Objectification, Sex, and Structural Injustice

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The term 'objectification' is often used to criticise some objectionable part of our world, as evident in its use within feminist theory and political discourse. My research asks: what kind of criticism does the term 'objectification' make? Taking inspiration from the term's roots in feminist and social theory, I argue that we should understand objectification as a social-structural problem. This stands in opposition to the dominant philosophical idea that 'objectification' refers to individual acts of treating persons like mere objects. My research then considers some of the urgent questions which arise from taking the force of problematic social structures within our sexual lives seriously, including issues surrounding the relationship between structural injustice and individual agency, unjust conditions and sexual consent, and the regulation of intimacy.