I guess this thread suffered a bit due to some errors through the communication. Although I'm not really fond of the (slight) passive-aggressive tone of samekh, he has a point. The semantics are used to give different concepts different names, so there is no ambiguous definition to the words we use. First of all, even as you read a post, you are objectifying. It is fundamental to the human brain, due it being quite important to spot if, for example, someone would potentially cause you harm. (It was vital for example in a time where there were no police, justice system, army etc., the Stone Age.) Society nowadays has less use for it in the case of the example above, but that doesn't mean it isn't in the core of our behaviour. Also, in rudimentary terms, it is quite handy when you search for a mate to have a (primary) filter to round down the amount of people to invest in for possible success (think: if you're a straight woman, would you really take the time to have a deep conversation with every guy you meet, no matter the looks, to see who would make a good husband? That would take ages...). Some criteria people use are dictated by society, some by biology, etc. The thing is, objectifying someone doesn't mean you dehumanize them, which is what Kurotsone means, if I'm correct. The two aren't the same thing, and one can exist without the other occuring. I'm a straight guy, but when I look at a 'sexually loaded' cover of a magazine I'm not seeing the person on it as less af a human being, even though I might find it quite the attractive picture. An example for dehumanizing without objectifying is, for example, some reactions of fans when a popstar is convicted for crimes. They blindly believe the person is innocent, just because he/she (I haven't seen many xe's) does so much good things, making him/her an idolized version of theirself, scrapped from (some) human traits. It's a bit stretched, but try to get the idea: Idolizing can be in some ways dehumanizing. Dehumanizing can be used to commit the most atrocious of crimes by humans to each other, due to making them, well, not-human. That way, people won't feel empathy towards them, because empathy is an emotion towards other humans (and animals, particularly domestic, to some extent). It is, in that way, used to make the culprit indifferent to the emotions/suffering of the victim. If you complain about beiong objectified, you're kind of a hypocrite, but at the other hand it's also understandable. You want to be taken for the person you are (unless you're a serial killer perhaps, but that's another story), which isn't as well reflected in looks alone, but can you do that for everyone you see? Of course you don't. Your brain would explode to keep track of a small village, let alone millions, even billions of people. So, in itself, objectification can be a handy, maybe even necessary tool, if you like it or not The problem arises in this when a society decides to put flawed laws into this 'filter', because it has a big influence on it. When you're taught that all asians are serial killers, you stay far away when you see one. Having a flawed filter doesn't make you innocent, though, but it gives a reason for why it happens. As for empowerment...it's a difficult scale most of the time. About sex: in porn, the human trafficing, forced intercourse etc. are normally hardly there, sometimes close to non-existent (I'm not including child porn in this, amongst others, for obvious reasons). In countries where prostitution is illegal, those problems are pretty much rampant, because people will do such things no matter if it's illegal or not, but due to being illegal, not only are the women that decide to do so more desperate, they also get pushed into the hands of criminals, who care a lot less about the consent of who they control most of the time. All you can do is regulate, so women can make an informed decision, and keep control over themselves, hereby empowering them. When it comes down to objectification: since everyone does it, why aren't we also complaining about the objectification of men? We're not all ripped like we have several hours a day spare time to work at the gym... Sorry for the long post, but as for that...build yourself a little bridge, and get over it. P.S. Sorry to say, but as far as I know, there is no rape culture, at least not in western society. Rape is seen as one of the most vile crimes one can commit, so I, as a man, don't see a way to justify it. On that, doesn't anyone find the amount of reports of rapes commited on men strangely low? It's like society doesn't see men as capable of being raped as women...just a thought...
