Revisiting the Jezebel Stereotype: The Impact of Target Race on Sexual Objectification
By Joel Anderson School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Victoria, Australia
From Psychology of Women Quarterly
“Black women are regularly depicted in an objectifying and sexualized manner in Western media, oftentimes as Jezebels. But do Black women experience greater objectification than White women? Using eye-tracking technology, in this article Anderson and colleagues assessed levels of objectifying gaze toward Black and White women. The researchers also examined participants’ implicit associations between Black and White women with animal, object, or human attributes. Results demonstrated that Black women were more frequently objects of an objectifying gaze than their White counterparts. Black women were also implicitly associated with both animals and objects to a greater extent, and participants fixated more often on the sexualized body parts (e.g., the hips/waist and chest) of Black women than of White women. Results demonstrate the prevalence of the Jezebel stereotype. Although blatant instances of the dehumanization and objectification of Black people have attenuated over time, subtle and dehumanizing perceptions still exist. “
Article details
Revisiting the Jezebel Stereotype: The Impact of Target Race on Sexual Objectification
Joel R. Anderson, Elise Holland, Courtney Heldreth, Scott P. Johnson
DOI: 10.1177/0361684318791543
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Joel Anderson School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Victoria, Australia