**1. Introduction**

While men and women do not significantly differ in prevalence for most major mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, women suffer from anxiety, depressive, and post-traumatic stress disorders at higher rates than men [1–3]. One possible reason for this disparity in mental illness between men and women may be attributed to the unique experiences of women in Western society. Though women have made great strides towards equality in our society, there are still fundamental differences in the ways in which men and women are treated. Women suffer higher rates of domestic violence, sexual assault, and sexual abuse than do men [4] and are often relegated to roles as caregivers or helping professionals in both their career options and their roles at home. Furthermore, media portrayals of women (such as in advertisements and popular film) tend to oversexualize women and focus on their relationships to men rather than give them agency and character in their own right. Such objectification of women by society may create experiences for women which contribute to higher rates of anxiety, depression, and PTSD in women.

One cannot study gender roles and the effects of society on these roles without discussing the intersecting role played by women's sexuality. Throughout history, sexuality has been used to control or define women. In her book The Purity Myth, Valenti [5] comments on the long history of judging women as virtuous based on their sexual "purity". Furthermore, sexual objectification has been used as a tool to strip women of their power by using sexuality and sexual appeal to define a woman's value and worth to others. In extreme cases, because women are treated as commodities to be consumed by men, sexual objectification has been used to justify violence against women, including sexual and intimate partner violence. However, if sexual objectification is used to subjugate women, sexual agency may be key to women's empowerment.

To be an agent is to have power over one's own body and actions. Agents are able to act on the world. To be an agent means to have the power to determine one's own identity and worth, rather than have them defined by someone else. To have sexual agency is to not only have control over one's body and sexual behavior, but also to have the confidence and awareness to use that control. Such power and control over one's sexuality has its benefits. In their commentary, Rosen and Bachmann [6] stated that the relationship between sexual satisfaction and well-being in women was an important and under-studied topic in health psychology.

Across studies, Rosen and Bachman [6] noticed a strong positive relationship between a woman's reported happiness and sexual satisfaction. This relationship has found continued support in the literature. Holmberg et al. [7] reported that sexual satisfaction was a predictor of well-being in women in both same-sex and mixed-sex relationships. Donaghue [8] found that a passionate/romantic sexual self-schema (one which indicated a greater interest and enjoyment of sex) was significantly associated with positive affect and greater life satisfaction. In one longitudinal study, sexual well-being was found to have not only a greater association with well-being in women over time, but also well-being from moment to moment [9]. Furthermore, this relationship has not only been found in America, but across countries. Carrobles et al. [10] found that, in a sample of Spanish women, greater sexual assertiveness, sexual confidence, and frequency of orgasm all predicted a greater sexual satisfaction, which in turn predicted a greater perception of wellbeing. In a survey of 13,882 women across 29 different countries, Laumann et al. [11] found a positive relationship between sexual satisfaction and psychological well-being across all countries. Interestingly, a study by Owen et al. [12] found that students who reported more depressive symptoms also reported improved wellbeing after engaging in casual sex, while students who reported fewer depressive symptoms reported decreased well-being after casual sex. This suggests that sex can be used as a tool for emotional regulation, lending further support to the relationship between sexuality and well-being. Across cultures and ages, sexual satisfaction has been found to have a strong relationship to psychological well-being.

#### **1.1 Sexual monitoring, objectification theory, and women's mental health**

A negative aspect of sexual consciousness, however, is self-consciousness and monitoring of one's sexual desirability. In women, such sexual self-monitoring has been found to be associated with lower sexual assertiveness and sexual activities [13]. Sexual self-monitoring is an important aspect of the self-consciousness about one's body image. Sexual self-monitoring is much more prevalent in women than men and is predictive of a range of sexual problems and sexual dissatisfaction in women [14]. Sexual monitoring strips a woman of her sexual agency by making her self-worth dependent on the judgments of others, and this disempowerment may be associated with decreased well-being in women.

**49**

cultivated from a young age.

coping.

*Don't Objectify Me!: Sexual Self-Monitoring, Coping, and Psychological Maladjustment*

Theory uses a feminist theoretical framework to understand how a woman's experience is influenced by a culture which objectifies the female body [15]. Objectification Theory posits that the experience of being treated as a "body" to be consumed by others (i.e., an object) results in a number of adverse psychological experiences for women [15]. Objectification occurs through the over-sexualization of women's bodies through obvious means, such as sexualization in the media, and also through more subtle means, such as the interactions between women and the men who engage in behaviors, such as catcalling and "elevator eyes" or the "objectifying gaze" [15]. In contrast to sexual agency, men who objectify women are more likely to report pressuring/coercing women for sex, while women who feel objecti-

fied are more likely to report being pressured/coerced for sex [16].

**1.2 Objectification theory, objectification, and coping**

Because women are often treated as consumable objects, they are evaluated by their attractiveness to others, rather than their inherent dignity and worth as a person. Through self-objectification, women internalize objectifying messages from society, thus diminishing the worth of their personal attributes and focusing heavily on their physical attributes. As a result, women often feel ashamed of their bodies and engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as disordered eating, in an attempt to improve their attractiveness to others [17, 18]. Even in girls as young as 6 years old, self-objectification has been found to affect eating habits and body anxiety [19]. Increasing evidence has shown that self-objectification negatively affects a woman's mental health [20, 21]. In their comprehensive review of objectification theory, Tiggeman and Williams [21] found that self-objectification strongly predicted depressed mood and disordered eating in young women, as well as, though less strongly, predicting sexual dysfunction. Self-objectification has also been found to significantly predict the development of disordered eating in both adolescent girls and young women [18, 20]. The body shame and appearance anxiety caused by self-objectification have been shown to increase depressed mood [22]. Furthermore, Carr et al. [23] argue that objectification of women's bodies can also exacerbate serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder, by further marginalizing women whose mental illness has already marginalized them.

Objectification Theory can provide insight into the link between objectification and mental illness in women. It may be that objectification interferes with a woman's ability to cope with stressors, resulting in a higher likelihood of developing mental illness. Coping styles often predict how well a person is able to overcome stressors [24]. Avoidant coping, or emotion-focused coping, is a more passive coping style, which has been shown to result in higher symptoms of depression and anxiety [24, 25]. In contrast, active, or problem-focused, coping has been shown to increase psychological well-being in the face of stressors [25–27]. Figueroa et al. [28] found that psychological well-being in the face of stressors, such as poverty, was predicted by use of problem-focused coping rather than emotion-focused

Despite well-documented positive effects of problem-focused coping, women tend to engage more in avoidant, or emotion-focused, coping styles. This can often lead to higher psychological distress in women [29], though adult women are not the only ones who engage in emotion-focused coping. In their study of adolescent girls, Broderick and Korteland [30] found that girls engaged more often in emotionfocused coping than did boys and thus were more likely to develop depressive symptoms. This finding indicates that emotion-focused coping in women may be

This phenomenon can be explained by Objectification Theory. Objectification

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90997*

### *Don't Objectify Me!: Sexual Self-Monitoring, Coping, and Psychological Maladjustment DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90997*

This phenomenon can be explained by Objectification Theory. Objectification Theory uses a feminist theoretical framework to understand how a woman's experience is influenced by a culture which objectifies the female body [15]. Objectification Theory posits that the experience of being treated as a "body" to be consumed by others (i.e., an object) results in a number of adverse psychological experiences for women [15]. Objectification occurs through the over-sexualization of women's bodies through obvious means, such as sexualization in the media, and also through more subtle means, such as the interactions between women and the men who engage in behaviors, such as catcalling and "elevator eyes" or the "objectifying gaze" [15]. In contrast to sexual agency, men who objectify women are more likely to report pressuring/coercing women for sex, while women who feel objectified are more likely to report being pressured/coerced for sex [16].

Because women are often treated as consumable objects, they are evaluated by their attractiveness to others, rather than their inherent dignity and worth as a person. Through self-objectification, women internalize objectifying messages from society, thus diminishing the worth of their personal attributes and focusing heavily on their physical attributes. As a result, women often feel ashamed of their bodies and engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as disordered eating, in an attempt to improve their attractiveness to others [17, 18]. Even in girls as young as 6 years old, self-objectification has been found to affect eating habits and body anxiety [19].

Increasing evidence has shown that self-objectification negatively affects a woman's mental health [20, 21]. In their comprehensive review of objectification theory, Tiggeman and Williams [21] found that self-objectification strongly predicted depressed mood and disordered eating in young women, as well as, though less strongly, predicting sexual dysfunction. Self-objectification has also been found to significantly predict the development of disordered eating in both adolescent girls and young women [18, 20]. The body shame and appearance anxiety caused by self-objectification have been shown to increase depressed mood [22]. Furthermore, Carr et al. [23] argue that objectification of women's bodies can also exacerbate serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder, by further marginalizing women whose mental illness has already marginalized them.

### **1.2 Objectification theory, objectification, and coping**

Objectification Theory can provide insight into the link between objectification and mental illness in women. It may be that objectification interferes with a woman's ability to cope with stressors, resulting in a higher likelihood of developing mental illness. Coping styles often predict how well a person is able to overcome stressors [24]. Avoidant coping, or emotion-focused coping, is a more passive coping style, which has been shown to result in higher symptoms of depression and anxiety [24, 25]. In contrast, active, or problem-focused, coping has been shown to increase psychological well-being in the face of stressors [25–27]. Figueroa et al. [28] found that psychological well-being in the face of stressors, such as poverty, was predicted by use of problem-focused coping rather than emotion-focused coping.

Despite well-documented positive effects of problem-focused coping, women tend to engage more in avoidant, or emotion-focused, coping styles. This can often lead to higher psychological distress in women [29], though adult women are not the only ones who engage in emotion-focused coping. In their study of adolescent girls, Broderick and Korteland [30] found that girls engaged more often in emotionfocused coping than did boys and thus were more likely to develop depressive symptoms. This finding indicates that emotion-focused coping in women may be cultivated from a young age.

*Psycho-Social Aspects of Human Sexuality and Ethics*

women's empowerment.

One cannot study gender roles and the effects of society on these roles without discussing the intersecting role played by women's sexuality. Throughout history, sexuality has been used to control or define women. In her book The Purity Myth, Valenti [5] comments on the long history of judging women as virtuous based on their sexual "purity". Furthermore, sexual objectification has been used as a tool to strip women of their power by using sexuality and sexual appeal to define a woman's value and worth to others. In extreme cases, because women are treated as commodities to be consumed by men, sexual objectification has been used to justify violence against women, including sexual and intimate partner violence. However, if sexual objectification is used to subjugate women, sexual agency may be key to

To be an agent is to have power over one's own body and actions. Agents are able to act on the world. To be an agent means to have the power to determine one's own identity and worth, rather than have them defined by someone else. To have sexual agency is to not only have control over one's body and sexual behavior, but also to have the confidence and awareness to use that control. Such power and control over one's sexuality has its benefits. In their commentary, Rosen and Bachmann [6] stated that the relationship between sexual satisfaction and well-being in women

Across studies, Rosen and Bachman [6] noticed a strong positive relationship between a woman's reported happiness and sexual satisfaction. This relationship has found continued support in the literature. Holmberg et al. [7] reported that sexual satisfaction was a predictor of well-being in women in both same-sex and mixed-sex relationships. Donaghue [8] found that a passionate/romantic sexual self-schema (one which indicated a greater interest and enjoyment of sex) was significantly associated with positive affect and greater life satisfaction. In one longitudinal study, sexual well-being was found to have not only a greater association with well-being in women over time, but also well-being from moment to moment [9]. Furthermore, this relationship has not only been found in America, but across countries. Carrobles et al. [10] found that, in a sample of Spanish women, greater sexual assertiveness, sexual confidence, and frequency of orgasm all predicted a greater sexual satisfaction, which in turn predicted a greater perception of wellbeing. In a survey of 13,882 women across 29 different countries, Laumann et al. [11] found a positive relationship between sexual satisfaction and psychological well-being across all countries. Interestingly, a study by Owen et al. [12] found that students who reported more depressive symptoms also reported improved wellbeing after engaging in casual sex, while students who reported fewer depressive symptoms reported decreased well-being after casual sex. This suggests that sex can be used as a tool for emotional regulation, lending further support to the relationship between sexuality and well-being. Across cultures and ages, sexual satisfaction

was an important and under-studied topic in health psychology.

has been found to have a strong relationship to psychological well-being.

associated with decreased well-being in women.

**1.1 Sexual monitoring, objectification theory, and women's mental health**

A negative aspect of sexual consciousness, however, is self-consciousness and monitoring of one's sexual desirability. In women, such sexual self-monitoring has been found to be associated with lower sexual assertiveness and sexual activities [13]. Sexual self-monitoring is an important aspect of the self-consciousness about one's body image. Sexual self-monitoring is much more prevalent in women than men and is predictive of a range of sexual problems and sexual dissatisfaction in women [14]. Sexual monitoring strips a woman of her sexual agency by making her self-worth dependent on the judgments of others, and this disempowerment may be

**48**

Few studies have explored why these gender differences exist in coping styles, though there is evidence that links gender differences in coping styles to gendered beliefs. Broderick and Koreland [30] found that the more adolescent girls believed in traditional gender roles, the more likely they were to engage in passive coping styles. In their analysis of coping and gender, Banyard and Graham-Bermann [31] argued that societal factors, such as power differences between men and women, affected the way in which women cope with stress. Gendered beliefs and power differences are not inherent in women; they are developed through the way society treats women. From a feminist theoretical perspective, one can see how gendered beliefs and a sense of powerlessness promote passive coping styles in women. In the context of Objectification Theory, it is possible to attribute this to the objectification of women. When women are objectified, their identity and worth are defined by others [15], stripping women of their most basic power, the ability to define one's own identity and worth. It is possible that, through this process (the loss of basic power and agency), women learn to become passive and thus engage more frequently in passive coping.
