Psychology of Women Quarterly

The authors of sexual economics theory (Baumeister & Twenge, 2002; Baumeister & Vohs, 2004) argue that sex is a female commodity that women exchange for men’s resources; therefore, women (not men) are responsible for the cultural suppression of sexuality, ostensibly to preserve the value of sex. In this article, I describe the central tenets of sexual economics theory and summarize a growing body of research contradicting them. I also explain the negative implications of the claims of sexual economics theory for gender equality and heterosexual relationships. Researchers, clinicians, and educators engaged in understanding human sexuality may use the arguments provided in this article to counteract gender myths. This article also serves as a case study of how feminist scholars can employ empirical evidence to weaken a popularized, patriarchal theory.

In this study, we investigated the relations between sexually objectifying restaurant environments (SOREs) and anxiety and disordered eating in a sample of 252 waitresses working in restaurants located in the United States. Supporting our hypotheses, results indicated that higher levels of SOREs were positively correlated with waitresses’ anxiety and disordered eating. Our findings also supported a theorized four-chain mediation model in which higher levels of SOREs were related to both anxiety and disordered eating directly and indirectly via, in serial: less organizational power, less personal power and control, and more rumination. In addition, SOREs and a lack of organizational power had direct, unique links to rumination. Our findings highlight the importance of both contextual and intrapersonal factors in understanding waitresses’ mental health problems. These findings underscore the need to implement both system-level and individual-level interventions to combat the existence of SOREs and the negative effects these environments may have on women who work in the industry. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ's website at http://journals.sagepub.com/page/pwq/suppl/index

One of the most devastating long-term outcomes of childhood maltreatment is a sense of shame, which is connected to distress and reduced well-being. The aim of the current study was to examine a dual-path model and to test the relations between childhood maltreatment, shame, and well-being as mediated by both self-objectification and a sense of disrupted body boundaries among 531 female college/university students living in Israel. Results from the structural equation modeling analyses indicated that both self-objectification and disrupted body boundaries significantly mediated the association between childhood maltreatment and sense of shame. In addition, both were associated with reduced levels of well-being, through the mediating role of shame. Finally, we discuss the role these paths may play in the detrimental long-term effects of childhood maltreatment and how they may be targeted in clinical interventions for adult survivors.

Objectifying media may promote sexual harassment, including harassment proclivity and harassment conduct. In the current study, we showed that objectifying media affected people’s intervention when they witnessed a harassment episode. After exposure to objectifying TV or to a control video, Italian participants (N = 126) took part in what they believed to be an employment interview that occurred by computer chat between a male interviewer and a female job applicant; participants could intervene at any time in the conversation. Participants exposed to the objectifying TV (vs. control) video were less likely to intervene and took more time before intervening in the interview in which the interviewer engaged in harassing behavior. They also reported perceiving harassment at a later stage in the interview. We discuss the role of media in creating a normative context that condones harassing behavior, and we suggest potential training programs to increase bystanders’ intervention when sexual harassment occurs.

Dominant groups (e.g., White U.S. citizens) are more associated with “American” identity and they feel greater ownership over American national identity compared to ethnic minority groups. We extended this perception to gender and tested whether American national identity is constructed in masculine, versus feminine, terms. We examined whether U.S. men feel greater symbolic ownership over the nation and represent what it means to be a prototypical American, more than U.S. women. In Study 1, men and women considered male-associated traits more American than female-associated traits and listed more men as examples of “true” Americans than women. In Study 2, men reported higher levels of nationalism than women. Women’s nationalism was moderated by their conception of male-associated traits as American—women who viewed American identity as more masculine were less nationalistic. Men showed a stronger correlation between gender identity and American identity compared to women. However, correlations between gender identity and nationalism did not differ by participant gender. Results suggest men and masculinity are considered more American than are women and femininity. We provide support for the subgroup asymmetry hypothesis through the novel lens of gender. We discuss means of attenuating the gendered construction of national identity in terms of media, policy, and education. Additional online materials for this article, including study materials, a podcast interview with the author, and slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching, are available on PWQ’s website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0361684317707710

The high prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) in armed conflict has been documented in various national contexts, but less is known about the complex pathways that constitute the relation between the two. Employing a community-based collaborative approach, we constructed a community-informed socioecological conceptual model from a feminist perspective, detailing how armed conflict relates to GBV in a conflict-affected rural community in Northeastern Uganda. The research questions were as follows: (1) How does the community conceptualize GBV? and (2) How does armed conflict relate to GBV? Nine focus group discussions divided by gender, age, and profession and six key informant interviews were conducted. Participants’ ages ranged from 9 to 80 years (n = 34 girls/women, n = 43 boys/men). Grounded theory was used in analysis. Participants conceptualized eight forms of and 22 interactive variables that contributed to GBV. Armed conflict affected physical violence/quarreling, sexual violence, early marriage, and land grabbing via a direct pathway and four indirect pathways initiated through looting of resources, militarization of the community, death of a parent(s) or husband, and sexual violence. The findings suggest that community, organizational, and policy-level interventions, which include attention to intersecting vulnerabilities for exposure to GBV in conflict-affected settings, should be prioritized. While tertiary psychological interventions with women and girls affected by GBV in these areas should not be eliminated, we suggest that policy makers and members of community and organizational efforts make systemic and structural changes. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ's website at http://journals.sagepub.com/page/pwq/suppl/index