Innovative prof looks behind the scenes of objectification

People complain that women are objectified on TV, in cyberspace and across billboards, but few can clearly articulate their gripes or what "objectification" really means.

So guest lecturer Rae Langton, a professor from the University of Edinburgh, set forth to explore the concept of sexual objectification before nearly 50 Penn students and faculty members yesterday afternoon.

Langton, the first female professor of moral philosophy in Scotland, is the author of Kantian Humility: Our Ignorance of Things in Themselves. Her professorship is highly regarded overseas, where it was once held by Adam Smith and once denied to David Hume. Her lecture, entitled "What Is Sexual Objectification?" discussed the way in which desire and projection reinforce negative attitudes toward women.

Sexual objectification "is about a way of treating people as things... as tools," she said. "It explores the role that wishful thinking and projection have and play in women being treated as things."

Rahul Kumar, a Penn philosophy professor who helped bring Langton here, said he wanted to publicize the department with this event. He added that Langton's speech would appeal to those with interdisciplinary interests, calling it a chance for students to see that "philosophical learning is not as dry as they think it is.... They'll see philosophy has a lot to say."

Professor Frank Hoffman, a visiting scholar from Westchester University, attended the lecture out of "fondness for Great Britain and its scholars." The talk, he said, was "an effort to support a greater global understanding of topics of diverse interest."

Others, such as College sophomore Som Dalal, decided to attend after his professor briefly mentioned it in class.

The lecture "really made me think about the way our desires shape our perceptions and values," Dalal said.

In her talk, Langton expanded on the theories of philosophers MacKinnon and Mackie, reciting a few lines from a William Blake poem to underscore her message. She discussed the roots of objectification -- mainly pornography, which conjures up images of vulnerability and powerlessness and makes inaccurate claims about "real women."

Her talk focused on the mental processes that create an image of women built on a network of false beliefs, thus reducing and objectifying them. But she refrained from condemning objectification, saying some types of objectification -- like idealizing a loved one -- are not harmful.

"I hope students get a sense of how philosophy can help us think about things that are pretty important in a practical way... about what feminists are saying," she said, trying to make sense of its origins. "If [sexual] objectification hides its tracks, it won't be noticed... it can't be fought... and we ought to be fighting it."

The Trustees Council of Women helped sponsor the event. Langton was in town last weekend for the Philosophy Department's Fall Colloquium Series.

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