objectify

/ɔb'dʤektifai/

Definition

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

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

make impersonal or present as an object
- Will computers depersonalize human interactions?
- Pornography objectifies women
make external or objective, or give reality to
- language externalizes our thoughts

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