WOMEN OBJECTIFICATION & FEMINISM (first published in ‘Medium’)

back to 'thoughts'

bottled rage (a not-so-feminist response to objectification)

The origins of the term ‘women objectification’ can be traced back to German philosopher Immanuel Kant, who — in his lectures on ethics (early 1760s to mid-1790s) — wrote that “sexual love makes of the loved person an object of appetite”, at which point “all motives of moral relationship cease to function” (Evangelia Papadaki, ‘Feminist perspectives on objectification’, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). In Kant’s view, “as soon as that appetite has been stilled, the person is cast aside as one casts away a lemon which has been sucked dry”. The person then “becomes a thing and can be treated and used as such by everyone”.

As “a common theme in contemporary feminist theory” (Evangelia Papadaki, ‘Sexual objectification: from Kant to contemporary feminism’, Springer Nature), sexual objectification was central to the work of US lawyers and activists Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin, whose 1983 anti-pornography civil rights ordinance (Wikipedia) defined pornography as “a form of sex discrimination and a violation of women’s civil rights”.

According to feminist theory, the link between sexual objectification and women objectification is based on power dynamics. Put simply, men occupy most positions of power and influence worldwide, even in the 21st century. So, women tend to be the ones objectified. With that in mind, one would have thought feminists would agree that ‘resisting objectification is essential to feminism because it’s nothing short of reclaiming humanity’ (Dworkin, quoted by Rohitha Naraharisetty in ‘The feminist debate: Is being objectified disempowering?’, The Swaddle). Not so. Apparently, “some” feminists argue that certain forms of objectification “can be benign or even positive” — and that “many” women “experience being desired as empowering”.

Whatever the case, in the absence of verifiable statistics proving beyond all shadow of doubt that most women enjoy being objectified, my gut feel is that they don’t. And I’m no feminist — just a woman who has carved a niche for herself in an industry dominated by men, all the while suffering the indignities of unwanted attention from many of them. And the mother of three children to boot. 

Anyway, how many women have even heard of feminism? Seriously? Not as many as some might want to believe, according to Christina Scharff (BBC) — and her article only explores attitudes towards feminism in the US, UK and several European countries. What about the rest of the world?

As a woman, it is exceptionally difficult to be taken seriously at a professional level in an environment dominated by men in which one is constantly subjected to that ‘male gaze’ — a phenomenon explored by Sarah Vanbuskirk in VeryWellMind. It is horrible knowing that some men entertain lascivious thoughts while listening to one’s input during a board room meeting. 

Having naively joined an online AI text-to-image community ‘art’ platform because it produced a humorous box-ticking image for a client’s social media account and offered a creative outlet, to be bombarded with algorithmically generated portrayals of sensuous, scantily clad women has been upsetting and infuriating. To share that platform with the men who ogle at them and the people who dream them up has been demeaning. To be rebuffed by management for complaining about that has been frustrating and disillusioning.

Against that backdrop, to then be temporarily suspended came as a relief. But I can’t bring myself either to resume using the platform when the suspension is lifted (my subscription will only end in February 2026) — or to put the unpleasant experience behind me and walk away. Women objectification and over-sexualisation by AI text-to-image community ‘art’ platforms must be stopped. Together, they have become a rampant disease.