Hey! My Eyes are Up Here!

Research study demonstrates that men — and women — check out female boobs equally!

by Coleen Singer

Usually, a woman can tell when someone’s eyes aren’t on her face and are, well, focused elsewhere on her body and often take a bit of umbrage at this optical behavior. There’s a reason for the t-shirts that say “My Eyes Are Up Here”.

But how, exactly, does that “objectifying gaze” play out? Despite plenty of anecdotal evidence, research had yet to empirically document the nature of roving eyes when it came to women’s bodies until now.

A new study by University of Nebraska-Lincoln psychologists Sarah Gervais and Michael Dodd employed eye-tracking technology to intricately map the visual behavior of both men and women as they viewed images of different body types.

When asked to focus on a woman’s appearance, study participants largely looked at women in “that way”, they quickly moved their eyes to and then dwelled on a woman’s breasts and other sexualized body parts.

The study was published in the academic journal Sex Roles and, researchers said, could provide the first steps toward addressing objectifying gazes and limiting their effects on women.

Though the men in the study exhibited such visual behavior consistently, the researchers found that women’s eye patterns actually were similar to men’s. However, male participants regarded the curvaceous women more positively than women with fewer curves, whereas female participants viewed these women similarly.

The researchers outfitted 65 college students with an eye tracking device and asked them to look at 30 photos of 10 college-aged women and to either rate the appearance or personality of the female in each picture. Each original image was manipulated to enhance or decrease the woman’s sexualized body parts in an attempt to determine whether specific body types were more or less likely to be objectified. It’s GOOD to have PhotoShop skills!

Though the results were consistent with anecdotal expectations of gaze behavior, Gervais said she was surprised with some of the findings, especially how strongly women’s visual patterns suggest they objectify other women.

“We do have a slightly different pattern for men than women, but when we looked at their overall dwell times‚ how long they focused on each body part‚ we find the exact same effects for both groups,” she said. “Women, we think, do it often for social comparison purposes.”

So, now we know! Although it’s a given that men do tend to check out the boobs of pretty much every woman they talk to, it turns out women do exactly the same thing for different reasons. Guys are just horny and can’t help taking a peek at a new set of boobs or a butt. Women also are checking each other out, but not because they are sexually interested. They are doing a comparison to themselves, much like checking out each other’s shoes.

“Do these boobs make my butt look fat?” It turns out that in least this instance, men and women are not that different after all.

Coleen Singer is a feature columnist for Sssh.com, the web’s original erotic site for women, by women. She is a Renaissance woman of many talents, but tries to remain humble in the face of all the curveballs life throws her way. She has been a professional writer for over two decades, and specializes in writing on media, culture, health and sexuality. You can see more of Coleen’s on her sex news and information site, eroticscribes.com

November 8th, 2013
Posted in Articles