Toward A Unified Theory Of Objectification And Dehumanization Summary

derivatives of what we use to call men. There is “man” and then there is “wo-man,” or man two. There is “male” and then there is “fe-male.” It’s as if the very words assigned to half our population are given to put them down, to show they are second place. How is anybody supposed to feel equal when their name is just an extension of someone else’s? For the longest time, there were only two ways to address women. Either as “Miss” as in single, or “Mrs.” as in married. Women’s titles were not based on who they were themselves, but whether they were a part of a man or not. The origin of the English word “woman” comes from old English combinations of the words “wif” and “man” which literally translate in today’s language as wife human (Harper).

Another way to prove strength is to dominate, and to dominate is to control and own something. It is hard to dominate a person, but it is substantially easier to dominate an object. In order to make a person conquerable, they must first be objectified. In Toward a Unified Theory of Objectification and Dehumanization” by Sarah J. Gervais, objectification “occurs when people are treated as things instead of people. Specifically, when a person’s body parts or functions are separated from the person, reduced to the status of instruments, or regarded as capable of representing the entire person” (Gervais 2). Women are often simply reduced to legs, breasts, or a vagina. This is done to for two reasons, the first being to show men and women that women are not as important as men. It’s done to establish that the sum of a woman is not greater than her parts. Another reason to do it is to exploit men’s attraction to women. Men objectify women, women objectify women, and advertisements objectify women. We all do this because we live in a patriarchal system, and this is what we believe to be normal (175). Our culture is how we justify treating women as a lesser

There are a lot of things to point at. Blame the patriarchy or blame parents or blame gender stereotypes or just blame everyone else. But at the end of the day, no matter how many cool blue toy cars some dude played with as a kid, or no matter how many commercials he has seen with a pretty young woman selling a toaster or a lamp, the only thing that really matters is what that guy is going to do with what he’s learned. The main enemy of women and men is toxic masculinity. It’s the reason why Morris felt like she was shedding a tough outer layer. It’s the reason why men feel the need to compete amongst each other and it’s the reason why men need to put down women. This idea of being the most masculine has entered every guy in to a giant race where they must compete to see who is the most manliness. It only takes one person to stop running and to say that the whole race is lame. As more people stop fighting to be the most manliness then problems will disappear for both men and women. Equality for women may be achieved and a comfortable place for men to let their guard down may be found. So, although the giant patriarchy hanging over our heads is encouraging us to go out and compete to be the ultimate man, the best thing men can do for themselves is to stop participating in the competition and to just start relaxing. The only way to make women equal is to deflate the male