Meaning & use
sexualizing
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“sexualizing” is a form of “sexualize”.
Meanings
verbtransitive
Treating a person, image or thing as sexual, or stressing sexual qualities in it, especially when that is unwelcome or unsuitable.
Grammar: Takes an object: they were sexualizing the characters.
Patterns
- sexualizing someone
- sexualizing something
Critics accused the advertisement of sexualizing teenage models.
She objected to colleagues sexualizing her in casual conversation.
Sexualizing children in toy marketing worries many parents.
verbtransitive
Giving a relationship, situation or object a sexual meaning or character that it did not have before.
Grammar: Often used about media or culture changing how something is seen: sexualizing a friendship.
Patterns
- sexualizing a relationship
- sexualizing a topic
The film was criticized for sexualizing a friendship that was meant to be platonic.
Some commentators say pop culture is sexualizing everyday fashion.
Common combinations
- sexualizing children
- Campaigners want stricter rules against sexualizing children in advertising.
- sexualizing women
- The magazine was accused of sexualizing women to boost sales.
- stop sexualizing
- The teacher asked the students to stop sexualizing a serious historical figure.
- accused of sexualizing
- The studio was accused of sexualizing a young character in the cartoon.
- sexualizing the media
- Her essay is about how sexualizing the media affects teenagers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- objectifying
- Objectifying stresses treating a person as a mere thing, while sexualizing stresses adding a sexual character.
- eroticizing
- Eroticizing is more formal and can be neutral or artistic, whereas sexualizing usually carries criticism.
- sensationalizing
- Sensationalizing means making something shocking to attract attention and need not involve sex at all.
Opposites
Word family
- sexualize verb
- to give something a sexual character
- sexualization noun
- the process of making something sexual
- sexualized adjective
- treated or presented in a sexual way
- sexual adjective
- relating to sex
- desexualize verb
- to remove sexual character from something
Commonly confused: sexualizing or sexualising?
sexualizing vs sexualising
This is the British spelling of the same word; the meaning is identical.
Practice
Which sentence uses sexualizing correctly?
Choose one answer.
Sexualizing needs a person or image that can be given a sexual character, such as young athletes. A roof, a score or the weather cannot sensibly be sexualized.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sexualizing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.