements or magazines? You must have several times, right? 

If you are not aware yet, this is called sexualistion. According to an article by INHOPE, ‘sexualistion’ refers to when “a person is valued for his or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics.” It is especially commonly seen among women and girls in different commercials to attract more audiences’ attention, particularly male audiences. In fact, a study conducted by researchers at Wesleyan University showed that women are sexualised in men’s magazines a whopping 76% of the time. However, it is unfortunate that many people today still do not recognize this as a serious problem and deem it as harmless, but the sexualistion of women and girls alike should absolutely NOT be condoned. 

Although sexualistion can be an effective method of advertising at times, its impacts on not only the model but also the viewers are extremely detrimental. According to UNICEF USA, one of the most significant effects of objectifying and hypersexualising women on young girls is lowering their self-esteem, forming eating disorders, and leading to body negativity. When young girls witness these beautiful models with hourglass body shapes appear on the screens all the time, they will want to become like these models just so they could be called “beautiful” without realizing that everyone is beautiful in their own way. In other words, such advertisements are creating unreal beauty standards in society and thus having a bad influence on future generations of females. 

Another notable impact is encouraging harmful masculinity among men and boys. Boys embrace the idea that success and attractiveness are linked to dominance, power, and aggression by observing how their bodies are portrayed in relation to girls. This will result in the normalization of violence against girls and exacerbate gender inequality. 

Next time, if you ever see the sexualistion of women and girls in advertisements and magazines again, please inform others about this issue and help spread awareness about it. 

Le Quynh Anh La

Le Quynh Anh La

I am La Le Quynh Anh, a 13-year-old girl, borned and living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. At the age of 10, I first learned about gender inequality when I read a newspaper article about a woman who was terribly beaten up by her husband during their quarrel. I was frustrated by how some people are not able to control their anger. However, I grew more furious reading the hate comments not towards the husband but rather the wife for being “annoying.” Since then, I started noticing and paid more attention to the problems concerning gender inequality around me. I love my country but I have to admit that sexism is still a huge problem here. In Vietnam, men still have the most power in the family and you would rarely hear of a woman who worked in the government. But on the bright side, changes are slowly happening and I also want to help contribute to the fight against gender inequality. Like Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” Therefore, I want to work together with girls and women worldwide to make a difference in the world. And I hope that through SHEQUALITY, not only my voice but also other women’s voices will be heard to a wide range of audience.