Task 2 - To what extent does Advertising construct our Ideas of Gender?

‘Feminist Perspectives on Objectification’

http://www.artifaqs.co.uk/come-into-the-factories-poster-c2x8997174

 Tone of Voice

• Formal

Key Points

• Kant's view that sexuality is extremely problematic when outside of a monogamous marriage and contributes to the objectification of women.
• Within Pornography there is gender inequality.
• Women are more associated with their bodies than men, however men are becoming increasingly aware of the pressure to conform to the idea of masculinity.
• Objectivity is about the ways in which the mind conforms to the world, this causes women to become submissive because of men's desires and beliefs.
• Bauer explains that the feminist shift was related to objectification, how to understand the world and one's experience in it.

Key Quotes

• '..sexual love makes of the loved person an Object of appetite; as soon as that appetite has been stilled, the person is cast aside as one casts away a lemon which has been sucked dry..' (Kant Lectures on Ethics)
• 'She becomes something to be used by him, specifically, an object of his sexual use..' (MacKinnon 1987, on Pornography)
• 'The increasing pressure on men to conform to unattainable standards of beauty is far from a sign of progress: it is, instead, a sign that the problem has grown' (Saul 2003)
• 'Because the world is not infinitely malleable to our wants or needs, reasonable decision making will accommodate ‘how things are’..' (Haslanger 1993)
• 'If the term ‘sexual objectification’ is critical in helping you make sense of the world as you see it, then, more or less, you will know sexual objectification when you see it..' (Bauer, forthcoming, part I)

Summary

 

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s article on ‘Feminist Perspectives on Objectification’ explores ways in which objectification, particularly of women, is depicted in society through promiscuous behaviour, pornography, physical appearance, worldviews and feminist movements.

Firstly, in Lectures of Ethics Kant explains that sex outside of a monogamous marriage contributes to Objectification of women as it promotes ‘an Object of appetite’ and once that appetite has been satisfied ‘the person is cast aside as one casts away a lemon that has been sucked dry.’

Similarly, in 1987 Mackinnon expressed the view that there is gender inequality within Pornography, that women become something to be used by a man ‘specifically, an object of his sexual abuse’.

Body image is another key point when it comes to the contribution to objectification within society. The article expresses that especially in western culture, people feel that they have to look a certain way to be accepted by others. Saul writes ‘The increasing pressure on men to conform to unattainable standards of beauty is far from a sign of progress’.

Furthermore, the view that Objectivity is about the ways in which the mind conforms to the way of the world is a valid point, historically this contributed to the submission of women to men because of their desires and beliefs. In 1993, Haslanger described the world as ‘not infinitely malleable to our wants or needs’ and ‘reasonable decision making will accommodate ‘how things are’.’ The shift in views came with the feminist movement and therefore some would argue this was related to objectification, how to understand the world and it’s experiences.

In conclusion, the article implies that Objectification is a difficult concept to define and much about how we treat one another. Hopefully, recent feminist work will lead to a more complete understanding of the topic and a change in perspective of society.