Essay On Objectification And Dismemberment

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Objectification and Dismemberment Within Society The Oxford Dictionary defines dismemberment as “The action of cutting off a person’s or animal’s limbs.” Although gruesome sounding, this quote clearly encompasses dismemberment in the media. Dismemberment is often found in advertising, where features of a person are cropped out of an image, utilizing only certain parts for the ad. A male body can be dismembered by showing only his biceps while other parts of his body are shadowed or cut out completely. On the other hand, female bodies are commonly dismembered to focus on the breasts, waist, or legs. Objectification is an idea quite predominant in the feminist movement. It can be roughly defined as the seeing and/or treating of a person, typically female, as an object. Like dismemberment, it’s also frequently found in advertisements. This paper will explore the widespread “acceptance” of objectification and dismemberment in both men and women, and the often barbaric impact it has on todays youth. Dismemberment is a move often pulled in ads sneakily. Most will not think twice …show more content…

Sexual objectification is the viewing/treating as a woman (or man, although much less common) as nothing more than a sex object, or “a thing to have sex with”, stripping her of her ability of have emotions, or any feelings for that matter. Objectification theory is a central and key concept in the third wave feminist movement. In the first advertisement (Figure 3), singer Katy Perry is objectified by having her breasts used as a way to sell Popchips, which, evidently do not involve breasts. Furthermore, the second advertisement (Figure 4) exhibits a far more extreme version of objectification. The woman modeling here is used only for her body, and all indications of her being a living human being are removed. “[They are] no longer a person with feelings and ideas and interests and family and love. [This] person is an object” (Glanville,