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Empowerment or oppression? College students' interpretations of sex and relationships in the popular media.

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Title: Empowerment or oppression? College students' interpretations of sex and relationships in the popular media.
Authors: McClung, Nicola1 namcclung@usfca.edu, Pella, Riana2
Source: Journal of Media Literacy Education. 2026, Vol. 18 Issue 2, p14-30. 17p.
Subject Terms: *Media literacy, *College students, Critical analysis, Sexual objectification, Power (Social sciences), Gender identity, Sexual psychology
Abstract: Scholars have long emphasized the harmful effects of overtly sexist and oppressive media images on young people's understandings of sex and relationships. Yet, this emphasis on explicit harm leaves a gap in understanding how college students interpret subtle, hidden, and ambiguous media messages. To address this gap, we asked 196 California college students at a large public university to critique a range of mainstream media content--from overtly oppressive, to affirming of nondominant gender identities, to containing mixed messages about empowerment and oppression. Responses were coded using our media literacy scoring guide for assessing students' ability to critically analyze media messages about sex and relationships. Results showed that students were most familiar with and adept at evaluating sexualized celebrity media content. They struggled when images featured unknown models conveying mixed or ambiguous messages, such as a scene that could be read as a mutual kiss while also reinforcing dominant beauty and attractiveness ideals. These findings, alongside the proposed scoring guide, offer a framework for strengthening critical media literacy education and research that addresses how meaning is constructed through ambiguity, contradiction, and subtle cues in everyday media texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Media Literacy Education is the property of National Association for Media Literacy Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Empowerment or oppression? College students' interpretations of sex and relationships in the popular media.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22McClung%2C+Nicola%22">McClung, Nicola</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> namcclung@usfca.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Pella%2C+Riana%22">Pella, Riana</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Media+Literacy+Education%22">Journal of Media Literacy Education</searchLink>. 2026, Vol. 18 Issue 2, p14-30. 17p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Media+literacy%22">Media literacy</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+students%22">College students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Critical+analysis%22">Critical analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sexual+objectification%22">Sexual objectification</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Power+%28Social+sciences%29%22">Power (Social sciences)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender+identity%22">Gender identity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sexual+psychology%22">Sexual psychology</searchLink>
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  Data: Scholars have long emphasized the harmful effects of overtly sexist and oppressive media images on young people's understandings of sex and relationships. Yet, this emphasis on explicit harm leaves a gap in understanding how college students interpret subtle, hidden, and ambiguous media messages. To address this gap, we asked 196 California college students at a large public university to critique a range of mainstream media content--from overtly oppressive, to affirming of nondominant gender identities, to containing mixed messages about empowerment and oppression. Responses were coded using our media literacy scoring guide for assessing students' ability to critically analyze media messages about sex and relationships. Results showed that students were most familiar with and adept at evaluating sexualized celebrity media content. They struggled when images featured unknown models conveying mixed or ambiguous messages, such as a scene that could be read as a mutual kiss while also reinforcing dominant beauty and attractiveness ideals. These findings, alongside the proposed scoring guide, offer a framework for strengthening critical media literacy education and research that addresses how meaning is constructed through ambiguity, contradiction, and subtle cues in everyday media texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Media Literacy Education is the property of National Association for Media Literacy Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=195974231
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        Value: 10.23860/JMLE-2026-18-2-2
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        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Sexual objectification
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              Text: 2026
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