RE: Is This Empowerment, Or Objectification?
Damn. Thanks for writing this. I had wanted to write exactly what you did but alas, I got distracted!
"Who has the power?
If the person being subjected has the power, than it is empowerment.
However, if that person has little or no power, they are being objectified."
I have been saying this since DAY 1. When more whales are females, we will start to see some shifting perspectives. I for one would like to see men exploit themselves more, if they are so inclined to do so. This is an area that is completely wide open now on Steemit. I see one of the problems that exist in society: men don't really think of themselves as sexual objects, therefore they cannot really value their inherent sexy gifts. This is because women traditionally have not had power and money to influence their behaviour and actions in a pleasing manner, geared towards the female gaze. When any little shrimp trolls me as a "FEMINIST" I just laugh. I am a cougar. I love men in a way that's unhealthy. If anything, I am a total fantasy addict. An eccentric person. A voyeur. Sick, maybe, but at least I know it.
Couldn't have said it better myself! Thank you so much for the encouragement and insights @stellabelle.
Men are not pursued sexually simply because sperm is plentiful and cheap. Women are pursued sexually simply because eggs are rare and valuable. It has nothing to do with women not have sufficient economic influence to induce men to exploit their sexuality.
That analogy is only good on a biological standpoint, though... people are more motivated by social and psychological factors than they are on an evolutionary basis, in my opinion.
Example:
I pursue men and women. Regardless of my "economic influence," I don't value sperm or eggs, personally, because I don't want to conceive or impregnate a woman.
A lot of people don't fit into that categorization. It sounds trite because there's so much more to people then X and Y.
It's not a matter of "values", it's a matter of instinctual drives. Birds don't "value" flying south in the winter, they just do it instinctually. Humans (on average) SAY that they VALUE monogamy, but instinctually they pursue multiple sex partners. Virtially all psychologists (whether of the evolutionary variety or not) and virtually all scientists agree that humans act mostly as a consequence of unconscious urges and that free will is mostly an illusion. I understand you to disagree with that. That's fine. Just know that the science is against you, so don't cite science to support any of your positions in the future.
https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_dennett_on_our_consciousness?language=en
I don't know how many times I have to say this: I never denied science as a whole.
There are a lot more factors that go into what motivates us besides instinct, as I previously said. If you feel that instinct is your only motivator, not your experiences, then yes, I definitely disagree with that.
It's an overly simplified cop out to excuse bad behavior, and gives people zero accountability for their actions because it's all "unconscious."