The objectification of women

[lumberjim]

Note the forum. Not in the Image forum....although I'm sure I'll be there if you start one with this same title over there.....

anyway.....the objectification of women has a negative connotation to it. Like it's a BAD thing.

So, maybe it is......but I notice that the women that have the issue with it are not the actual objects. I ask you: If you are the 'object' of desire and adulation.......does it bother you so very much?

Or is this something that bothers the women that are NOT being objectified?

Why are men not seen to be 'objectified' when women swoon over them? Atheletes and Rock stars?

Who started it? the women or the 'men/society' who pay them to do the hawt things they do?


I'm just wondering....

[Aliantha]

From my perspective, I think it depends who's doing the objectifying. If it's someone that is attractive to me then it's fine, but if it's someone I consider unattractive in some way, then it's annoying.

I think the objection to being objectified was started around the time they started burning bras. I don't mean it never happened before, just that women didn't speak up about it in particular.

Personally, I think if women put themselves in a position where they are objectified, then they should be prepared to deal with it. For example, you don't put your tits in the window then get the shits when someone looks at them. If you don't want people to look, then don't be conspicuous. If you like it sometimes, then do it sometimes, but don't be surprised if people remember the last time you did like it. You can't have it both ways.

A lot of women make a lot of money from being objectified and I don't think there's anything wrong with it if it's what they choose to do and I'd even go so far as to say it's still ok if it's simply a financial decision. We all have to flaunt our talents to make money regardless of whether they're physical, intellectual or academic etc. It's the way the world works. Better to go with the flow than to try and swim against the tide.

Incidentally, it seems to me that it's women observing other women being objectified that seem to have the problem with it.

I guess everyone needs to be someone's champion...

[SteveDallas]

The solution is, we should have more nudity. More nude photos, public nudity, nude bodies and representations of nude bodies everywhere and anywhere. That would solve the objectification problem. (I'm serious. You cover something up and tell people it's nasty and they can't see it, what do you think they're going to do?)

[lumberjim]

wank to it

[DanaC]

The problem isn't the objectifying of an individual woman. In each instance it's usually fairly easy to argue for its harmlessness as an individual image, against its being exploitative, and for its being more openly accepting of sexuality than has previously been the case.

The problem is the objectifying of women. It is the saturation effect of a particular strand of our culture that can be argued to be damaging and exploitative, because of the cultural image of woman that it implies as normal and desirable.

[Dingleschmutz]

Does "post your tits!" get you banned here?

[DanaC]

No it gets you directed to the What Do You Look Like RFN (NSFW) thread.....and if you're very lucky it also gets you a tit shot.

[Sundae]

I've had to stop reading Stranger in a Strange Land because the attitude to women is so out-dated it kills the future premise.

It's only when I see how far we have come in the last 100 years that I realise it's still worth keeping an eye on things.

Yes, the men started the objectification. It's been a man's world for centuries, and only started changing - slowly, slowly - as women got the vote. Men being visual creatures, they will objectify the object of their desire. Any dating site you look at, any casual hook-up site, any would-like-to-meet - the majority of posts by men express a preference for looks. From no fat women, to freckled women, from big busty black to small Asian, from hair colour preference to hair length preference. You only rarely see that in female ads. Their preference is for kind, or caring or GSOH. (Although as an aside, I met a woman who said she wouldn't be interested in a man with less than 9 inches because it wasn't worth it. She wasn't all that appealing a prospect herself, so I just wished her luck - I'd say she was shallow, but she must instead be very deep).

I'm not saying man = bad, woman = good.
Just that men want visual stimulation. And that can affect the perception of a woman as a whole person.

[DanaC]

On a slightly serious note albeit in response to a flippant comment, I do think there's a huge problem amongst some of the more right on members of the feminist sorority with equating nudity and titlliation with objectification. The two are not necessarily the same.

[DanaC]

I've had to stop reading Stranger in a Strange Land because the attitude to women is so out-dated it kills the future premise.

Is it that one, or the Cat Who Walks Through Walls where one of the main characters spanks a woman?

*chuckles*

I actually loved that book. I loved all Heinlein. I kind of enjoyed the outdated writing in some ways. In the same way I enjoyed Enid Blyton when I was young.

[DucksNuts]

I thrive on objectification....it makes it easier to get my own way.

[Cicero]

Women used to be owned as an object, "objectified". We are a little out of context here unless we are talking about women that are still lawfully property.

I don't think we are talking about the deporsonalization of women at all. If we are,then I am guilty of objectifying myself because I don't want lots of people to know me personally...

[Cloud]

I wonder what, exactly, does "objectification" mean. If it means treating another human being like an object, man or woman, then it's wrong. But it's a strange term to have the effect of "sexualizing." A sexual object is a toy or a fetish.

I don't care if men treat us like sexual beings; as long as we get to do the same.

[Elspode]

This another one of those "consenting adults" issues. As long as the objectifier and the object are cool with it, what's the problem?

I find that I seem to have the sort of personality that allows me to objectify women in an acceptable way for the most part. In other words, most of 'em don't seem to mind because I'm good naturedly serious about it. Hell, some of 'em only are interested in me at all *because* I've objectified them.

[Cicero]

I appreciate it. You are the only person who seems to like my ass.

Objectify away!