« Across ethnicities, girls and women are sexualized and objectified through media images Although women of other ethnicities have also experienced sexual victimization, the legacy of slavery associates the sexual exploitation of African American women with distinct dehumanizing and degrading practices. In order to justify their enslavement and incessant sexual violation, the role of primitive sex object was ascribed to women of African descent, resulting in images of African American women as animal-like, savage, and highly sexual beings. »