Legalization: Institutionalization Of Objectification

One of the things I noticed in Trisha's article was some attention given to why young girls and even mature women sell their sexuality to others.

I sat here, reading to my wife some of the comments. I wanted to know if she saw any common cause for men going to prostitutes and women becoming prostitutes. One common thread is _selfishness_. Men selfishly want physical gratification and the women want ... well ... according to Trisha, they want attention, affection, money ( "EASY" money ) ... etc.

I find it interesting that responses to this article have touched on capitalism and other things which are similarly fueled by selfishness; things like high corporate profits, etc.

It might also be observed that pre-marital sex of any kind is often a result of selfishness.

I think it was the internationally recognized Dr. James Dobson whom I first heard say that men give up affection for sex and women give up sex for affection. Hearing it from a conservative like James Dobson is one thing ... and I'd wager that many women would take exception to his comments in this area.

As I read thru Trisha's article, I began to realize that she was saying pretty well the same thing. SOME of the girls / women who get involved in prostitution do so because of their deep ( if not unexplainable ) desire for affection ... for approval, not just for the money.

Regarding the objectification of women, I have this to say.

Objectification of women ( ie: women being viewed as sex objects, used for some selfish gain or gratification ) does not always happen passively to women but is something in which many women actively & pro-actively are involved. The women who are so common in commercials today probably have NOT had their arm twisted to be in the commercial. Few if any of the women who make up the Dallas Cheerleaders have had their arms twisted to appear for the try-outs and for the subsequent competition which goes on for one of the most coveted positions on what may well be the most famous cheer leading squad.

These women don't just "become objectified" but are rather actively involved in becoming objectified. Each has her own motivation, perhaps, but I'm going to respectfully suggest that when all is said and done, most if not all of them are in it for selfish reasons, whether it be money or recognition or to feel like they're not ugly and/or miriad other possibilities, all of which are self-centered.

There is a reasonable distaste both for prostitutes and johns and crooked lawyers and selfish corporate executives, for liars, murderers and thieves, for war-mongering presidents & prime ministers, pedophile reverends and slacker union members, for non-productive tenured professors who have students do all the research for which they take credit and for parents who spend all their family income on drugs or gambling.

Interestingly enough, each of these people have one thing in common and that is selfishness.

Trisha said something about a void inside that so many people try to fill. The desire to have that vacuum filled is what drives many men to porn and to hookers, it's what drives many women to become hookers, it's what drives some politicians to become crooked, it's what drives heroin addicts to take that first injection.

The problem is not sex or prostitution or drugs or anger or needles or money.

Until we discover what the real problem is, we'll continue to have prostitutes, serial killers, crooked politicians and police men and judges and professors, we'll continue to have johns and pimps and parents who grieve because their child is lying there, in a casket.

We need to learn more about the void inside, to which Trisha alluded, and we need to learn now to fill that void.

Until we discover, individually and collectively, what or Who can fill that void, we will remain the selfish creatures we are. We will continue to seek physical and emotional things to fill the void and we will continue to experience what Trisha alluded to and that is that the void will get BIGGER, not smaller.

It's an enigma ... even a paradox ... that the more selfish we are and the more of our lives that we dedicate to selfishness, the more dissatisfied we become. The more we try to satiate our inner void, the more insatiable that void ... that VACUUM ... becomes.

Does any reader know how that void can be filled ?

From time immemorial, despite the advent of civilisation, it has always been a Men's world and Women has been been classified as an object of sex and enjoyment. Even the description of heaven in Christianity(or. Swarg in Hindu, Jannat in Islam, execpt in tribal societies and religion where women has a higher place ), describes it to be a place where Men can have unlimited pleasure of the company of the angels and virgins.
Added to that, in the present age of free market, unlimited freedom of expression, of unlimited consumerism and the media's portrayal of young women as sex objects and selling of sex and sexuality for promoting all and sundries (be it selling a merchandise or raising funds or awareness for any good cause like AIDS, PETA etc.);all of them, the magazines, television, video games and music videos all indulges in sexualisation of young girls, projecting them on her sexual appeal or behaviour, to the exclusion of other characteristics, and have a detrimental effect on the young girls and women.

As a society, we need to replace all these sexualised images with ones showing girls in positive settings - ones that show the uniqueness and competence of girls. The goal should be to deliver messages to all adolescents- boys and girls- that lead to healthy sexual development and the key thing here is social responsibility.

But in a bourgeoise society, plagued by the consumerist and capitalist forces, there is no place for human qualities like ethics, morality and integrity as they are not of any market value. In the highly corporatorised and institutionalised world of today, all that matters is profit, more profit and only profit, everything else which is not having a market value are expendable.

They can go to any extent from dehumanising humans, bribing, threatning or eliminating people ( like recent orato.com story of Oil giant Exxon, bribing scientists to issue statement that the global worming and climate changes are not due to burning of fossil fuels)to even exterminate a 3rd of world population (believe me, I'm not talking of any conspiracy theory)who are considered a drain on the earth's limited resources and of no market value. A plan to this effect has already been in place by the group of 200 super rich families of big businesses, few royals, politicians and the likes, who have enormous clout over the power structure of this planet.

But lets leave that for now and thank Trisha for her well written and meaningful article from her own life experience.

Shyamal Barua.
gooegg@gmail.com

It wasn't God who killed Brenda - it was
SIN in the most evil form - and yes, PORN has a big part in this picture - please try and see it for what it is and stop blaming God because he truly loves you and Brenda - it is not his doing, but MAN'S!!!!

Why didn't you just ask him? Chances are he has never even heard of this site. Many family members haven't!