‘Woman’ does not equal sex

What you need to know:

  • Perceptions. Objectification is a kind of separation of the body from the mind or denying a person their individuality. It shifts from women’s competences to their physical appearance, writes Beatrice Nakibuuka.

Society has over time treated some human beings as if they were objects with no feelings, emotions and intellect. It has been blamed for objectifying social minorities who are pushed to margins of society.
Children, women, the poor, people with disabilities, people living with HIV/Aids, ethnic minorities like the Batwa and the Ik, sexual minorities, etc…society continuously objectifies social minorities, treating them as if they were objects with no feelings, emotions and intellect.
Speaking at the Gender Identity Week held at Makerere University School of Women and Gender studies, Law professor Dr Sylvia Tamale opines society has since so many years constructed women not as humans but sexual objects.
The intersecting oppressions based on diverse conditions like socio-economic class, age, disability, sexual orientation, sero status, etc mean that different women experience objectification differently.
Dr Henry Manyire, a lecturer at Makerere University School of women and gender studies says, “Sexual objectification of female bodies is so pervasive in our society; it is all around us and has been normalised as part of our culture. Most of us do not even notice it. Women are viewed as mindless pieces of flesh for the sexual consumption of men.” But the fact is that women have brains, they crave for the same things that every man craves for – dignity and respect.
Dr Tamale remarks that, “Woman does not equal sex! There is a difference between admiring an attractive body – regardless of whether that body is female, male, transgender, intersexed, disabled, black, white, yellow, tall, short, young, old, HIV positive, etc. – and sexually objectifying a body.
In the former case, you are treating that body as a human subject with emotions, qualities of mind and dignity. But in the latter case, you are treating the body as a mindless commodity that can be acted upon sexually.”
Sexualising women’s bodies, therefore, involves some kind of portrayal or representation or treatment of women as sexual objects. It is a kind of separation of the body from the mind or denying a person their individuality.
“Most women worldwide have at one point felt like somebody has treated them or reduced them to sexual objects,” says Dr Tamale.
Such representation or treatment has one loud message: Your body is worth nothing more than its appearance and sexual functions; you are primarily good for sexual pleasure. The focus is shifted from women’s competences to their physical appearance.”
Are women responsible?
While not every woman passively follows social expectations or gender stereotypes that entrench the idea of female bodies being sexual objects, many actually internalise this perception.
“Most women will internalise their own sexual objectification while most men will view women’s bodies as available for their sexual gratification, feeling entitled to automatic access to women’s bodies. So, how we interpret social rules matters a lot. This self-objectification on the part of most women or sexually objectifying fellow women has adverse effects,” says Tamale.
When dominant discourse represents women as passive objects for men’s sexual desire and gratification, the messages will be absorbed by society. So, one of the indirect consequences of sexual objectification by society is that women internalise sexual objectification experiences.
The effects
Part of patriarchal-capitalist ideology obscures female subjectivity because it perpetuates gender stereotypes which are the lifeline of patriarchy. This also calls for violence against women which keeps women in a subordinate position to men.
Sex sells. The women, pushed by the economics, are forced to be part of the $13bn sex industry which profits capitalists through advertising, sales of videos, magazines, tabloids and sexual paraphernalia.
Dr Henry Manyire, a lecturer at Makerere University School of Women and Gender studies says, “Objectifying and sexualising the female body impacts on women in such a way that it normalises and trivialises violence against women, denies women agency, fosters harmful practices such as bleaching, female Genital Mutilation and negative sexual experiences in a bid to please men.”

Statement of expression or exploitation?

During the missionary and colonial era skimpy dressing was disregarded for women but over years, this has changed.
Evelyn Lutwama Rukundo, a feminist and lecturer at the school of women and gender studies says most women communicate their femininity through their dressing. For instance, short and tight clothing to show their confidence and independence. Many are becoming rebels against bodily imprisonment in dresses.
Although it may be debatable that this is a form of exploitation of women, others would see it as a sign of emancipation. It shows that they are confident about being women. “Women who view their sexuality positively are empowered by the knowledge because they cease to see their bodies as mere objects for men’s sexual satisfaction or as requiring concealment and control but rather as sources of pleasure and empowerment. They value their bodies and expect others to value them too,” says Lutwama.
A woman who is confident about her sexuality is more confident about demanding for her rights to education, freedom and self-actualisation. This will help deconstruct inequalities between men and women.