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Sexual objectification is objectification of a person, that is, seeing them as a sexual object, and emphasizing their sexual attributes and physical attractiveness, while de-emphasizing their existence as a living person with emotions and feelings of their own. The concept of sexual objectification and, in particular, the objectification of women, is an important idea in feminist theory and psychological theories derived from feminism.

Objectification of women

Many people view the objectification of women as one of the main ways in which women are subordinated in a sexist society. In their view, the objectification of women involves disregarding personal abilities and capabilities such as intelligence, problem solving skills, the abililty to contribute to society, and viewing them in terms solely of attributes relevant to a role as sexual plaything, such as physical attractiveness and submissiveness. Examples of objectification of women include:

• Internet pornography
• Print pornography such as Playboy, Hussler, etc.
• Men's magazines such as Maxim magazine, Stuff, etc.
• Strip clubs, massage parlors, "gentlemen's" clubs, and prostitution
• "Red neck" and traditional attitudes toward womens' roles

Historically, women have often been valued for their physical attributes. However, arguements that the objectification of women can lead to negative psychological effects include depression, hopelessness, and can give women negative self-images due to the belief that their intellegence and competence is not being adequately acknowledged (eg, Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997.) The precise degree to how objectification has affected women and society in general is a topic of academic debate. Such claims include:

• Girls' understanding of the importance of appearance in society may contribute to feelings of fear, shame, and disgust that some experience during the transition from girlhood to womanhood because they sense that they are becoming more visible to society as sexual objects (Lee, 1994).
• Young women are especially susceptible to objectification, as they are often taught that power, respect, and wealth can be derived from one's outwardly appearance (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).
• According to Anne Koedt, women have been defined sexually in terms of what pleases men (McCann and Kim, 2003).
• Men making assumptions that it is socially acceptable to objectify women
• Women not being taken seriously in the workplace leading to lower pay structures and incomes for women

Pro-feminist cultural critics such as Robert Jensen and Sut Jhally accuse mass media and advertizing of promoting the objectification of women while in the process of promoting goods and services.

Objectification of men

Feminist authors Christina Hoff Sommers and Naomi Wolf have observed that women's sexual liberation has led women to make men into sex objects. Just as with women, the sexual objectification of men can lead to psychological disorders including depression, and can give men negative self-images due to the belief that their bodies are not adequately attractive. Nevertheless, modern Western society continues to expand its sexual objectification of men. For example:

• On Passions, Desperate Housewives, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, China Beach and other television programs, men occasionally appeared barechested or in other states of undress while the women remained fully clothed.

• Print advertisements for Abercrombie and Fitch, Calvin Klein, Armani, and many other expensive fashion designers often feature sexually provocative photographs of male models wearing little clothing.
• Cosmopolitan, Glamour and other magazines geared towards women and teenage girls frequently display photographs of very attractive young men in various stages of undress. Playgirl is the best known female-oriented pornographic magazine, although it is also read by homosexual men.
• Chippendales, Manpower Australia and other male striptease nightclubs are very popular with women.
• Penis size has become an increasingly popular issue on which to focus, with the emphasis on the created idea that average male penis size is inadequate. The popular television shows Sex and the City and Ally McBeal helped to perpetuate the view that a male partner would be virtually worthless if his penis was not unusually large.
• Sexual performance advertisements for pills that claim to assist men in achieving and sustaining erections during sexual intercourse, have swept the USA's television screens. The impression being left is that in this day and age, if you are a man experiencing erectile dysfunction due to age, medical reasons, etc., that you will also be rejected by potential partners if you do not amend your impotency with products like Viagra or Cialis.

Celebrity objectification

Many actors and famous people are considered sex objects or "sex symbols" (such as Pamela Anderson, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Halle Berry). This new reality does not conform to either the values of traditional conservative gender roles or historical feminist analysis.

Marilyn Monroe might be considered an archetype of popular culture figures, although some analysts consider Clara Bow the true first "It" girl. ("It" being either "sex" or "objectified.")

Views on sexual objectification

While the concept of sexual objectification is important within feminist theory, ideas on what constitutes objectification and what the ethical implications of objectification are vary widely. Some feminists such as Naomi Wolf (1992) find the concept of physical attractiveness itself to be problematic, with some radical feminists being opposed to any evaluation of another person's sexual attractiveness based on physical characteristics. John Stoltenberg (1989) goes so far as to condemn any sexual fantasy that involves visualization of a woman as wrongfully objectifying.

Radical feminists view objectification as playing a central role in reducing women to what they refer to as the "sex class". While radical feminists view all mass media in a patriarchal society to be objectifying, they most often focus on pornography as playing a particularly egregious role in socializing men to objectify women.

Other feminists, particularly those identifies with sex-positive feminism, take a more nuanced view of sexual objectification, seeing sexual objectification as mainly a problem when not counterbalanced by women's sense of their own sexual subjectivity. Sex positive feminist activism has therefore emphasized developing greater sexual subjectivity in women rather than attacking sexual objectification.

Some social conservatives such as James Dobson of Focus on the Family and author Wendy Shalit have taken up aspects of the feminist critique of sexual objectification. In their view however, sexual objectification is one of the negative legacies of the sexual revolution. They advocate a return to Victorian morality as the antedote to sexual objectification.

Many critics of feminism contest feminist claims about the objectification of women. Camille Paglia (1990) holds that "Turning people into sex objects is one of the specialties of our species." In her view, objectification is closely tied to (and may even be identical with) the highest human faculties toward conceptualization and aesthetics.

A related concept often used by postmodernist theorists, including postmodernist feminists, is that of gaze.

Objectification as a sexual fetish

Sexual objectification also describes a specific sexual fetish involving the act of treating a person as an object for erotic purposes. This may for example provide erotic humiliation for the person so regarded. As with most BDSM-related activities, it is not considered abusive when engaged in consensually. Allen Jones' Hat Stand and Table Sculpture, which show semi-naked women in the roles of furniture, are clear examples of the depiction of the fantasy of sexual objectification.

References

• American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. ISBN 0890420246 (hardcover) ISBN 0890420254 (paperback)
• Fredrickson BL and Roberts TA. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly 21:173–206.
• Lee J. (1994). Menarche and the (hetero)sexualization of the female body. Gender and Society 8:343–362.
• McCann, Carole R and Kim, Seung-Kyung. (2003) Feminist Theory Reader. Routledge, London. p 243. ISBN 0415931533
• Paglia, Camille. (1990). Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300091273
• Stoltenberg, John. 1989. Refusing to be a man: Essays on sex and justice. Portland, OR: Breitenbush Books. (Reprinted, 2000. Oxford: Routledge) ISBN 1841420417
• Wolf, Naomi. (1992). The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. New York: William Morrow and Co. (Reprinted, 2002. New York: Harper Perennial) ISBN 0060512180

External links

• "Objectification", Fetch my Axe, June 5, 2006.
• "Women Like Seeing Men as Sex Objects". Interview with Janet Anderson by Petronella Wyatt, Daily Telegraph, October 5, 1996.

• Feminism
• Sexuality and society