The Paradox of Self-Sexual Objectification: Selfhood and the Limits of Recognition

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My aim is to examine the paradoxical effects that sexual objectification (SO) and self-sexual objectification (SSO)have on women. Women are expected to SSO themselves on social media platforms, in the music oradvertisement industry, to gain more followers, likes, and financial profit. I argue that the pressure and conditioningof SSO negatively affect the self-understanding of women and girls. Yet following from the 'sexual revolution' of the1960s, SSO is considered the hallmark of a 'liberated' woman. This generates what I call the 'Paradox of SSO': theSSO of women, while socially presented as liberating, ends up being alienating. I seek ways out of this impasse byturning to Foucault to illuminate SSO as a set of subjugating processes; and I rely on Kierkegaard to develop amodel of a more appropriate constitution of the self. Overall, my aim is to provide women with conceptual tools toachieve a freer self-relation, by balancing the demands of the world with those of the self.