Do Bikinis Make Men Sexist?

Women dance as part of a bikini contest in Cancún, Mexico (Photograph by Jodi Cobb/NGS) Do Bikinis Make Men Sexist? - Sexy women in bikinis really do inspire some men to see them as objects, according to a new study of male behavior.

I have just read an interesting article in the National Geographic News entitled "Bikinis Make Men See Women as Objects". The study claims that men see bikini-clad babes as ... sex objects and that half-naked pinups lead men to objectify women.

And apparently, Brain scans reveal that when heterosexual men are shown pictures of scantily clad women, the region of the brain associated with tool use lights up. That study has also spawned headlines like "Bikinis Make Men See Women as Objects" and others of the "See, Men Really Are Disgusting Pigs!" variety.

Researchers performed brain scans on 21 heterosexual men and found that such sexy images light up the part of their brains associated with tools or other things that "you manipulate with your hands" (like, boobs!). Lead researcher Susan Fiske of Princeton University said:

"it's as if they immediately thought to act on theses bodies" and observed, "They're reacting to these women as if they're not fully human."

Men were also more likely to associate images of sexualized women with first-person action verbs such as "I push, I grasp, I handle," researchers said in February 2009.

Interesting? Then read the click on Do Bikinis Make Men Sexist? to read the full article...

http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/02/18/sex_objects/