Objectification is the act of conceiving of a person as stripped of their subjectivity and particular characteristics and perceiving them as an object or a thing. For example:describe a person solely by their physical appearance.
The concept of reification is used in the social sciences . It is a central category in Marxism and feminism to describe the relationship between subjects and the functioning of society. It is also a rhetorical figure .
- In Marxism, reification is the reduction of social relations to commodity relations within the capitalist system. It produces a separation between a worker and their activity, which is perceived as an alien object that can be exchanged for money. For example:a worker who cannot decide the value of the products he creates .
- In feminism, objectification is the perception of women as objects, based on appearance or biological functions as determinants of social roles. It involves denying personhood and autonomy . For example: At work, assign roles based on gender stereotypes rather than skills.
- In rhetoric, reification is a figure of speech that represents concepts, ideas, or feelings as if they were physical objects. For example:love is a garden that must be cared for.
- See also: Alienation
Reification in Marxism
In Marxism, reification is the transformation of social relations into relations between things or commodities. This process is called commodification and is a concept that helps us understand the workings of capitalism: labor, which is a social relation, is perceived as an object, that is, it is reduced to economic value.
From this perspective, objectification reduces workers to means of production, objects to which economic value can be assigned. Thus, it promotes and conceals situations of exploitation.
Examples of reification in Marxism
- A factory worker is conceived as an element of the production process, without taking into account the traits he possesses as a human being.
- An employer who evaluates workers only on their productivity, leaving aside their willingness and creativity.
- A worker who sells his labor power in exchange for a salary.
- An assembly line operator who is only aware of part of the production process and not the entire process.
- A company that forces workers to work excessively long hours without compensation.
Objectification in feminism
In feminism, objectification is understood as the representation of women in which only their physical qualities or reproductive function are taken into account, without reference to their feelings or intellectual attributes.
This type of representation causes women to be perceived as objects and stripped of their subjectivity. It is a form of symbolic violence that produces gender inequality.
Examples of objectification in feminism
- Advertisements that seek to highlight certain parts of women’s bodies.
- Television programs in which men speak primarily and women perform secondary duties.
- A beauty pageant in which women are judged on their physical characteristics.
- Toy sales campaigns that reproduce gender stereotypes, such as offering dolls for girls and balls for boys.
- The social pressure placed on women to be mothers.
Reification as a figure of speech
Objectification is a rhetorical or literary figure in which a person is described or referred to as if they were an object. For example:dances as if it were a curtain in the wind.
Objectification is often used pejoratively because, in most cases, the goal is to denigrate the person targeted. However, it can also be used to highlight the positive characteristics of individuals. For example:that kid is a gem.
Examples of reification as a rhetorical figure
- He was like a vase, he was in the room as part of the decoration.
- After the rain, Sandra looked like a wet rag.
- It is made of woodto play basketball.
- She won’t say anything, it’s like a grave.
- All sailors were essential piecesfor the proper functioning of the ship.
- He’s like a stone in a shoe.
- His family members were the starsthat illuminated his life.
- Raúl was a box of surprises.
- All employees are essential cogsin the machine’s operation.
- The man was as terrifying as a scarecrow.
- From his words, one could assume that he was as cold as a glacier.
- Marcos is a calculator, he can solve complex calculations very accurately.
- Juan was very tall, he looked like a skyscrapercompared to his friends.
- Pedro is made of good wood.
- Pedagogical theories of the 20th and 21st centuries stopped conceiving of students as blank slates.
- The dog is exhausted and is now sleeping like a log.
- The king realized that his subject was a diamond in the rough.
- The mountain guide oriented himself as well as a compass.
- At the end of the novel, the reader realizes that the protagonist is a bad apple.
- Patricia was an encyclopedia, she knew almost everything she was asked.
