(July 13, 2010 at 2:50 pm)The Omnissiunt One Wrote: To be honest, most men would be very pleased if women saw them as sex objects more often. It would save a lot of hassle.Most men I know completely enjoy being treated as sex objects if it's in a fun or otherwise pleasant way. The word objectify bugs me, because it does not necessarily come with either pleasantness or unpleasantness, but it can come with either.
Quote:As it is, I agree with Dotard that women can't expect our eyes not to stray inexorably downwards if they're flaunting their assets. That's not to say that they should be culpable for being raped, though.Society sends a totally mixed message to women about looking attractive. On the one hand it is hugely promoted across many industries, social settings, work environments, etc. On the other hand if a woman who is considered pretty/sexy looking gets raped, it always gets focused on as a causal/risk factor that she should have actively avoided. A huge mixed message. And since it is totally unreasonable to expect any woman to uglify herself 24/7 in an unproven attempt at lowering her risk of rape, the idea should be tossed even if there wasn't such a strong societal pressure to look good.
Looking good gets rewarded with positive attention, often sexual, through getting sexual partners one wants, through people's compliments, etc. It's totally unreasonable for it to be expected that anyone give that up from their lives just because of an unproven claim of an unspecified risk increase.
Regarding the cab thing (I forget who first brought up that point), this has nothing to do with taking cabs instead of walking through bad areas, since men also must avoid those areas due to muggings etc. Also, crime ridden areas at night are known and proven to be risk increasers for all assault crimes. I think this objectification thread has more to do with looking sexually attractive and rape in particular, rather than general crime risk factors, so I don't think the cab thing is connected, unless it's as a risk comparison.
I'm really shitty at giving kudos and rep. That's because I would be inconsistent in remembering to do them, and also I don't really want it to show if any favouritism is happening. Even worse would be inconsistencies causing false favouritisms to show. So, fuck it. Just assume that I've given you some good rep and a number of kudos, and everyone should be happy...