Go too far and you lose it all: The Objectification of Women

I remember the first time I was offended by the objectification of a woman. I was sitting in the Penland Cafeteria at Baylor University with one of my buddies and a couple of his roommates. The graphically detailed way they were talking about this blonde across the way created a moment of moral revulsion within me. Prior to that point, I had assumed that all the whining about "objectifying women" was code for "it's not fair that she's prettier than me".

Honestly though most of it still is. I am a man and I make no apologies for my desire for the fair sex. Yes, I think a hot chick is damn fetching. That is demonstrably, both historically and scientifically, one of the single most normal things in the world. The thing I experienced was something else though. At that moment in Penland, this girl had ceased to be viewed as a human, and was being viewed as a utility, a spiritually faceless resource.

By doing things like decrying any display of physical feminitity in the media, feminists had missed the point. The problem is not the sexual impulse towards the attractive woman, or even using that impulse to evoke a response, but when the woman is reduced to that alone. Instead of that attractiveness being a delightful facet of someone's humanity (the remainder of which may be good or bad), it is viewed in isolation of all other facets. By mindlessly damning all physical femininity, you lose the point and wind up damning reality. Yes, hot women are going to be viewed as more socially valuable and maybe that isn't fair. But what exactly did you expect?

Focus your resources on the real problem and stop getting in a twist over the normal stuff.