Self-objectification of Women in Modern Society

Growing up I realized appearance became a focal point of what women were known to be, rather than their actual personality. For instance, women “drawing attention” to themselves by what clothing they are wearing, and individuals failing to see them for what they are as a human being. Self-objectification is treating someone as a thing or an object making us feel like nothing, which causes a problem when people think they can do whatever they want to others. I noticed it became worse as I got older because many women who I grew up with were always “hourglass” male liked females. They were what males wanted in a female, however I perceived throughout social media men only spoke about their outer appearance rather than their actual persona. It is a bit frustrating to know women are viewed that way, as if they were just objects sitting there waiting for someone to pay attention to them for how they are dressed or their “hourglass” figure. Society has a big impact on why women are viewed as objects. Men wanting that in a female makes other females want to look that way so they can please the male, which draws them to be sexually attracted to them. Women can be viewed as sex symbols based of presentation.

Women are targeted for their physical appearance the most, rather than their character. They are observed as sex symbols by what they wear, which makes men sexually attracted to them. If they are wearing clothes that are too revealing, men think it is okay for them to disrespect them. Even if, women are entitled to wear what they prefer regardless of how revealing it is does not mean she is ready to have sex with them. If you were to differentiate physical appearance and how women are as a person, men will focus on the body figure because when gazing at the body women tend to become frozen. They are lost of words, and that is when it becomes self-objectification because they are not showing any emotion, needs, or rights since they are viewed as objects. This information is indicative for men who can not keep their eyes off of women which can be very uncomfortable for them, which leads to the male gaze. The male gaze is what minimizes us to our bodies, appearances, and causes us to stay silent. You see objects being represented as women and the concept of this is you can simply replace a living person to an object, which makes it no difference. Women will not feel safe to wear what they like because they are having to cover themselves up or avoid being the center of attention. There are many different ways in which women are objectified, such as posting images of themselves or ads being shown on tv with girls in bikinis.

For example, men masterbating to an animate object. Animate objects do not have emotions, needs, or rights so for women you will need to take that into consideration before being sexual towards them. When you are not, you are committing an act of sexual harassment. Reasons why self-objectification is not taken seriously because individuals believe women are inviting self-objectification onto themselves, which is something you can not create yourself, it is the audience. It is not about what one person goes through, many young individuals go through it every day and have to grow up thinking it is okay to get treated however they want as if they were a piece of paper. Since young women need to go by the rules to not give boys the temptation during school with what they are wearing. Freshly coming out of high school with a strict dress code, and not allowing girls to dress a way they feel beautiful in makes girls feel as if they are not able to express themselves through their clothing. Many school districts believe that it will foster an environment conducive to learning because they need to make sure they are not dressing to impress boys to distract them from learning or sometimes even teachers from teaching, which I disagree with. Individuals should be able to wear clothing they feel comfortable in. Discipline or giving them some type of direction gives women the ability to be more rebellious because of not being able to wear shorts, leggings, off the shoulder tops, spaghetti straps, etc. since a woman's body is known to be dangerous and harassment is most likely to happen. Does clothing that is revealing show women that their appearance is worth more? It is unfair for women to have to hide themselves and everyday many schools are excessively targeting and punishing them.

Especially to those who are more developed than other women. Nevertheless, no one is responsible for self objectification, it is what the audience brings to the table like society. Being sexy is not what defines you as a person, and I do not agree with women being viewed as objects as if they were sex symbols because men can not keep their eyes to themselves. It is different if a woman is trying to get the male’s attention versus a female wanting to wear what she wants. Self-objectification is a very controversial topic and many women and young girls feel attacked for not being able to wear what they want causing them to feel as objects rather than humans. Not only are you causing women to feel like a “thing” or a “victim” you are causing them to lose confidence that many individuals do not have and are not giving them the courage to accept themselves as a human being. Comparing a women with an “hourglass” body and a “heavy” body figure that both are wearing revealing sexy clothing, men are most likely to look at the female with the hourglass body figure because they are what everyone wishes to be. Affecting women by causing them to apply sexism to themselves and to other females because we start to believe all the discriminatory messages around us. For example, name calling or how we consider the ways of how we hate our bodies. Appreciating and acknowledging our bodies is not objectification, nor our appearance either it is just you noticing the ways you are as a whole. The real problem is how society regularly devalues women, femininity, and objectification.