Why are women seen as objects?
Why are women seen as objects? A question that always seems to run through my mind. Why is that when it comes to the female species we are always evaluated on our beauty or the appearance of our bodies. We are over sexualized in the media. Corporations have taken the innocence of little girls and how they view themselves and exploited them by making them think they have to fit a certain standard to be considered beautiful. Do we only amount to our appearance? Is that all we have to offer? Are we not as educated or as strong as men? "Sexual Objectification, SO, occurs when a woman’s body or body parts are singled out and separated from her as a person and she is viewed primarily as a physical object of male sexual desire." (Bartky, 1990) Studies have shown that the objection of women can potentially lead to mental health problems which include: eating disorders,depression, and or sexual dysfunction. In an article written by Dawn Szymanski, Lauren Moffitt, and Erika Carr, they discuss the two paths that women could be affected by SO. The first path being considered direct. Direct path represents an experience that a woman might have had with being a victim to Sexual Objectification. The second path is considered indirect or subtle. This path is more of a woman internalizing exposure to Sexual objectification. Barbra Fredickson and Tomi-Ann Roberts declared that women to a certain point internalize the objectification that is so often put out by society and began to view themselves as objects. They begin to self-objectify by primping themselves as things tone looked at. They put their value and worth into their appearance. Research also show that the depiction of women in the media has created a unattainable standard for women to reach. This unattainable standard of beauty often creates a stigma for women that they will never be valued as much of anything.
Have we allowed society to define who we are and our worth and if so why do we continue to let it rule over our perception of what beauty is? Self confidence is something that we are constantly fighting to build and keep as women through out our childhood and adulthood. As women we have to continue to research and become more aware of social objectification. By becoming more aware of how it can affect us mentally and physically we will be able to point it out when we witness it happening. We must continue raising awareness about it by speaking on it and how it has affected us personally. We have the resources and the tools to create round table discussions, to get women talking in order to help us with these issues. It's just up to us to make the first move.
Love and Peace
