Sexual objectification in music videos: A content analysis comparing gender and genre

Although sexual objectification is commonplace in media culture, music videos provide the most potent examples of it. In the current study, we developed a coding system to measure sexual objectification and its correlates in music videos. Our analysis compared sexual objectification across artists' gender and musical genres (R&B/hip-hop, pop, and country). Compared to male artists, female artists were more sexually objectified, held to stricter appearance standards, and more likely to demonstrate sexually alluring behavior. In addition, sexual objectifica-tion was more prominent in R&B/hip-hop and pop videos than in country videos. The results are discussed in light of objectification theory and sexual agency.