Self-objectification

Self-objectification is when people view themselves as objects for use instead of as human beings. Self-objectification is a result of objectification, and is commonly discussed in the topic of sex and gender.^[1] Both men and women struggle with self-objectification, but it is most commonly seen among women.

Relationship to objectification

Objectification and self-objectification are two different topics, but are closely intertwined. Objectification looks at how society views people (in this case, women) as bodies for someone else's pleasure. This occurs in advertisements where the body but not the face of a woman is shown. These messages put an unrealistic standard on women's bodies, dehumanizing them to an object of visual pleasure,^[1] and self-objectification occurs in response. Women start to internalize the message that they are not individual human beings, but objects of beauty, pleasure, and play for men, and they start to look at themselves and their bodies as such.

The perpetuation of self-objectification can be described as a cycle. Objectification causes self-objectification which perpetuates objectification, or causes it to continue, and the cycle goes on. Both media and social interaction factor into that cycle as well.^[2] Media is everywhere, plastering seemingly perfect women across billboards, in music videos, and on covers of magazines.^[3] These ideals cause people to put on an unrealistic lens, thinking that they should look and act like the women in the media are portrayed, perpetuating the cycle of self-objectification. Social interactions affect this cycle as well, as the way people communicate with each other subconsciously furthers objectification as well. This type of talk is known as appearance related communication.^[1] Two types of appearance related communication that have had an effect on the existence of self-objectification are fat talk and old talk.

Appearance-related communication

Fat talk is a type of communication when women make comments about their weight. This may be done directly or indirectly, but it deals with comments about weight, dieting, or even justifications of one's eating or exercising habits.^[1] This type of talk is actually quite normal among women, as it includes comments such as "I'm out of shape", or "I'm just eating everything today".^[1] Many women can relate to throwing those phrases around, but what a lot of them probably don't realize is that it has a name, and that name is fat talk. Fat talk can be negative even if it only involves offhand comments. Women who engage in fat talk are more likely to struggle with body dissatisfaction, self-objectification, depression, anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders.^[1]

Old talk is slightly less common, but it is the everyday conversations that women have making negative statements about aging, wrinkles, skin tone, yellowing teeth, and other characteristics that naturally come with getting older. Women who engage in old talk are more likely to be dissatisfied with their body, engage in self-objectification, suffer from depression and anxiety, and it may even decrease their quality of life and actual lifespan.^[1] Both of these types of appearance related communication result in higher self-objectification. Women measure themselves up to an unrealistic standard, thinking that they are a goal to accomplish or a level to achieve. If a woman believes that she is not good enough the way that she is, she is going to begin objectifying herself, attempting to measure up to standards that cannot be reached. These appearance related communication styles also fuel two multibillion-dollar industries of cosmetics and dieting.^[1]

In different generations

One period of time in a woman's life where self-objectification happens excessively is during pregnancy. Magazines offer pictures of pregnant celebrities with golden skin, toned legs, and a perfectly rounded, "cute" pregnant belly. The photo-editing makes it seem real, and people start to think that is how they ought to look when they are pregnant. Looking at these perfect pictures results in pregnant women feeling worse about themselves and being incredibly self-conscious about their weight even though their weight gain is normal and necessary. They see themselves as not good enough, again, objectifying their identity to a body that needs to be perfect.^[4] Studies have also been done on adolescent girls, and what heightens self-objectification at an early age. With the amount of over-sexualized media that children are exposed to, young girls start to identify themselves as a "prize" to be used and given away at an early age. This objectification is fueled heavily by media and the fact that it is highly sexualized. The more a young girl is exposed to media that sexually objectifies women, the more they will internalize those beliefs and ideals and objectify themselves.^[5]

Women as objects

Social media is a battleground for self-objectification. People maintain a social media presence that is different from their real lives. Women are able to filter what they put on their social media sites, weeding out all the less than flattering photos so that they seem to have effortless beauty, infinite happiness, and a life that is all put together. Studies show that women who do this tend to have a higher self-esteem than those who don't because they see their site and see themselves as beautiful.^[6] This is not necessarily a good thing, however. They feel that their social media site is something that they can control and make themselves beautiful. This is women viewing themselves as an object; an object that has good sides and bad sides; an object for someone else's viewing pleasure.^[6]

In her book Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf talks about how beauty has become a negative, hurtful thing instead of a positive, praising thing. Instead of women having natural beauty, beauty is what men give them. A woman is only beautiful if a man tells her she is beautiful, and women slave away to make themselves beautiful in the eyes of men. That could look like working out before a wedding day or getting up early and putting on make-up before he wakes up. These are examples of women thinking they're not good enough and their beauty comes from the man's opinion and his praise.^[7] These thoughts become subconscious to women, as they internalize them so much that they don't notice them anymore. Most women wouldn't even be able to recognize that they feel the need to look nice for men or view their bodies as an object for men. It is something that is being planted and watered in women's minds by objectification, and then cultivated into self-objectification.

References

Further reading

• Johnston-Robledo, Ingrid; Wares, Stephanie; Fricker, Jessica; Pasek, Leigh (April 2007). "Indecent exposure: self-objectification and young women's attitudes toward breastfeeding". Sex Roles. Springer. 56 (7–8): 429–437. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9194-4. 
• Johnston-Robledo, Ingrid; Fred, Victoria (January 2008). "Self-objectification and lower income pregnant women's breastfeeding attitudes". Journal of Applied Social Psychology. Wiley-Blackwell. 38 (1): 1–21. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00293.x.