The Objectification Of Women Against Feminism

Feminists today are viewed as raging, man-hating bitches, but feminism in its true sense simply advocates women’s rights. While there are extremes on either side of the scale, most feminists fight

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the extent to which women are presented as sex objects in magazines. Previous research by Stankiewic and Rosselli (2008) resulted in 51.80% of advertisements in magazines that featured women, and portrayed them as sex objects. The particular way in which objectification is defined, and thus the resulting rates at which women are portrayed as objects, had varied by study. The objectification of women in advertisements also varied by magazine type.

Feminists have been active in their role for decades. The first women who were proponents of women's rights, advocates for self-promotion of women's freedoms and leaders of women into the 20th century, I believe would be appalled at where the current "feminists" have taken their cause. In the late 1960's a movement ensued, a movement of great proportions. This ideological stance of women needing to empower themselves against men and their "inherent violence" began a degradation of men's roles in family and society. Men have been silenced as fathers and husbands. In the early 20th century, boys were taught to protect women, open doors for them, help them carry their groceries and never to hit a woman. The feminists would have us

Men’s objectification of women is a disabling act that reduces women to be considered good for no other purpose than to serve as a source of visual pleasure for their observers. It results in speculation regarding the ability of women to actually be of use to society, in any way other than merely being there as physical manifestations of beauty for men to feast upon. All emphasis is placed on the outer self and this leads to the wider belief that this is a woman’s only purpose. Thus, the potential for women to fulfil any other role is often discredited in Victorian Literature, and many female characters remain secondary and many have little influence in the story. Though, in Gaskell’s Cousin Phillis, Paul and other characters are fixated on Phillis’ outward appearance - with this superficiality bearing greatly on their view of her – but in admitting that she too cares about her looks it would be Phillis considered as being vain. This implies women are deprived of the right to have ownership over their own bodies and to appreciate their own beauty, while others are almost expected to do so. This attitude breeds a sense of competition among women and leads to other women being the perpetrators of this objectification. There is evidence of this misogynistic attitude towards women being internalised by women themselves, and in Eliot’s Adam Bede many female characters denounce others for being vain, for example, Lisbeth’s disapproval of Hetty for this precise reason, which is due

When thinking about feminism in today’s society we tend to direct our minds and thoughts to a more radical and powerful train of thought. Feminism has been going on for centuries, with two main ideologies at the forefront; liberal and cultural feminism. Someone who identifies as a liberal feminist is someone who believes that women and men are a like and equal in most respects and deserve equal roles and opportunities (Wood & Fixmer-Oraiz, 2017, p. 58). And cultural feminism is someone who identifies as someone who believes that men and women are fundamentally differently; you have different rights, role and opportunities (Wood & Fixmer-Oraiz, 2017, p. 58). The women’s rights movement can be understood and broken down into three “waves”.

The objectifications of a woman have been known to be centered around the actions of a man. Cat-calling, slut shaming, and men being in a superior position while women are inferior or counted as their ‘objects’ are all parts of the dehumanizing nature of objectification. This indicates that women are centered around their appearance and feminine demeanor, and nothing else needs to be accounted for. However, there are other influences that have contributed to the vicious cycle society has on degrading women. Women objectify other women over similar matters as men, but not similar relevance in sociocultural context. Another contributor to women objectification is women’s self-objectification, in which they internally reflect on their appearance and demeanor to seek the approval of the observer. The last and most dominant factor that has been deemed the main culprit of turning women into objects is the culture of advertisement. Advertising has sexually objectified women for years, and is the backbone of the degradation of women in the real world. It also depicts unrealistic images of the female body and attitude that no female human being can actually live up to. The media has introduced the actions of sexual discrimination and harassment, and has influenced the ideas of how women should be treated. The combination of these three components are continuing the cycle of the objectification of women.

Feminism Today V. Feminism in the 1960’s The Merriam-Webster definition of feminism is “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” In the past century, gender roles have been challenged because of feminism. The very idea has completely flipped households, workplaces, and the general community and changed it for the better. A plethora of women’s movements were initiated in the 1960’s, and it gave people a look at how powerful women are when we stand united. Feminism has gained many followers in the past thirty to forty years as more people are becoming aware of conflicts pertaining to discrimination. However, there are many that were hesitant both in the 1960’s and in the present day, but for very different reasons. Nevertheless, persistence seems to be a beacon in women’s rights movements, thanks to very strong and level-headed role models.

Sexual Equality The beginning of equality for all has been a thought since the iconic line was created that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are

Our world in this day and age is changing. We are not as unaware as we were before. Whether that on social issues like gay marriage, abortion, or gun control. Or issues such as changes in our communities. We are seeing that our world is rapidly changing, one main issue

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. However there is a well known, well discussed, universal definition of perfection for all women. One that is consistent throughout different areas of the world and different allotments of the human culture. This standard of the ideal woman is based off of

The objectification of women is well documented in this article. The men in the high-risk fraternities are treating the girls like an object. The men do not care about these girls’ feelings. The quote in the article “Did you know that this week is Women’s Awareness Week? I guess that means we get to abuse them more this week.” (137) This just shows that the men are not looking out for the well being of these females.

According to JP II, love is to will the good of the other, while objectification is use of the other (as a means to an end). Paraphrased - to use is the opposite of love . This being the case, the inference that objectification is the absence of love is a safe one. Where in life is there an absence of love?

Many times in life men do not think that women can do the same things that they can; whether it’s picking up boxes or being president. There will always be that “macho man” thought of the man being stronger than the woman. In many jobs women might do the exact same thing that men do except men are getting paid more than women even if it is an insignificant amount, it happens in many places and even though many people disapprove of it there are still jobs like that out there. And there are still employers who think that a woman should not be in the work force if so home. Many feminist have been working to solve this problem and there are still people who are working to solve and change many more of these problems, and even though in some places it doesn’t seem like it, feminism and feminists

The first major misconception about feminism is that the women are the only ones who can be feminist. This is extremely untrue. The people who work to support this movement are not only women. They work in many ways to help promote equality. For example, “endorsing feminist beliefs, identifying oneself as a feminist, and participating in feminist collective action” (Precopio & Ramsey 2017). These are all ways that feminists work to promote a better society. However, the negative stigma and stereotypes surrounding feminism and its supporters discourages men and women from having any part of Feminism. This is in part, the fault of those who spread

Feminism is a movement that I believe is misunderstood by those who do not try to understand it. There was a time when I misunderstood what it meant to be a feminist and believed it to be a ‘man-hating’ movement that strived to make women the rulers of the world and though I do not completely despise the idea it was not something I was comfortable being a part of. Thanks to the mass media that surrounds me in this millennium, I have learned that being a feminist and the feminist movement is instead a movement meant to create equality of the sexes and to create a world that thrive off of that equality.