Self-Objectification in Women Researchers have long noted troubling differences between the sexes in self-esteem and depression. Women suffer from depression at nearly twice the rate of men and score significantly lower on measures of self-esteem in areas of self-satisfaction, physical appearance, athleticism, and personal self (Gentile, Grabe, Dolan-Pascoe, Maitino, & Wells, 2009; Peat & Muehlenkamp, 2011). Similarly, the disproportionate risk for eating disorders, self-harming behavior, cosmetic surgical procedures, and sexual dysfunctions in women are well-documented (Calogero & Pina, 2008). Sex differences often begin as early as adolescence, with girls reporting higher levels of stress and anxiety than male peers, a trend which only worsens in middle to late adolescence (Moksnes, Moljord, Espnes, & Byrne, 2010). The prevalence of these disorders in women may signal a hidden cost to being female in today’s westernized societies. Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) attempt to explain these phenomena through an examination of sociocultural factors in their objectification theory. Objectification theory proposes that women live in a society that regularly exposes them to their sexual objectification in the media and in interpersonal relationships and that women are socialized to accept this objectification as a normative part of their daily lives. This sexual objectification refers to instances in culture or in personal experience where women are regarded in terms of their bodies or body parts, as though their physical appearance were capable of representing them, or are evaluated as existing predominantly for the use or pleasure of others (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Objectification in the form of interpersonal or social encounters may take many forms, from subtle acts, including visual inspection of the body or comments on one’s appearance, to more obvious, often violent behaviors, such as assault or sexual harassment. Studies suggest that women experience, on average, at least 1-2 instances of non-violent sexual objectification per week (Gervais, Vescio, & Allen, 2011). Such experiences begin at a very early age, with 75 percent of female elementary school students reporting occurrences of sexual harassment (Calogero & Thompson, 2008). In effect, young girls learn that to be female means to be primarily evaluated based on their appearance, and that others’ perception of them can “shape their social and economic life outcomes. With these life consequences on the line…girls and women anticipate the social repercussions of their appearance [and become] their own first surveyors,” adaptively internalizing societal pressures to focus on their appearance and to view such a mindset as a choice or a natural behavior (Fredrickson, Roberts, Noll, & Twenge, 1998). Girls and women come to self-objectify, or view themselves from a third-person’s perspective, as objects rather than agents, chronically monitoring or surveying thei