Objectification: the good, the bad and the ugly
May 05, 2021
Many of us have experienced being reduced to an object.
Often people objectify us for their own pleasure and may not consider how that impacts us.
This can be harmful and leave scars within us.
It's important that we discuss how objectification has changed our lives, and how often, it's been for the worse.
Whether it's been in a sexual setting where you feel like a cock sleeve instead of a live, thinking, feeling, breathing human.
Or when your ass is not a part of your body, your agency and within your space to control, but something other people feel they have access to as their own.
When people separate someone from their body (non-consensually), harm often occurs to that person. By valuing someones objective relevance as their value, that person may begin to believe that is their only value.
But objectification isn't always bad for everyone. Hear me out for a second.
In situations with consent, the impossible can be attained. And for some, an impossible fantasy is to be objectified.
Objectification can bring about healing, reflection and body awareness (just to name a few potential benefits).
I can also be fucking hot (kinky) and empowering (this may seem counterintuitive but it's true!).
When in a space that you control, where boundaries are set and agreed to, and where consent is paramount, the taboo, shocking and impossible can happen.
This is where objectification can get complicated.
And that's exactly why we are talking about it; because consent, trauma, kink, objectification (and more) are fucking complicated.
When talking about objectification, we can't ignore the overlap and distinctions between objectification, appreciation and fetishization. Can we engage in appreciation without objectifying? What does this look like, for example, in the context of street attention? Can we appreciate without fetishizing? What does this look like, for example, in the context of porn? At what point do we cross a line into inflicting harm on others, and onto ourselves?
Can we appreciate our bodies without commodifying them?
Does commodifying our bodies mean we are objectifying ourselves? And is this always harmful? Consider social media, sex work and modelling (to name a few examples). And how does consenting to objectification happen? What does it feel like? Why do some people do it?
How does "pretty privilege" play into objectification?
This is Uncensored.
Experience it for yourself... if you're ready.
Or keep watching, my precious voyeur, from the sidelines.
We will be here, getting better and better with each event.
Until next time and with love,
Femmeish Feminist
