Why It Is Okay To Objectify Men

I've read your comments, I know how you gents feel on the subject. You see the pics of sculpted glutes (like these 12 examples), oiled up pecks and you start crying double standard. If it isn't okay to objectify women, it shouldn't be okay to do the same to men. Good point, sort of. In our society objectification of women leads to victim blaming/shaming, unwanted and unwarranted sexual cat calls, and a ridiculously high amount of pressure to fit into a beauty ideal that is impossible for most of us. Objectification of women has, in part, lead to insanely high rates of rape and sexual assault. Until the objectification of men produces the same results, I don't think it is a double standard. Have you ever heard of the male gaze? It is an academic concept that says television, movies, adverts and more or less all media is created to satisfy a white, male audience. Culturally, it is assumed that males are the consumers. Men look, women are looked at. Men exist as subject while women exist as object. This makes sense when you consider that men control the media. A report produced by the Women's Media Center -- a non profit that tracks female progress in the media, found that women only directed 28.7 percent of top-grossing films in 2012 and only accounted for 23 percent of creators, 24 percent of executive producers, 38 percent of producers, 30 percent of writers, 11 percent of directors, 13 percent of editors and 2 percent of directors in photography of broadcast, cable and Netflix television shows in the 2012-2013 season. Men control the stories that get told. The male gaze impacts more than pop culture, it impacts every day life. Women are taught, from a young age, to place a premium on physical appearance. Being complimented on appearance means more than being complimented on character. A woman's value is placed in the hands of a man. If appearance is paramount, her value comes from how much male attention she receives. How many men want to have sex with her. It doesn't work the same for men. Although, appearance may be significant for a male in our society, it isn't the only thing that gives him value. Men are celebrated every day for things that get ignored when they occur in women. Comments on a woman's appearance are tied up with society's attitude toward women. It defines us. Lindy West, in a piece called “You Can’t Tell the Attorney General She Has an Epic Butt, But Here’s What You CAN Do,” gives a great example of how this attitude might play out: "Imagine if every day you came into work, and your boss said, “Really fillin’ out those pants today, Jerry,” and he never said anything else. Do you think you’d eventually mention it to HR? Well, now imagine that “Really fillin’ out those pants today, Jerry” was built, systemically, into the entire culture’s attitude toward you from birth onward." We live in a world where it is okay to comment on a woman's appearance in just about any setting. When comments like that are made, it reinforces the belief that that is all that matters about her. More often than not, when a woman comments on a man's body, it ends there. He might feel it for a second or two but mostly it has no impact on how he is viewed in society. Leonardo DiCaprio gained weight and started a 'dad bod' trend. It didn't change his status as an actor and no one thought anything different. Selena Gomez gains a few pounds and it sets off a relative riot. Objectifying a woman totally dehumanizes her and does so in a way that, as a cultural whole, men have not experienced. Am I saying some men aren't harmed by comments about their appearance? No. I'm sure some are, just as there is a whole bevvy of women who could care less about what anyone says but the fact remains, when a woman doesn't care what you say, she has to tell you. She has to fight back. Where as Leo's stands against body shamers.... right. He doesn't need to stand up. He still gets to date VS models and be Leo. It isn't a double standard if the stakes and the harms are not equivalent. And they aren't. What do you think? Is it okay to objectify men? Source: Elite Daily