Objectification

For those of you who don’t read Swedish, the text (which was stuck on an advertising poster for lingerie) says the following:

Warning! Exploitation of the female body, resulting in a skewed ideals, illness and increased inequality between the sexes.

This popped up earlier in December and when it did, it irked me. I posted a while ago about sexism in the media and this is another example of how a few people’s warped ideas are brought into the public, in particular in Sweden. It assumes that women thus displayed are objectified and exploited, and that advertisement like this leads to inequality. 

Are women really objectified and exploited, in the media and in games?

I honestly don’t think that is the case. I think objectification is a term that some people like to throw out there as a trump card. It is meant to end arguments, it is meant to put people (men) in their place. “If you enjoy looking at a woman in lingerie, you are objectifying that woman!” “That female character in this computer game is wearing a tight top and has big breasts – men objectify her!” – and that term is meant to shut us up.

But i don’t objectify women. If i see a good looking woman (wearing lingerie or not), i find her attractive. I might even pursue that attraction and ask her out, or flirt with her. I might get shot down in flames, but hey. In some cases i might even fantasize about sweaty bedroom activity. But that does not mean i see that woman as an object. She is a human being with needs, wants, opinions and feelings. If i pursue that attraction it is up to the woman in question to encourage me or to tell me to get lost. But either way she will never cease to be a human being and she will never start to be an object. Here is an interesting video on the subject:

There are some people, like Anita Sarkeesian, who think that we objectify women in computer games. Again i say this is bollocks. A female games character can very well be the objective in a game. But it is the relationship between the main character (the player character) and that female character which results in her becoming a game objective. If that is a daughter, sister, wife or girlfriend. The damsel in distress is important to the main character. She is not an object and neither the main character nor the player will objectify that female character.

Sure, we might find that character attractive (it’s a video game though, so careful with that), and developers will obviously work towards creating an attractive character, but the question is: do we ever see that character as an object. Or, video game setting aside, do we see the character as a “person” with feelings, opinions and needs? Keep in mind here, i am not talking about many female characters being portrayed as weak, in need of help and perhaps even stupid – i am not making an excuse for video game writing and i fully acknowledge that as an industry we still have things to work on.

But what i am contesting is this need by a few to make us feel guilty for feeling attraction and for using that feeling of attraction in video games. It is human nature to feel attraction and to respond positively to that which attracts us and shy away from that which we don’t find attractive. It’s DNA and instinct. We are attracted to those people around us who share our values, who think similarly and each and every one of us finds certain types of people beautiful. These values change from person to person (there is a reason that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder).

Of course as we evolve and as our culture changes we develop a certain standard. We develop a universal standard for beauty, an average. Once upon a time voluptuous bodies were considered the pinnacle of beauty. In the 80s and 90s models had to be stick thin, but (thankfully) this is getting slightly better and more normal bodies seem to be in fashion now. Sporty, perhaps muscular, lean (but not thin), seems to be the average ideal these days – at least judging by models and ads. And this is true for men and women. So of course the media will use models of that “ideal”. In advertising, as news anchors, as actors and actresses, as flight attendants and in pretty much any customer facing position. I am much more likely to respond positively to a stranger if that stranger is attractive (either physically or mentally).  But just because a good looking woman is wearing lingerie on an ad poster does not mean i will drop my pants and masturbate. Just because a flight attendant is good looking, does not mean it’s ok for me to grab her and join the mile-high club in the lavatory. I don’t objectify these women. I appreciate their beauty and i realize they are attractive.

Telling men that they are objectifying women is just as bullshit as it is for any religion to condemn sex and tell us it’s bad. No sex before marriage, sex only between man and woman. Anything else is an abomination or an sin. Silly made up rules. Made up simply to control human beings and to make those, who use it, better than those they condemn. As is that argument of objectification. It is purely used to end a discussion. To lay blame and to make people feel guilty about something they have not even done. In my opinion that entire argument is only used to either benefit from making it (attention, recognition, financial – see Anita Sarkeesian) or used defensively (to cover for self loathing, jealousy etc. – in my opinion the person who put the sticker on the ad poster). Any rational human being, when really taking a second and thinking about it, will come to realize that they at some point in their lives (if not on a daily basis) have found someone else attractive. And that when they did, they did not immediately turn that into “objectification”.

We can, as a species and culture, obviously go down that road. We can just stop using attractive people in advertising, video games, media. We can stop using attractive people (and with attractive i do mean physically as well as mentally) in positions where they interact with others. Because if, as a species (and in particular as men) we run the risk of objectification because of this, that is the only solution. But when the warped ideas of the few finally outweigh the rational and decency of the many, then it’s time to pack in. Because it won’t be a beautiful world to live in anymore.  

Yes, there are idiots and assholes in the world. There are people who can not treat others with respect and dignity. Who think they are better than others. This is not gender specific either. But those people are the minority. Those people should be dealt with on an individual basis, and dealt with the must be. But i honestly believe that the majority of the human race treats others with respect and dignity.

What we need to aim for, as a species, is proper equality. Equal opportunity for all and equal pay for all. That has to be the highest goal. What we don’t need is a distraction by a few who either want to stir the shit or who simply can’t cope with their own life and so lay the blame on others. There is nothing wrong with attractive people in the media, there is nothing wrong with attractive characters in games.

In closing here is another video worth watching: