About the sexual objectification of women

yes, i totally agree. Skimpy clothes are immoral and create unnecessary temptation in men but most girls these days are just brain-dead and follow the new trends and ways of society without thinking twice, it could be peer pressure or just doing everything like everyone else around them. Porn features this kind of slutty dressing alot and i have found myself relapsing alot in the past due to looking at girls in provocative clothing then ending up watching porn. Our society desperately need to change in this aspect and teach girls to dress modestly.

 

You cannot apply the concept of female sexual attraction to sexual attraction in general. Male sexual attraction is focused on a woman's body. Wanting to use a body for procreation aka sex means dehumanizing the person inside the body. Wanting to use a body to put semen inside it means wanting to have sex with an object not a person. Acknowledging that the sexually attractive object is also a person happens in a different area in the brain. That's just neurobiology. Sexual attraction for biological purposes is a different neurological process than thinking about someone's value as a person. This is the difference between lust and love/intimacy. It's either sexual attraction to a body or a person, there is no middle ground. This is what a lot of people don't understand about addicts and their behavior when they do morally bad things that seem out of character. There are so many SOs in the relationship section being heartbroken about their PAs betrayal, financially, emotionally, physically. It makes no sense that a husband or boyfriend would betray the person they love. But they do because they are being both considerate of their feelings for their SOs and wanting to feed their addiction at the same time. Because both things are processed in different areas of the brain. And when their lust overpowers their love, that doesn't mean the love wasn't there. Of course, betrayal without conscience is worse than betrayal with conscience. But it's still betrayal either way. In the same way is it worse to just look at a person as an object for sex, compared to looking at a person as an object for sex and also recognizing they are a person. But that doesn't mean objectification doesn't happen. If A happens and B happens, then A and B both happen. Otherwise why aren't strip clubs called 'art museums' and nude magazines 'art magazines' because of all the men appreciating all the wonderful mothers, sisters, friends, daughters for their aesthetic bodies? Because men find it sexually attractive to look at women's body parts. They don't find it sexually attractive to think about having coffee with them or going bowling with them.

 

The objectification of women is not necessary to our survival. It is not inherent. It is learned. We have taught ourselves to objectify women. Yes we objectify, it doesn't make it right. Maybe you objectify the person at the store, it doesn't make it right. It is possible to not objectify everyone we THINK about? Yes. If we choose to THINK about them we can choose not to objectify them. I simply don't think about most people around me. If I am checking out at a store and having a conversation with the cashier than I can choose to see that person as a human. If I see the garbage man pick up my garbage I can think, "thank you".

What other people do should be of no concern to us. If there are women that choose to dress a certain way, let them. You CAN control your thoughts and by controlling your thoughts you can have a certain amount of control over your hormones. I know this is true. After over 5 years of sobriety you realize you have way more control than you think. Blaming a women for your lust or your thoughts is a cop-out. Saying that someone else needs to change so life can be easier for you is blaming. Saying that a woman can't blame a man for his thoughts when she wears something revealing is abusive. What other people do does not define what we do.

If we do not acknowledge and choose to change the ways we objectify women we WILL NOT overcome these addictions or habits or whatever you call them. Objectification is not the same as attraction. True attraction has NO objectification in it because it is about connecting with another person.

 

Trust me there isn't a difference between men and women's innate mechanisms of attraction. Women too feel attracted to men's bodies. And saying that women cannot be attracted to physicality as much as their male counterparts is no different from abiding to the old myth of "men being more visual, and women emotional". It is a ridiculous assumption that made it's way all across the media, but the mean goal wasn't to have a serious scientific study anymore else than encouraging young men into consuming more "visual" content.
I do feel attracted to male nudity, why ? because I'm heterosexual. It is superficial at the start but I would be open to any kind of developpement about this asthetically good-looking male.
Another good example of this (unacknowledged) shared trait between males and females, is the advertissement of gigolos. Pretty much all of them expose their skin to gain female clientele. This contradicts this broad assumption toward women's supposed emotion-based attraction.

However, this whole concept of sexual commodification ( like strip clubs and nude magazines, or even gigolos) is plain wrong and dehumanizing. Feeling no moral inhibation toward viewing another as sexually fullfilling and asthetic sex doll, says a lot about the degree of concern and consideration of the viewer.

There is nothing wrong about feeling initially attracted to a person's body. But the whole attitude built on this desire toward another, as well as the capacity of seeing beyond the physical trait, are the real game changer.

Also, wanting to fertilize a female isn't inherently objectifying. This how humanity procreates. Oxytocin plays a pivotal role in male fertility and sexual desires. This is why attachement will appear in frequent sexual partners in some stage of the relation. This means that males aren't designed to have emotionless sex, like many think. And nature definitely intended for fathers to play a role in their offsprings' developpement.

 

I don't condone those women. I can see why you think it's immoral. But the real difference is how you see those women. You can feel initially attracted, and still decide to stop it here.
If men acted collectively in this fashion, no woman will have any reason to dress this way.

I feel that such women see themselves as objects. And feel that their cheap sexual objectification is an intrinsic way of their whole social behavior.
But it still will not justify giving an objectifying outlook to any of those females. By doing so, we disregard any human mindfull trait about them, and focus on a single and largely abusive, insignificant aspect. This is a problematic issue that concerns the viewer. And he can't deal with it by justifying it with the women's behavior. Because this is the women's problem.

 

Haven't thought too much about this topic, but here's my two cents:

Consistent: Woman dresses modestly and asks not to be looked at as a sex object/woman dresses racily and is ok with being viewed in light of sex
Inconsistent: Woman dresses like a sex object and asks not to be viewed as a sex object.
I understand where the people that say its men's responsibility not to look at women as sex objects are coming from, but I think they are missing the point, at least from my angle. The question is more, why do women who wear sexually provocative clothing complain about being sexualized? Just because they can?

 

Very wise words and well phrased too. If they came from someone famous, they'd propably be a well known quote.

 

When you state it like this I think I understand the issue a little bit better. It is indeed weird to complain about something you are contributing to greatly. Like I used to have a mohawk haircut and a slight frown on my face most of the time but I didn't whine about random people being occasionally suspicious about me, since I knew I was the one causing it. By choosing to look certain way we are accepting the fact that certain stereotypes will be placed upon us. Thus it's odd to wear things that one knows will get more people to objectify them and then complain about objectification. It isn't necessarily morally wrong or remove the other people's responsibility for their behaviour, but it does make you wonder why they are dressing like that in the first place.

I think it's propably a case of society sending mixed signals to young women. On the other hand it's in to wear revealing clothes, but on the other hand it's in to be mad about people viewing women as sex objects. People who don't really think much about these things will just go for what's in without even realizing the contradiction. They might not even have any personal desire to dress immodestly or to not be seen in a sexual way, but it's fashionable so they'll try to do it anyways.

 

Imagine being so sad as to make a big thing out of what someone wears.

 

Not much women do makes sense, it would be like a muscle man walking around in a tank top telling people to stop staring at his muscles

 

Discussion lol. More like a mutual admiration society. Besides it's not a discussion, it's a bunch of views that are very worrying. I mean one man says that anyone who doesn't cover a lot of skin is an immoral person. This is silly. Just silly. I could say what's wrong with that but that would be water off a duck's back.

 

First off, there should be no laws preventing people from not wearing clothes. I can understand certain places where you have to wear them, but in public there should be no such thing.
Second off, why are men allowed to go topless in summer and women aren't? That is just f ing silly.
Third off, no I am not going to talk about why they are wrong because it should be already obvious to you.

 

Haahaa now that you put it like that I have the same problem. Everytime I put a tank top on in public I get stared at by both sexes and f4gs are the most obvious.

I get mad but then I rationalize and acknowledge it's my fault and I cant do anything if I only want females staring. Just gotta dress modestly or stfu if you dont want people objectifying.

 

The way I see it, how you react to what someone is wearing is nothing but programming imparted by your respective society. That same programming is why women wear revealing material, they need that attention just like us. That is again, what society has brought. It is a vicious cycle, which is reflected by increaseing novelty. Human objectification is a concept dreamt up by humans to justify the biological responses that we have become aware of, unfortunately.

In indigenous societies in third world countries women walk around without tops, but the men aren't going crazy walking around erect.

Mammals, whom also have that biological need to reproduce, aren't walking around erect everyday wondering why the females are walking around exposed. When we talk about primal urges, I think it helpful to consider those urges in other species, for they too have "primal urges".

 

Even men get sexually objectified.

 

We've been conditioned to think that if we cannot hold your attention that way, that we cannot possibly stand a chance at getting you to value the rest. We've been taught if we can't hold you that way you'll stray. And to some degree we are right, because we see your heads turn when we are with you no matter how we are at the moment. We can't compartmentalize like you do, so if we slip up even for a moment with the business of life we risk losing you to the porn that is constantly there. All it takes is a few slips and you're all gone forever from us. Trust me, I got complacent, now I"m so wounded by what my husband did, how he enjoyed the bodies of other women to pmo, that I don't know if I will survive this.

 

That's true, to a lesser degree but we do.

The difference is that most women with good bodies inherit it genetically through puberty, for men we have to work hard as hell to acquire a body worthy of being admired.