Examining the Impact of Celebrity Gossip Magazine Coverage of Pregnant Celebrities on Pregnant Women’s Self-Objectification

Abstract

The present experimental study examined the impact of celebrity gossip magazine coverage on pregnant women through the lens of objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). In total, 301 pregnant women were randomly assigned to view highly sexually objectifying full-body images and accompanying text depicting pregnant celebrities, low objectifying headshot-only images and accompanying text depicting celebrities, or images of baby products with no people depicted (control). Exposure to the headshot-only condition resulted in significantly more self-objectification than exposure to control images. We speculate exposure to the headshot-only images primed self-objectification in participants because they visualized nonpregnant, thin, toned, and sculpted celebrity bodies that are frequently objectified by the media. Further analyses revealed that participants' stage in pregnancy, history with pregnancy, and age moderated the main effects. Among those in their first trimester, assignment to the headshot-only condition significantly predicted state self-objectification; however, among those in their third trimester, the full-body condition predicted state self-objectification at a level of marginal significance. Further, exposure to the headshot-only stimuli predicted self-objectification for those having no prior live births. Among those participants in the younger age group, exposure to the headshot-only condition significantly predicted self-objectification; however, among those in the middle age group, the full-body condition significantly predicted self-objectification.

“Who Doesn’t Want to Be This Hot Mom?”: Celebrity Mom Profiles and Mothers’ Accounts of Their Postpartum Bodies

“…Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, celebrity women emulated Moore by posing nude, and often draped in jewels, while pregnant (Cunningham, 2002;Echeveste, 2008;Nash, 2005). Over the past two decades, pregnancy photos became a lucrative strategy for selling magazines (Hopper & Aubrey, 2013).…”

“…One important exception is Hopper and Aubrey's (2013) analysis of celebrity gossip magazines and pregnant women's selfobjectification. Hopper and Aubrey separate 301 pregnant women into three groups: one viewed highly objectifying images of celebrity pregnant women (showing their full bodies in little clothing), one group saw much less objectifying images of celebrity pregnant women (only headshots), and the control group saw baby products.…”

“…More recent scholarship affirms that in our culture, early socialization practices and unrealistic media images cause girls and women to "self-objectify by treating themselves as an object to be looked at and evaluated on the basis of appearance" (Szymanski, Moffitt, & Carr, 2011, p. 8). Objectification theory emphasizes the cumulative effect of the objectification of women's bodies over their life course, a process through which women internalize the conventional beauty ideals described above (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997;Hopper & Aubrey, 2013). Indeed, women who self-objectify or routinely experience sexual objectification often feel shameful about their bodies and engage in restrictive dieting (Noll & Fredrickson, 1998), display disordered eating (Tiggemann & Williams, 2012), and have positive attitudes toward plastic surgery (Calogero, Pina, Park, & Rahemtulla, 2010).…”

"This is not what motherhood looks like" : mothers' interpretations of cultural representations of the celebrity pregnant and post-partum body."

“…Many feminists (Hopper, Aubrey, 2011;Cunningham, 2002) (Cunningham,4). Moore's cover sparked a trend of objectification and commodification of the pregnant female body, providing the maternal image for public consumption and pleasure.…”

“…More recent research on celebrity motherhood shows the trend of Hollywood moms in the media beginning in the 1990s (Gentile, 2011;Echeveste, 2008;Chambers, 2009;Hopper & Aubrey 2011;Oliver, 2010). Gentile (2011) argues that the obsession with pregnant celebrities intensified with the covers of 1990s magazines.…”