Specimen in a Petri Dish: The Psychology of Public Body Policing

Why Society Feels Entitled to Comment on Women’s Bodies, and the Harm It Causes

Jenna Ortega sat down to talk about her career. Within a day, the internet was only talking about her body. Dr. Leslie Poston traces this pattern across decades of public scrutiny aimed at women in the spotlight, examines the psychology behind why people feel entitled to comment on women's bodies at all, and looks at what the research says those comments actually do. Part one of a two-part series.

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00:00 Welcome and Setup

01:55 Jenna Ortega Scrutiny

03:43 Ariana Grande Pattern

04:58 2000s Tabloid Era

07:11 Why Commentary Persists

09:57 Concern Trolling Explained

11:28 Parasocial Entitlement

12:58 Research on Harm

15:21 Stress and Health Effects