The pursuit of sexuality - Essay Example

?The pursuit of sexuality Introduction Sexuality, often defined by both biological and physiological traits, has conventionally been a dominant aspect in many cultures around the world, especially because it has been a basis for gender discrimination in societies (Beynon 2002, p.8). Societies have always defined gender roles according to sexuality, thus, leading to the enforcement of some profound and dominant gender stereotypes concerning the sexes, which ironically, are also reinforced by both sexes. Therefore, sexuality is broadly defined by masculinity and femininity, which are gendered constructs that indicate other’s perceptions of an individual; this paper will explore the various themes of sexuality in society. Gender and Women Objectification Sexual objectification, the act of treating a person as a mere instrument of sexual gratification, is perhaps the single most dominant and recurring theme in gender studies; in this regard, sexual objectification entails disregarding a person’s dignity, or personality, and often takes place at the societal level. Feminists have always regarded the concept of sexual objectification, especially women objectification, not only as intolerable, but also as a significant cause of gender inequalities in society (Papadaki, 2007 p.330). The concept of sexual objectification has always been a contentious issue that has fascinated critics over the years, especially in areas such as sexual ethics and philosophies of sex, leading to varied views regarding the origins of sexual objectification. Social commentators have recently observed that many women in contemporary societies often objectify themselves as a sign of their found freedoms and empowerment over their male counterparts. Other social commentators have also argued that men too, have fallen victims of objectification in contemporary societies due to the increased freedom for women, gay and bisexual men in society. However, social commentators also agree that sexual objectification, particularly of women, has origins in the intricate relationship between the genders in society; in this case, because gender roles are social constructs, gender plays a very significant role in the sexual objectification of women. Women have been the unfortunate victims of objectification over the years because society has often looked down upon their personal and intellectual abilities and capabilities of females. Many societies have unintentionally reduced the worth or role of women to that of a mere object or instrument of sexual pleasure to be used for the entertainment of the men. Pervasive sexual images of women have often dominated the mainstream media such as advertising, and art in general (Harper & Tiggemann 2008, p.649), and the sexually oriented depictions of the female gender have enforced the gendered objectification of the women even further. The role of gender in the objectification of women debate stems from the fact that women have often perceived themselves based on what labels they have been given in society; in that respect, women have often been judged based on their gendered social roles, which are typically feminine in nature, and based on their sexual attractiveness. Conventionally, looks or beauty in women have always been glorified over everything else because gender roles assigned to women are heavily dependent on their sexual attractiveness; beauty pageants or contests have focused on aesthetics as a bottom line for judging the worth of women. In this regard, the conventional gender roles assigned to females by virtue of their sexuality have led to the pervasive objectification of women in society. For this reason, women have traditionally been judged and valued based on their physical attributes; women’s understanding of the importance of their sexuality has pushed them to seek further enhancements of their sexual attractiveness through a variety of methods. By disregarding women’s capabilities and achievements in fields where men dominate because they are perceived to be exclusively masculine, society sends a subtle, yet very profound message of inadequacy that the women cannot be as good enough as men can. Society fails to place value on the female capabilities and achievements, women are pushed to seek expression in the only ways they can be recognized in society, which includes taking up gendered roles that illuminate their femininity, rather than engaging in battles of supremacy with the males. In this regard, gender plays a very profound role in the sexual objectification of women, especially because it limits the worth of a woman to her sexual attractiveness by disregarding her capabilities and achievements in society. Beyond the silhouette portrayal of women Sexual objectification of women and the accompanying sexual silhouette goes beyond the mere sculpting of women’s body because they inevitably influence social gender roles and enforce inequalities between the sexes (Haywood, and Mac An Ghaill 2013, p.13). Girls and women often develop a primary view of their physical selves from observing others in the media, or through lived experiences in social interactions; exposure coupled with social expectations often socialize women to objectify their own physical attributes from other’s point of view (Harper & Tiggemann 2008, p.649). In this regard, those silhouettes form a benchmark for the ideal physical appearance because women often develop ideas of the expected physical appearance by observing others, thus leading to self-objectification. Society’s insistence on physical appearance rather than individual capabilities of women heightens self-objectification because it tunes them to be extremely conscious of their physical appearance. Expected social and gender roles that society ascribes to the female sex conventionally have contributed to the sexual objectification of women; in this regard, females gradually learn that their bodies are not only important to themselves, but also to the whole society. By objectifying themselves, women inevitably lose their individual identities, and become identified solely based on their sexuality or sexual function, and other physical attributes of their bodies. As a social construct, sexual objectification of women, therefore, serves to enforce the gendered stereotypical perspectives concerning the sexes, particularly the female sex, that have been inculcated in societies as cultural norms over the years. Those silhouettes have a profound influence on the women’s perspectives of their self-worth and role in society, especially because they erode their individual sense of their self-awareness by replacing that knowledge with perceived cultural standards. Gradually, women’s self-knowledge of their self-worth or role in society is subject to the perceptions of others in society, which are not only limiting, but also degrading because they devalue women. Inequality of the sexes is yet another dominant theme that arises due to the pervasiveness of sexual objectification of women in society (Hollander & Howard 2000, p.339); women have often been deemed the weaker sex because social mechanisms have elevated the male sex to an esteemed position in the social structure. The implication for the female sex is that their actual capabilities and contributions to society often go unnoticed no matter how good they are; women remain in the shadows of men by virtue of their weaker sexuality, which condemns them to inferior positions in the social structure. As objects of pleasure, women have been devalued because then it implies that their sole purpose is to make others happy by their feminine sexuality, by performing caring and nurturing activities while men are seen as providers by virtue of their masculinity. Sexual inequalities are hard to fix because they are inculcated in individuals’ mindsets as cultural standards and they act as constant reminders of what society expects from the genders. From birth, girls are socialized to be delicate, beautiful, and nurturing, while boys learn to be tough and athletic; these attributes illuminate the social expectations imposed on each gender, thus, the inevitable social inequalities between the sexes. Females are not respected beyond their physical appearance even at the workplace because they are deemed not as good enough as their male counterparts; this inadequacy of the female sex has foundations in those silhouette portrayals of women as sexual objects that have endured in society over the years. The implications for the women, therefore, is that their true sense of worth in society, and channel of upwards social mobility is their physical appearances, thus, their pervasive obsession with aesthetics and personal looks; unfortunately, this only seems to further enforce the sexual objectification of women, leading to further inequalities. The Golden ratio of beauty Physical attractiveness, the degree to which an individual’s bodily attributes are perceived aesthetically pleasing or beautiful, which has been glorified in society, as the basis for desirability, is a social construct because it entails the universally held socio-cultural perceptions embedded in individual mindsets. With society’s overemphasis on physical attractiveness individuals in societies often desire to have the ideal model-like body sizes and shapes because they are not only adorable, but also highly rated; sexes’ awareness of their physical attributes is highly influenced by the perceptions of other’s, which in turn have been influenced with socially constructed perceptions of the essence of beauty. In this regard, society will have a certain cultural standard of beauty, and individuals will strive to achieve that ideal standard of beauty through thick and thin. Individuals’ fascination with their physical attractiveness indicates their self-knowledge of the expected cultural standard of beauty, however, this may certainly be hard to achieve, especially because the human body is only alterable to a certain degree. Women in particular, are often obsessed with glossy images of models in media sources (Gauntlett 2002, p.6), and will want to do everything in their power to achieve that perfect body structure including taking desperate measures like compulsive dietary timetables. The perfect woman as seen in Hollywood, catwalks, magazines, screens, and billboards are extremely thin, young, with a curvaceous body frame, whereas men are expected to be extremely athletic and built with broad shoulders. In as much as these ideal bodies are almost impossible to achieve, obsession with physical appearances and attractiveness often compel individuals to reach extremes in pursuit of these features, and failure to do so may result to anxiety and shame in ones’ own body (Steer & Tiggemann 2008, p.205). The golden ratio provides the fundamental framework for achieving that perfect physical attributes that are perceived to be highly attractive for the sexes in society (Brown, 2005); since antiquity, there is evidence of deliberate attempts by classical Greeks to explain the concept of beauty. In as much as it is conventionally understood that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, there have been various attempts to formulate a measure of beauty; the Classical Greeks assumed beauty was characterized by a golden ratio of 1:1.618. The golden ratio provides the basic dimensions for the perfect human face that is considered beautiful in the perceptions of society, and which the sexes pursue in their attempts to be more appealing in the perceptions of others. However, many studies, particularly on women who have been touted as extremely beautiful in the world, from renowned models to fashion and movie stars, indicate that their facial dimensions are nowhere near the golden ratio, and often deviate from it with considerable margins. In this respect, it is almost an unlikely endeavor for the sexes to hope of even achieving the golden ratio because it is nearly an extremely impossible dimension, and the human body can only be alterable to a certain maximum degree beyond which it cannot be altered any further. Nonetheless, the sexes are fascinated with the coveted golden ratio because it represents perfection beyond human knowledge, which is a guarantee for physical attractiveness in the contemporary society. The obsession with physical appearances in society is largely informed by the stringent social expectations of aesthetics and beauty, especially for women; the sexual objectification of women in particular, and societies overemphasis on beauty and aesthetics serve to enforce the sexes’ obsession with, and pursuit of the perfect physical attributes through the golden ratio. Sex Equality Also known as equality of the genders or simply gender equality, sex equality, which entails the equal treatment of the sexes has been a global agenda, especially with the increasing awareness of gender inequalities in many societies around the world that have always advantaged the males at the expense of the females. Feminists and gender advocates all over the world have often fought relentlessly to establish a world order that is informed by fairness and equal treatment of the different sexes without biases or discrimination because no society is organized on equality principles (Douglas 2004, p.53). Sexual equality debates have often been the central focus not only in media focus, but also in political scenes, especially because society has always, through social mechanisms and often unintentionally, strangled the female gender to the point of death by elevating the male gender. However, the struggle of the sexes is not a new phenomenon to occur considering that, since antiquity, the sexes have always been in constant conflict over the unequal treatments given to individuals in society by virtue of their sexuality. Sexuality has been the single most important determiner of gender roles because society has often separated between roles that are deemed exclusively masculine and those that are considered to a woman’s domain. Women have been the unfortunate victims of a discriminative patriarchal social order that has conventionally deprived them the opportunity for social expression and advancement because it has worked to ensure their enslavement in the shadows of men, who have been happy to dominate in virtually all areas of social engagement. For this reason, many movements have emerged in the past that have championed for equality of the sexes and the establishment of a social system that provides both sexes equal opportunities for growth and social advancement without any discrimination whatsoever; women rights issues and campaigns have also taken the centre stage on many platforms around the world. Founded in 2011 with a membership of nearly 11 women falling between the of 20 to 33, the Russian riot, a feminist protest group based in Moscow, present a good example of the sexual equality activism that has emerged in the recent times. The group wears brightly coloured balaclavas and they often stage unsanctioned confrontational guerrilla performances in unconventional public places, which they record and edit into music videos and then post on the internet. Russia is allegedly the one of the worst places of sexual inequality on earth today, largely because of the existence of gender insensitive government policies, which are perceived to be extremely discriminative against the female sex such as the legislation against legal abortions. According to a latest ranking by the World Economic Forum for 2013, the country took position 61, while the first, second and third rankings were Iceland, Finland, and Norway respectively. These ranking are based on the extent to which issues pertaining rights of the sexes are implemented in the different countries, and emphasis is given to such matters such as women health and life expectancy, their participation in politics and the economic life, in addition to, the level of education of the sexes, among other things. On average, there is a considerable global commitment to sexual equality, and world organizations have often conceptualized equality of the sexes in terms of human rights, and women rights and economic development in particular. According to UNICEF, gender equality can only be achieved if women and men, and girls and boys, have equal access to the same rights, resources, opportunities, as well as protections, whereas the United Nations Population Fund has declared that, both sexes have a right to equality. The United Nations Millennium Project, too, has thrown weight behind the sexual equality initiative by making gender equity to be one of its goals to end global poverty; by empowering the women and affording them equal opportunities, there is hope to curb poverty in the world. Conclusion Ultimately, indeed gender plays a very significant role in the creation and enforcement of perceptions of women as objects of sexual pleasure in society, especially because the gender roles ascribed to the female sex are not only limiting but also degrading the female identity. The inevitable result of gender roles is, besides the sexual objectification of women is, therefore, the diminishing of the individual identities of the women by subjecting them to social perceptions of their sexuality. The silhouette portrayal of women goes beyond the mere sculpting of women’s body because it eventually influences social gender roles and enforces inequalities between the sexes; society consistently judges and appreciates women on the basis of their physical appearance, in total disregard of their capabilities and achievements. This leads to a pervasive obsession with beauty and physical attractiveness because women learn that their physical appearance matters not only to themselves, but also to the entire society. The Golden ratio helps the sexes to achieve the extreme of body attributes, which both sexes pursue in order to enhance the perceptions of others about their own appearances; however, the golden ratio represents the perfect dimensions of what society considers being a beautiful face and for the sexes to even attempt of achieving it is nearly impossibility. Sexual equality has recently emerged to be a common global agenda, especially due to the increasing global awareness of the enduring gender inequalities that have often disadvantaged women in society. References Beynon, J. 2002. Masculinities and Culture: Issues in Cultural and Media Studies, Philadelphia: Open University Press, Print. Haywood, C. and Mac An Ghaill, M. 2013. Education and Masculinities: Social, cultural and global transformations (Foundations and Futures of Education), London & New York: Routledge. Gauntlett, D. 2002. Media, Gender, and Identity: An Introduction, London, and New York, Routledge, Harper, B., & Tiggemann, M. 2008. The effect of thin ideal media images on women's self-objectification, mood, and body image. Sex Roles, 58(9-10), 649-657. Papadaki, E. 2007 Sexual Objectification: From Kant to Contemporary Feminism, Contemporary Political Theory, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 330-348. 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