Astrophysics - You'll Always Be My Closest Friend

“Jackie Treehorn treats objects like women.”

barbiehighheels:

denzelwashingmachine:

The other day I made a remark to one of my male friends that a particular girl I had just seen had a particularly nice portion of her physical anatomy. This prompted his girlfriend to shoot me a hateful glare and respond with:

“She’s a human being, not an object.”

This remark, which I’ve heard numerous times from numerous girls, is particularly misguided and ignorant.

Allow me to elaborate:

To assume that someone is “objectifying” someone else by simply finding them attractive is like assuming someone is a serial killer because they like David Fincher movies. In other words, from my friend’s girlfriend’s perspective, the fact that I had noticed something about a girl’s physical appearance automatically indicated to her that I saw said girl as nothing more than a piece of meat, good for nothing except making babies and sandwiches in the kitchen. However, this is not the case.

I am sure said girl that I found attractive was a very bright and intelligent young lady. I acknowledge the possibility that this girl could very easily have a great deal of self-respect, knowledge, and independence. This does not change the fact, however, that she is still physically attractive to me. And pointing out the fact that she is physically attractive does not automatically indicate that that is the only thing she is good for.

Why then would I choose to make a remark about her physique and not her intellect? Because the physical is something you can blatantly see and intellect is not. If the scenario had been different, and I were talking to a girl who I were not physically attracted to and saw that she had a great deal of intelligence and heart, I would be equally attracted to her as a person.

What is my point with all of this? It’s pretty simple: I am really sick and tired of this double-standard hypocrisy bullshit on the part of the opposite sex. A guy who finds a girl physically attractive and mentions it to another person who, most likely agrees with him does not automatically make that person a misogynist. Just because you are able to manipulate concepts to re-inforce your arguments based on silly presumptions and far-fetched accusations doesn’t mean your gender is any more respectable or dignified than the other.

I’ve met a lot of obnoxious guys in my lifetime who really do see women as inferior and objectify them on a regular basis. I am not one of those people. Stereotyping me into that category doesn’t make you a moralist. It makes you a hypocrite.

Dear sir,

Hey, I’m a hot girl, so I’m going to go ahead and point out to you why you’re disgusting. I can’t wait! This has been the most exciting part of my day. 

Women are marginalized in a way that you’re never going to understand because of your privilege. I see you said up there that attempts from females to correct you of the view, “which I’ve heard numerous times from numerous girls, is particularly misguided and ignorant.”

Guess what!? If you’re hearing it from multiple women expressing dissent and difference, it means that YOU are, in fact, wrong. Did this never occur to you? How big are your blinders, buddy?

When you comment on a girl’s physical appearance, especially one you don’t know, you have pulled her to the pieces you find attractive and reduced her to the smallest portion of what is appealing to you. The breasts. The legs. The ass. It’s not flattering, it’s demeaning. It’s uncomfortable. It’s uncomfortable to the girl if she hears it, or the women around you. 

Your defense of your actions is the most offensive part of this, by the way, because you’ve essentially condemned women and feminists as silly or misguided for fighting oppression. That’s gross. 

Okay! So, let me break it down for you. 

We are not here for your pleasure.

We are not here for your appreciation.

Next time a girl tells you that herself or someone else is not an object, you fucking listen. Got it? Stop telling women how to be women, and stop telling them how to be feminists. 

Sincerely,

Feminist Killjoy

Ps, If I catch you putting “objectifying” in quotes one more time I’m going to alert the cyber feminist disney villain network to your existence. Have a nice day!

I have a few comments and questions:

I do not agree with classifying finding someone physically attractive as objectification. If someone is physically attractive to you, they simply are. You very very rarely have any choice in the matter.

“If you’re hearing it from multiple women expressing dissent and difference, it means that YOU are, in fact, wrong.”

This logic really doesn’t tend to work in the real world. Just because you hear it from multiple people, doesn’t make it right. For example, if you are not racist yet are confronted by some racist people expressing dissent towards your racial tolerance, that does not make you wrong by default.

“When you comment on a girl’s physical appearance, especially one you don’t know, you have pulled her to the pieces you find attractive and reduced her to the smallest portion of what is appealing to you. The breasts. The legs. The ass. It’s not flattering, it’s demeaning. It’s uncomfortable.”

So is saying my girlfriend has a great arse objectifcation by your logic? I love her for an enormous variety of reasons but I do genuinely love her bum. Am I not allowed to compliment someone on their physical appearance? Is telling someone they’re pretty or handsome objectification of their face?

Lastly, I’d like to say that these are genuine questions and, what I see to be, contradictions in the argument you used. I am NOT against feminists, what they stand for or anything like that (in fact, I’m sure we’d agree on plenty of things) I’m just aiming to understand some of the boundaries and definitions more clearly because this is a subject I find interesting but am, so far, relatively ill-educated in.