Objectification

Warning: explicit content

Objectifying people is not only acceptable in society, it is encouraged. To objectify a person is to treat them as an object. A common word for this is Lust. Lust is using someone for your own shallow, cheap and selfish gain or pleasure. You use someone when you are only their friend for what good they can serve you (car rides, social involvement, money, ect…). When you lust after someone, you use them for your own cheap selfish sexual gain. There is no difference in using someone for your own gain and thinking of them simply as that, and using someone for your own gain and thinking of them simple as that (a piece of meat to serve as eye candy).

We see and take part in it all the time. When a “hot” girl walks by, we look at her as though all she may be is a tight ass and a nice rack. We degrade her with comments such as “Hey, check “that” out. She’s hot.” As if she doesn’t have a name, a heart, a soul or a personality to fall in love with or define her as an individual. Nope, she’s just meat. Women do this with men too. When a man takes off his shirt in a movie, girls would make an “oh shit!” kind of sound that sounds like they are having a mild orgasm (what the hell?!). “mmm, mmm, mmm” is all we men sitting next to you in the theater hear. We are degraded for who we are by assuming who we are and how we are appreciated is only based on how we look.

People even go so far as to encourage this. Have you ever had a girl walk up to you and have you check out another girl? It’s like, what the hell are they doing and what purpose does that serve them? I guess it has gotten so far as to be complementary to people. Who could blame them. The only appreciation they can get in today’s world is our objectifications. Everyone searches and desires to be loved and cared about. I guess that’s why some girls dress the way they do. They realize that showing as much ass as they can is the only way they can get people’s attention. Our selfish using desires have become a good thing to people. When in reality, we are disrespecting and insulting people.

Even people who realize this take ironic part in it. Like in Brittany Spears’ video “Womanizer”, she sings about men womanizing women for their own selfish desires…..and yet, in the video, she is greased up and naked the whole time, haha!

Our bodies are the tangible representatives of who we are (see note: “The Tangible Life”). This meaning, our bodies are supposed to represent who we are in terms of personality, heart and mind. And yet we treat people as though all they are is their bodies. Umm, by calling you “hot” instead of beautiful, we just called you “shallow” instead of angelic.

In discovering and following truths, I motivate myself by acknowledging just how I hurt Christ when I go against said truths. The hurt I cause my God through lust, at one time in my life, was a hard thing to realize when trying to avoid it. I would ask questions like, “I know it’s wrong, but really, how am I actually hurting you by looking at someone like that or thinking of someone in that way or whatever actions I may pursue involving the subject (aka: object)?”. I thought long and hard but never could imagine the concept of lust being such an important corruption with so much gravity attached to it. Without the motivation of knowing how I hurt God in such a huge way when I sin with lust, I am able to fall into those sins and ways of objectification more easily because I lacked the appropriate amount of guilt attached to it. This was a huge pause in the increasing of my relationship with Christ. The confusion was overbearing. I always tried not to look at people that way, talk about people in that manner, think of people like that, or dwell on those corrupted selfish ideas for my own pleasure. But I never felt really bad when I failed. That was until, one day, I thought of one of my friends in a lustful way. Treating them as a means to my own cheap sexual gratification. When I realized what I was doing, I nearly cried. I remember how much it hurt knowing I hurt someone I cared about like that, even though they did not know about it. You see, it is all about human dignity and there is no greater insult to another’s human dignity than being treated as an object. Whether it be with someone’s eyes or thoughts…. Or even, in a lot of cases today, actions, sadly. I remember feeling terrible, walking around apologizing into the empty air to my friend who was not even there. By using her in that way, I disrespected the amazing girl she is and hurt her, even if she did not know it. And that hurt a lot. I found my motivation.

Love builds people up, keeps people strong, and brings dignity to human beings. When you lust, you are acting on your selfish desires and selfishness breaks people down because it focuses on you and you alone. I, as a man, sincerely apologize on behalf of all men to all women for our self-centered way of being and the way we treat you for our own pleasure. But honestly, it goes both ways. It creates a peer pleasured cycle in human bodily looks being directly and singly correlated with the opportunity to be loved (in any way). Love gives, Lust takes. Objectification hurts.