Objectification In The Incredible Woman

In Margaret Atwood’s, The Edible Woman, the main character, Marian begins to identify with food as she begins to feel that her purpose is only to be “consumed” by her significant other. The idea of objectification is that a person is seen and/or treated as an object rather than a human being. Sexual objectification is the same thing except that its specific to the sexual context of it. This idea basically depicts women as ‘tools’ for men’s sexual desire. Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, writes that “sexual love makes of the loved person an object of appetite.” He then explains that once that appetite is fulfilled, the person may be rejected since they are no longer needed. Men can be objectified as well, however it is more commonly know for women to be objectified by men which is why sexual objectification is a point of focus for some feminists. Sexual objectification is discussed by most to be a morally problematic phenomenon. To treat humans as objects, not taking into account their feelings, or their emotions is considered to be degrading. More recently however, some have

In The Edible Woman, Margaret Atwood tells a story explaining this exact concept. The main character begins to identify with food and can no longer eat as she begins to lose control of herself and her own body. In her early works, Atwood looks at human behaviour and criticizes the idea of materialism. She mainly focuses on the central idea of women trying to connect and find their relationship to the world and the people they are surrounded by. In the story, Marian makes a cake for her fiance that represents her desire to be in control of herself and he rejects the cake. Metaphorically speaking, he rejects the idea of Marian defining her own identity. Once this happens, she breaks things off with him and regains her ability to eat again showing that the objectification was what caused her