Editing Sexism (section)

== Objectification ==

[[File:Menu.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Illustration of a woman splayed across a wine menu |Example of [[sexual objectification]] of women on a wine menu]]

In [[social philosophy]], [[objectification]] is the act of treating a person as an object or thing. Objectification plays a central role in feminist theory, especially [[sexual objectification]].<ref name="Papadaki 2018" >{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2018/entries/feminism-objectification/ |access-date=18 Feb 2024 |last=Papadaki |first=Evangelia |date=1 Dec 2015 |title=Feminist Perspectives on Objectification |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |edition=Summer 2018}}</ref> Feminist writer and gender equality activist Joy Goh-Mah argues that by being objectified, a person is denied agency.<ref>{{cite web |last=Goh-Mah |first=Joy |title=The Objectification of Women—It Goes Much Further Than Sexy Pictures |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/joy-goh-mah/objectification-women-sexy-pictures_b_3403251.html |publisher=Huffpost Lifestyle |access-date=December 1, 2013 |date=June 9, 2013}}</ref> According to the philosopher [[Martha Nussbaum]], a person might be objectified if one or more of the following properties are applied to them:<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nussbaum |first=Martha |author-link=Martha Nusbaum |title=Objectification |journal=[[Philosophy & Public Affairs]] |year=1995 |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=249–291 |doi=10.1111/j.1088-4963.1995.tb00032.x}}</ref>
# '''Instrumentality''': treating the object as a [[tool]] for another's purposes: "The objectifier treats the object as a tool of his or her purposes."
# '''Denial of [[autonomy]]''': treating the object as lacking in autonomy or [[self-determination]]: "The objectifier treats the object as lacking in autonomy and self-determination."
# '''Inertness''': treating the object as lacking in [[Agency (philosophy)|agency]] or [[Action (philosophy)|activity]]: "The objectifier treats the object as lacking in agency, and perhaps also in activity."
# '''[[Fungibility]]''': treating the object as interchangeable with other objects: "The objectifier treats the object as interchangeable (a) with other objects of the same type, and/or (b) with objects of other types."
# '''Violability''': treating the object as lacking in boundary integrity and violable: "The objectifier treats the object as lacking in boundary integrity, as something that it is permissible to break up, smash, break into."
# '''[[Ownership]]''': treating the object as if it can be owned, bought, or sold: "The objectifier treats the object as something that is owned by another, can be bought or sold, etc."
# '''Denial of [[subjectivity]]''': treating the object as if there is no need for concern for its experiences or feelings: "The objectifier treats the object as something whose experience and feelings (if any) need not be taken into account."
[[Rae Helen Langton]], in ''Sexual Solipsism: Philosophical Essays on Pornography and Objectification'', proposed three more properties to be added to Nussbaum's list:<ref name="Papadaki 2018" /><ref name="Langton 2009">{{cite book |author1=Rae Langton |author-link1=Rae Helen Langton |title=Sexual Solipsism: Philosophical Essays on Pornography and Objectification, 1st Edition |date=February 15, 2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-955145-3 |pages=228–229}}</ref>
# '''Reduction to body''': the treatment of a person as identified with their body, or body parts;
# '''Reduction to appearance''': the treatment of a person primarily in terms of how they look, or how they appear to the senses;
# '''Silencing''': the treatment of a person as if they are silent, lacking the capacity to speak.
According to objectification theory, objectification can have important repercussions on women, particularly young women, as it can negatively impact their psychological health and lead to the development of mental disorders, such as [[Major depressive disorder|unipolar depression]], [[sexual dysfunction]], and [[eating disorder]]s.<ref name="Fredrickson 1997">{{cite journal |last1=Fredrickson |first1=Barbara L. |last2=Roberts |first2=Tomi-Ann |title=Objectification Theory |journal=[[Psychology of Women Quarterly]] |volume=21 |issue=2 |year=1997 |pages=173–206 |issn=0361-6843 |doi=10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x |s2cid=145272074}}</ref>

=== In advertising ===

[[File:Two girls examining a bulletin board posted on a fence. An advertisement painted above them asks "Are You a Woman?".jpg|thumb|right|alt=Two girls examining a bulletin board posted on a fence. An advertisement painted above them asks "Are You a Woman?".|Women examining a bulletin board posted on a fence. An advertisement painted above them asks "Are You a Woman?"]]<!-- WP:Caption "Not every image ..." -->

While advertising used to portray women and men in obviously stereotypical roles (e.g., as a housewife, breadwinner), in modern advertisements, they are no longer solely confined to their traditional roles. However, advertising today still stereotypes men and women, albeit in more subtle ways, including by sexually objectifying them.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zimmerman |first1=Amanda |last2=Dahlberg |first2=John |year=2008 |title=The sexual objectification of women in advertising: A contemporary cultural perspective |url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/4682b9942712c00d48f819e9039023c9bae4ede6 |journal=[[Journal of Advertising Research]] |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=71–79 |doi=10.2501/s0021849908080094 |s2cid=30977582}}</ref> Women are most often targets of sexism in advertising.{{Citation needed|reason=Source needed|date=April 2018}} When in advertisements with men they are often shorter and put in the background of images, shown in more "feminine" poses, and generally present a higher degree of "body display".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zotos |first1=Yorgos |last2=Tsichla |first2=Eirini |date=October 2014 |title=Snapshots of Men and Women in Interaction: An Investigation of Stereotypes in Print Advertisement Relationship Portrayals |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267842958 |journal=Journal of Euromarketing |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=35–58 |via=ResearchGate |doi=10.9768/0023.03.035 |doi-broken-date=November 1, 2024}}</ref>

Today, some countries (for example [[Norway]] and [[Denmark]]) have laws against [[Sex in advertising|sexual objectification in advertising]].<ref name="Holmes 2008">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7365722.stm |work=BBC News |title=Scandinavian split on sexist ads |date=April 25, 2008 |access-date=April 6, 2010 |first=Stephanie |last=Holmes}}</ref> Nudity is not banned, and nude people can be used to advertise a product if they are relevant to the product advertised. Sol Olving, head of Norway's Kreativt Forum (an association of the country's top advertising agencies) explained, "You could have a naked person advertising shower gel or a cream, but not a woman in a bikini draped across a car".<ref name="Holmes 2008"/>

Other countries continue to ban nudity (on traditional obscenity grounds), but also make explicit reference to sexual objectification, such as [[Israel]]'s ban of [[billboard]]s that "depicts sexual humiliation or abasement, or presents a human being as an object available for sexual use".<ref>{{cite book |title=Israeli Penal Law 5737–1977: Obscene publication and display |publisher=OECD |pages=70–71 |edition=6th |ref=Article 214 |url=http://www.oecd.org/investment/anti-bribery/anti-briberyconvention/43289694.pdf |access-date=February 26, 2015}} (English translation)</ref>

=== Pornography ===
{{See also|Feminist views on pornography}}

Anti-pornography feminist [[Catharine MacKinnon]] argues that [[pornography]] contributes to sexism by objectifying women and portraying them in submissive roles.<ref>MacKinnon, Catharine (1987). ''Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law''. Cambridge, MA: [[Harvard University Press]]. p. 147.</ref> MacKinnon, along with [[Andrea Dworkin]], argues that pornography reduces women to mere tools, and is a form of sex discrimination.<ref name="Papadaki 2012">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Papadaki |first=Evangelia |title=Feminist Perspectives on Objectification |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/feminism-objectification/ |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=December 1, 2013 |date=June 28, 2011 |edition=Winter 2012}}</ref> The two scholars highlight the link between objectification and pornography by stating:

<blockquote>We define pornography as the graphic sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures and words that also includes (i) women are presented dehumanized as sexual objects, things, or commodities; or (ii) women are presented as sexual objects who enjoy humiliation or pain; or (iii) women are presented as sexual objects experiencing sexual pleasure in rape, incest or other sexual assault; or (iv) women are presented as sexual objects tied up, cut up or mutilated or bruised or physically hurt; or (v) women are presented in postures or positions of sexual submission, servility, or display; or (vi) women's body parts—including but not limited to vaginas, breasts, or buttocks—are exhibited such that women are reduced to those parts; or (vii) women are presented being penetrated by objects or animals; or (viii) women are presented in scenarios of degradation, humiliation, injury, torture, shown as filthy or inferior, bleeding, bruised, or hurt in a context that makes these conditions sexual."<ref name="Dworkin 1988">{{cite book |author1=Andrea Dworkin |author-link1=Andrea Dworkin |author2=Catharine A. MacKinnon |author-link2=Catharine MacKinnon |title=Pornography and civil rights: a new day for women's equality |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J69HAQAAIAAJ |date=August 1988 |publisher=Organizing Against Pornography |isbn=978-0-9621849-0-1}}</ref></blockquote>

[[Robin Morgan]] and Catharine MacKinnon suggest that certain types of pornography also contribute to [[violence against women]] by eroticizing scenes in which women are dominated, coerced, humiliated or [[sexually assault]]ed.<ref>Morgan, Robin. (1974). "Theory and Practice: Pornography and Rape". In: ''Going Too Far: The Personal Chronicle of a Feminist''. (1977). [[Random House]]. 333 p. {{ISBN|0-394-48227-1}}. (1978 ed, {{ISBN|0-394-72612-X}}.)</ref><ref name="Jeffries 2006">{{Cite news |last=Jeffries |first=Stuart |title=Are women human? (interview with Catharine MacKinnon) |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=September 1, 2009 |date=April 12, 2006 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/apr/12/gender.politicsphilosophyandsociety |location=London}}</ref>

Some people opposed to pornography, including MacKinnon, charge that the production of pornography entails physical, psychological, and economic [[coercion]] of the women who perform and model in it.<ref name="Shrage 2007">Shrage, Laurie. (July 13, 2007). [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminist-sex-markets/#Por "Feminist Perspectives on Sex Markets: Pornography"]. In: ''[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]''.</ref><ref>Mackinnon, Catherine A. (1984) "Not a moral issue." ''[[Yale Law and Policy Review]]'' 2:321-345. Reprinted in: Mackinnon (1989). ''Toward a Feminist Theory of the State'' Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|0-674-89645-9}} (1st ed), {{ISBN|0-674-89646-7}} (2nd ed). "Sex forced on real women so that it can be sold at a profit to be forced on other real women; women's bodies trussed and maimed and raped and made into things to be hurt and obtained and accessed, and this presented as the nature of women; the coercion that is visible and the coercion that has become invisible—this and more grounds the feminist concern with pornography"</ref><ref name="Wattenberg 1995">{{Cite episode |last=Wattenberg |first=Ben |title=A Conversation With Catherine MacKinnon (transcript) |series=[[Think Tank with Ben Wattenberg|Think Tank]] |network=PBS |access-date=18 Feb 2024 |date=1995 |url=https://www.pbs.org/thinktank/transcript215.html}}</ref> Opponents of pornography charge that it presents a distorted image of sexual relations and reinforces sexual myths; it shows women as continually available and willing to engage in sex at any time, with any person, on their terms, responding positively to any requests.

MacKinnon writes:
<blockquote>Pornography affects people's belief in rape myths. So for example if a woman says "I didn't consent" and people have been viewing pornography, they believe rape myths and believe the woman did consent no matter what she said. That when she said no, she meant yes. When she said she didn't want to, that meant more beer. When she said she would prefer to go home, that means she's a lesbian who needs to be given a good corrective experience. Pornography promotes these rape myths and desensitizes people to violence against women so that you need more violence to become sexually aroused if you're a pornography consumer. This is very well documented.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/apr/12/gender.politicsphilosophyandsociety |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Stuart |last=Jeffries |title=Stuart Jeffries talks to leading feminist Catharine MacKinnon |date=April 12, 2006}}</ref></blockquote>

Defenders of pornography and anti-censorship activists (including [[sex-positive feminists]]) argue that pornography does not seriously impact a mentally healthy individual, since the viewer can distinguish between fantasy and reality.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Strossen |first=Nadine |date=1993 |title=A Feminist Critique of "the" Feminist Critique of Pornography |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1073402 |journal=Virginia Law Review |language=en |volume=79 |issue=5 |pages=1129 |doi=10.2307/1073402 |jstor=1073402 |issn=0042-6601 |quote=By insisting that "pornography" instills misogynistic attitudes, or even behavior, in viewers-or at least male viewers-the feminist pro-censorship faction ignores the subjective, complex nature of the interactions between an individual and a text or an image. This reductionist approach denies the existence of ambiguity, subtlety, and irony. It overlooks the boundary between fantasy, imagination, and ideas, on the one hand, and behavior on the other.126 Ultimately, it denies individual autonomy, assuming that at least some viewers of "pornography" will automatically react to it in a simplistic, "monkey-see, monkey-do" fashion. In the words of Professor McCormack, pro-censorship feminists "reject the distinction between thought and deed which is both the cornerstone of liberal democracy and the foundation of a humanistic model of human nature."}}</ref> Some also contend that both men and women are objectified in pornography, particularly [[Sadomasochism|sadistic or masochistic]] pornography in which men are objectified and sexually used by women.<ref>[http://www.seejane.org/downloads/Hatton_Trautner_Sexuality_and_Culture.pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123115712/http://www.seejane.org/downloads/Hatton_Trautner_Sexuality_and_Culture.pdf|date=January 23, 2013}}</ref>

=== Prostitution ===

[[Prostitution]] is the business or practice of engaging in [[human sexual activity|sexual relations]] for [[payment]].<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=Prostitution—Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prostitution |dictionary=Merriam-Webster |access-date=September 19, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Prostitution Law & Legal Definition |url=http://definitions.uslegal.com/p/prostitution |publisher=US Legal |access-date=19 March 2013}}</ref> Sex workers are often objectified and are seen as existing only to serve clients, thus calling their sense of agency into question. There is a prevailing notion that because they sell sex professionally, prostitutes automatically consent to all sexual contact.<ref name="Sullivan 2007">{{cite journal |title=Rape, Prostitution and Consent |author=Sullivan, Barbara |journal=[[Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology]] |year=2007 |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=127–142 |quote=In common law jurisdictions like the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, some of the evidentiary jurisprudence clearly linked chastity with veracity. So women who were or had been sex workers, those who were 'rumoured' to be prostitutes or who were simply promiscuous and behaving 'like a prostitute' lacked credibility as complainants, which made it difficult for the prosecution to prove the sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt. Women in any of these categories were seen at law as 'commonly available' to men, as always consenting to sexual activity and thus, as not able to be raped. Men accused of sexual assault were therefore able to use evidence of prostitution to defend themselves, to undermine the credibility of rape complainants and to successfully avoid conviction. |doi=10.1375/acri.40.2.127 |s2cid=145263451}}</ref> As a result, sex workers face higher [[violence against prostitutes|rates of violence]] and sexual assault. This is often dismissed, ignored and not taken seriously by authorities.<ref name="Sullivan 2007" />

In many countries, prostitution is dominated by brothels or pimps, who often claim ownership over sex workers. This sense of ownership furthers the concept that sex workers are void of agency.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://walnet.org/csis/papers/redefining.html |title=Redefining Prostitution as Sex Work on the International Agenda |website=walnet.org}}</ref> This is literally the case in instances of [[sexual slavery]].

Various authors have argued that female prostitution is based on male sexism that condones the idea that unwanted sex with a woman is acceptable, that men's desires must be satisfied, and that women are coerced into and exist to serve men sexually.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/Prostitution.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903143328/http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/Prostitution.pdf |archive-date=September 3, 2006 |title=Readings on Prostitution}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jan/18/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation |title=Julie Bindel: Eradicate the oldest oppression—UK news—The Guardian |author=Julie Bindel |newspaper=the Guardian |date=January 18, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/sep/10/endingatradeinmisery |title=Ending a trade in misery |author=Julie Bindel |newspaper=the Guardian |date=September 10, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mlFgjEBYWYC |title=The Industrial Vagina |via=[[Google Books]] |access-date=2015-03-31 |isbn=978-0-203-69830-3 |last1=Jeffreys |first1=Sheila |date=November 11, 2008 |publisher=Taylor & Francis}}</ref> The [[European Women's Lobby]] condemned prostitution as "an intolerable form of male violence".<ref>{{cite web |title=European Women's Lobby: Prostitution in Europe: 60 Years of Reluctance |url=http://www.womenslobby.eu/spip.php?article472 |website=womenslobby.eu}}</ref>

[[Carole Pateman]] writes that:<blockquote>
Prostitution is the use of a woman's body by a man for his own satisfaction. There is no desire or satisfaction on the part of the prostitute. Prostitution is not mutual, pleasurable exchange of the use of bodies, but the unilateral use of a woman's body by a man in exchange for money.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jH2KPvZF1L0C |title=The Sexual Contract |via=[[Google Books]] |access-date=March 31, 2015 |isbn=978-0-8047-1477-8 |last1=Pateman |first1=Carole |author-link=Carole Pateman |year=1988 |publisher=Stanford University Press}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Media portrayals ===

{{see also|Misogyny in rap music|Sexism in heavy metal music}}

Some scholars believe that media portrayals of demographic groups can both maintain and disrupt attitudes and behaviors toward those groups.<ref>Cole, E., & Henderson Daniel, J. (Eds.). (2005). ''Featuring females: Feminist analyses of media''. Washington, DC: [[American Psychological Association]]. {{doi|10.1037/11213-000}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2013}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Halliwell |first1=E. |last2=Malson |first2=H. |last3=Tischner |first3=I. |year=2011 |title=Are contemporary media images which seem to display women as sexually empowering actually harmful to women? |journal=[[Psychology of Women Quarterly]] |volume=35 |pages=34–45 |doi=10.1177/0361684310385217 |s2cid=143146656}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Entman |first1=R. |last2=Rojecki |first2=A. |year=2000 |title=The Black image in the White mind: Media and race in America |location=Chicago, Illinois |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-21075-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/blackimageinwh00entm}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2013}} According to Susan Douglas: "Since the early 1990s, much of the media have come to overrepresent women as having made it-completely-in the professions, as having gained sexual equality with men, and having achieved a level of financial success and comfort enjoyed primarily by Tiffany's-encrusted doyennes of Laguna Beach."<ref>{{cite book |last=Douglas |first=Susan J. |year=2010 |title=The Rise of Enlightened Sexism |location=New York, NY |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-67392-5}}</ref> These images may be harmful, particularly to women and racial and ethnic minority groups. For example, a study of African American women found they feel that media portrayals of themselves often reinforce stereotypes of this group as overly sexual and idealize images of lighter-skinned, thinner African American women (images African American women describe as objectifying).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Watson |first1=L. B. |last2=Robinson |first2=D. |last3=Dispenza |first3=F. |last4=Nazari |first4=N. |year=2012 |title=African American women's sexual objectification experiences: A qualitative study |journal=Psychology of Women Quarterly |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=227–239 |doi=10.1177/0361684312454724 |s2cid=144040468}}</ref> In a recent analysis of images of Haitian women in the Associated Press photo archive from 1994 to 2009, several themes emerged emphasizing the "otherness" of Haitian women and characterizing them as victims in need of rescue.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rendon |first1=M. J. |last2=Nicolas |first2=G. |year=2012 |title=Deconstructing the portrayals of Haitian women in the media: A thematic analysis of images in the Associated Press Photo Archive |journal=Psychology of Women Quarterly |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=227–239 |doi=10.1177/0361684311429110 |s2cid=144253671}}</ref>

In an attempt to study the effect of [[media consumption]] on males, Samantha and Bridges found an effect on body shame, though not through self-objectification as it was found in comparable studies of women. The authors conclude that the current measures of objectification were designed for women and do not measure men accurately.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Daniel |first1=Samantha |last2=Bridges |first2=Sara K. |year=2010 |title=The drive for muscularity in men: Media influences and objectification theory |journal=[[Body Image (journal)|Body Image]] |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=32–38 |doi=10.1016/j.bodyim.2009.08.003 |pmid=19815476}}</ref> Another study found a negative effect on eating attitudes and body satisfaction of consumption of beauty and fitness magazines for women and men respectively but again with different mechanisms, namely self-objectification for women and internalization for men.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Magazine exposure: Internalization, self-objectification, eating attitudes, and body satisfaction in male and female university students |last1=Morry |first1=Marian M. |last2=Staska |first2=Sandra L. |journal=[[Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science]] |volume=33 |issue=4 |year=2001 |pages=269–279 |doi=10.1037/h0087148}}</ref>

=== Sexist jokes ===

[[Frederick T. Attenborough|Frederick Attenborough]] argues that sexist jokes can be a form of sexual objectification, which reduce the butt of the joke to an object. They not only objectify women, but can also condone violence or prejudice against women.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Attenborough |first1=Frederick T. |author-link1=Frederick T. Attenborough |title=Jokes, pranks, blondes and banter: recontextualising sexism in the British print press |journal=[[Journal of Gender Studies]] |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=137–154 |doi=10.1080/09589236.2013.774269 |date=2014 |s2cid=144338846}}</ref> "Sexist humor—the denigration of women through humor—for instance, trivializes sex discrimination under the veil of benign amusement, thus precluding challenges or opposition that nonhumorous sexist communication would likely incur."<ref name="Ford 2007">{{cite journal |last1=Ford |first1=Thomas E. |last2=Boxer |first2=Christie F. |last3=Armstrong |first3=Jacob |last4=Edel |first4=Jessica R. |year=2007 |title=More Than "Just a Joke": The Prejudice Releasing Function of Sexist Humor |journal=[[Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin]] |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=159–170 |doi=10.1177/0146167207310022 |pmid=18056796 |s2cid=26438425}}</ref> A study of 73 male undergraduate students by Ford found that "sexist humor can promote the behavioral expression of prejudice against women amongst sexist men".<ref name="Ford 2007" /> According to the study, when sexism is presented in a humorous manner it is viewed as tolerable and socially acceptable: "Disparagement of women through humor 'freed' sexist participants from having to conform to the more general and more restrictive norms regarding discrimination against women."<ref name="Ford 2007" />