Myth of Women as Sexual Objects

Clearly, this myth is destructive not only to women but to men and the society as a whole. The human enterprise --- men and women together --- advances and takes all humans with it, or it retreats and lessens the worth of all humans at the same time. If men treat women as inferiors, and if women are convinced that they are indeed inferior, men will also be diminished. If a woman is seen as a sexual thing, then the man who treats her as a sexual thing becomes himself a sexual thing. If a women is treated as something less than fully human and independent and strong, then the man who treats her with such contempt will become contemptible himself.

In broader social terms, it can be seen clearly that the culture as a whole will be diminished by such a myth about women. If women are seen as sexual objects, or objects of any sort, then they will obviously not be expected --- by others or by themselves --to fulfill themselves in non-sexual areas. The potential of women --- more than half of the population of the country---will not be achieved, and the society will obviously suf

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ges flow from society, and, of course, flow back to society to strengthen the growing impression of the sexual objectification of women. If the institutions of society were not based, to some degree, on the myths that women are somehow inferior, that they are meant to be sexual objects, that they are passive creatures and are happy being passive, that they belong in the bedroom and in the kitchen, that they are man-hating lesbians if they disagree with any of these myths --- if these myths were not well-rooted in the institutions of the society, then these myths would not be reflected in the media images disseminated by Hollywood and Madison Avenue. If black people in the 1940s were not seen as essentially lazy, funny illiterates, then "Amos 'n' Andy" would not have been the popular radio show (and, later, popular TV show of the 1950s) that it was. Such a show would be condemned as racist if it were on in the 1990s. At the same time, however, the same myths about the sexual exploitability of women remain a dominant part of entertainment and advertising. This means that women suffer from a sexist attitude which prevails throughout the society. These myths about the proper roles of women in sexual terms infect all areas of s
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Some common words found in the essay are:
, Madison Avenue, National Product, product service, sexual objects, cultural myth, women inferior, institutions society, media images, purchase product service, women somehow inferior, product service advertised, society myths, male female, behavioral patterns, spiritual nature,
Approximate Word count = 1609
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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