Promoting a Resistant Stance Toward Objectification

Abstract

Objectification, or the fragmentation of others or oneself into body parts or sexual functions for scrutiny or gratification, is a destructive force that usurps positive embodiment. Yet, many people defend objectification. This chapter presents a two-prong approach to promote a resistant stance toward objectification, with examples. First, at a cultural level, objectification needs to be delegitimized by defusing or redirecting the threat (threat is sexual objectification), framing sexual objectification as already happening and offering ways to challenge it (e.g., #MeToo), helping people and businesses perceive that their outcomes are not dependent on objectification being sustained, and encouraging people to feel that they do not need to rely on objectification to feel personal control. Second, at an individual level, self-objectification (gazing at the self as an objectifier would) needs to be prevented by helping girls and women develop a schema to contextualize (rather than internalize) objectification and cultivate an embodied identity.