The objectification of women

[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.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by 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.

I can't define it, but I can give an example. I was watching a show last night where there was some objectification going on. In filming, there is often a shot that will establish a scene, like the outside of a house, before the camera appears inside that house to see what the characters are doing.

In this show last night, the scene being established was a club, and to establish the scene, the camera panned along with the chest of a skimpily dressed woman as she went into a club. We never saw her face, but her bouncing chest filled the screen for several seconds before the camera ended up pointing at the characters sitting around a table.

As a guy, I have to admit that I enjoyed the shot, but the woman was clearly objectified. She had no lines. No face. Probably no credit. I'm sure the "actress" was paid in some way for her work, so she was probably happy to be doing the shot, but she was clearly nothing more than an object.

[SteveDallas]

Originally Posted by glatt

the woman was clearly objectified. She had no lines. No face. Probably no credit. I'm sure the "actress" was paid in some way for her work

If she was an "extra" or just a woman who happened to be on the street when they were filming, she probably wasn't identified or paid. You have to get into permissions and model releases when a person is identifiable. If they're not identifiable, then use of images of them without permission or compensation is fair game. (We're not talking news coverage here.. there are exceptions for that.) This is why when they have news stories about how fat Americans are becoming, you'll often see stock footage of some fat person walking down the street, shot shoulders-down and from behind.