objectify

/ɔb'dʤektifai/
Học thuật
Thân thiện
Definition
  1. Verb:
    • To treat a person as an object or a thing, often by focusing only on their physical appearance or body, rather than their personality or feelings: This usage often implies a lack of respect or empathy, reducing a person to the status of an object.
    • To express or represent something abstract as a concrete, physical object; to make something objective or external: This meaning involves giving a tangible or external form to an idea, feeling, or thought.
Usage and Examples

  • Treating a person as an object:

    • Critics argue that some advertising campaigns objectify women by using their images solely to sell products.
    • He felt objectified when people only valued him for his wealth and not for his character.

  • Making abstract ideas concrete or external:

    • Artists often objectify their emotions through their paintings.
    • The philosopher sought to objectify the concept of justice in his legal framework.
Advanced Usage and Nuances

  • In feminist theory and sociology: The term is frequently used critically to describe the reduction of individuals, especially women, to instruments for the pleasure or use of others.

    • The film was accused of objectifying its female characters, giving them no narrative purpose beyond their looks.

  • In philosophy and psychology: Refers to the process of perceiving or presenting internal states as external realities.

    • Language allows us to objectify our subjective experiences and share them with others.
Variants and Related Words

  • Objectification (n): The act or process of objectifying.

    • The objectification of people in media is a serious social issue.

  • Object (n): A material thing or a focus of thought.

  • Objective (adj): Not influenced by personal feelings; unbiased.
Synonyms
  • Dehumanize: To deprive of positive human qualities.
  • Reify: To make an abstract idea concrete or real (often used in philosophical contexts).
  • Externalize: To give external existence or form to.
Antonyms
  • Personalize: To design or tailor for a particular individual.
  • Humanize: To give a human character to; to make compassionate.
  • Subjectify: To give a subjective character to.
Related Phrases and Concepts

  • Sexual objectification: The act of treating a person solely as an object of sexual desire.

    • The debate focused on the harmful effects of sexual objectification in popular culture.

  • To be reduced to an object: A common phrase describing the experience of being objectified.

    • In that environment, she felt she was reduced to an object for the male gaze.
Verb
  1. make impersonal or present as an object
    • Will computers depersonalize human interactions?
    • Pornography objectifies women
  2. make external or objective, or give reality to
    • language externalizes our thoughts

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