Sexual Objectification: An Atheist Perspective
A recently excellent TED talk by Caroline Heldman about sexual objectification is a must-view. It will just take you thirteen minutes of your time, and I guarantee every minute is informative–things you should know, if you don’t already (and don’t assume you do). She correctly defines and identifies a real problem, identifies from empirical and scientific findings why it’s bad, and lays out what you can do about it, and everything she suggests is doable without much expense (the only resources required: just your attention and concern, and what it motivates you to say and think and do) except one thing, which is producing better art, advertising and media yourself (which we need not all do: that’s a recommendation for artists, marketers, and media people).
To watch that video, and read yet another disgusting example of how the women in our own movement are being treated, see Rebecca Watson’s post on it (Reminder: I Am an Object). Her post is short but to the point and she gives the evidence of what she’s talking about (in her case, something far worse than what Heldman is talking about, but on the same arc). Why so many men in our movement (and even some women) are not taking this seriously as a problem to speak out against and fight I don’t know. Anyway, the Heldman video is embedded at the end of her post, so if you don’t care about the latest harassment of Rebecca Watson, you can just skip to the end and watch Heldman (or click on her picture here above). Indeed I dare you to.
In the meantime, I have more to say on this subject as an atheist, a humanist, a feminist, and a philosopher…
Atheists, especially organized and active atheists, often make the point that we care more about the welfare of humanity than theists, that unlike them, we have (or certainly can have) sensible, empirical, rational ideas of what actually are the problems facing society and what to do about them. Our abandonment of gods and dogmas is precisely what qualifies us to speak out on social issues, because we aren’t deluded into guessing the mind of some imaginary being or interpreting ancient primitive texts to discern his will, or using either to justify and maintain outdated morals and attitudes. That’s what makes atheists different from almost all theists in society.
And that’s why atheists of all people should make themselves heard on issues like this. We have a distinctive perspective, born from a freedom from gods and spirits and dogmas that theists cannot claim to have. In this particular case, unless we choose to act just like religionists, we can have rational and reasonable and evidence-based scientific, philosophical and moral discussions about sexual objectification. We can notice it, analyze it, observe what effects it has, and decide whether we like those effects or not, and whether we’d have a more enjoyable and better world if we changed it (and then, how we can change it).
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