Time to Talk About Male Objectification

Male pop stars and actors are expected to fit within beauty standards and maintain peak physiques in the midst of the gawking media and general public. They’re expected to receive public commentary on their body — and they’re expected to handle it well, no matter how explicit or degrading the comment is. The conversation around objectification and sexualization almost always revolves around women, but it’s time to talk about male objectification and the precedent it sets.

We’ve started calling out sexist and over-sexualized remarks when it comes to femme presenting bodies — but where is that energy when it’s a male star? On this week’s episode, we’re focusing in on the ways in which both male pop stars and actors, especially those who have grown up in the spotlight, are objectified and sexualized from a young age. Their dating lives, sex lives and bodies ogled and discussed like it’s no big deal. From Nick Jonas being hounded about his choice to wear a purity ring to Zac Efron being stripped without his consent at the MTV Movie Awards by Rita Ora, we thought it was time to talk about male objectification in Hollywood.

Other episodes of Name 3 Songs we think you’ll enjoy: How Harry Styles Broke the Mold of the Ex-Boybander | Boys to Men: When Heartthrobs Split From Their Teen Pop Image | The Fight for Women to Own Their Sexuality: Objectification vs Empowerment

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Sources for Time to Talk About Male Objectification

Thirst Tweets Walk a Thin Line Between Sexual Expression and Objectification (The Swaddle, Akshaya Chandrasekaran, 2019)

Thirst Tweets: Drawing The Line Between Sexual Expression & Objectification (Feminism In India, Semanti Chakladar, 2021)

Why We Objectify Men Without Guilt (The Cut,  Kat Stoeffel, 2014)

What about the Objectification of Men? (Collective Shout)

Underage Stars: Is There A Sexual Double Standard? Hell Yeah! (Jezebel, Dodai Stewart, Oct 2009)

Why the sexual objectification of men isn’t just a bit of fun (The Conversation, 2018)

‘Bring on the shirtless men’: Why it’s acceptable to objectify the male body but not the female’s (National Post, 2017)

Where is the humour in sexualizing male celebrities? (The Queen’s Journal, Cassidy McMackon, 2020)

Can Grown Women Leave Shawn Mendes Alone? (Affinity Magazine, Sierra Martinez, 2017)

Katy Perry Made Shawn Mendes Very Uncomfortable at the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards (J-14, Alex Riccardi, 2017)

Does Justin Bieber Get Away With Sexual Objectification Because He’s A Boy? (TIME, Michelle Castillo, 2011)

The sexualization of Justin Bieber (Salon, Drew Grant, 2011)

And ‘Sexualization’ Of Young Male Musicians (Huffington Post, Jason MacNeil, 2014)

Are We Living in the Golden Age of Male Objectification? (Vulture, Joe Reid, 2011)

Jacob Elordi Is Young and Talented and Still Figuring It All Out (Mens Health, Lauren Larson, 2021)

The Jonas Brothers Are Back, But They Took Off Their Purity Rings (The Federalist, Zoey Maraist, 2019)

Nick Jonas Opens Up About Losing His Virginity, Will ‘Never’ Have Sex to His Music (People, Melody Chiu, Dec 2020)

Nick Jonas Got Shirtless Again, Which Is Nice (Cosmopolitan, The Editors, Oct 2014)

Taylor Lautner reveals older women’s panties requests (Mirror, 2009)

Zac Efron 2016 New.com.au Interview (heatworld report)

Zac Efron’s Eyes Are Up Here, Ladies (DailyBeast, Tim Teeman, 2017)