I had good reason to look for the Sex Power God posters this past week: A friend of mine had posed for them. Upon finding the posters, I was pleased to discover my friend and 15 other lusty-looking Brunonians in various forms, positions and states of dress.
On Wednesday, however, I discovered something not so pleasing: On Pembroke campus, the SPG posters were now accompanied by a sheet with the Oxford English Dictionary definition of "objectification" typed on it. The definition that the signs use reads as follows:
"2. spec. The demotion or degrading of a person or class of people (esp. women) to the status of a mere object (see OBJECTIFY v. 2); reification; (also) behaviour or an attitude characterized by this."
Seeing as how SPG is generally considered a festival of naked people, perhaps it would also be helpful to include the OED's definition of "sexual objectification" :
"sexual objectification: the regarding of a person or class of people (esp. women) only as a sex object."
Finally, just to make sure that we all have our facts straight, we should include the broader OED definition of "objectification" that the signs do not use:
"1. The action or an act of objectifying something; a material thing which embodies or expresses an abstract idea, principle, etc."
Now, it's quite clear that the SPG posters do fall under this definition, which is likely why the sign-makers (they left themselves anonymous, and so must be referred to under this ignominious designation) chose not to include it. Our bodies, of course, are material things and, as anyone who has ever taken a modern culture and media class can easily tell you, parts of the body are often used as signifiers for other things. In this case, specific images of naked or half-naked people standing near one another in seductive poses signify the broader concept of sex and in particular the uninhibited attitudes that Sex Power God will hopefully bring about. No controversy here.
But what about the definition that the OED vigilantes used?
The first thing that you have to assume if you accept this definition is that the people on the poster are being somehow degraded. I don't think that they believe they are; if anything, their appearances on the poster express a kind of empowerment not seen in most other aspects of daily life. The people on the posters, through their positions, signify an agency with regard to their sexuality that American society wishes to oppress rather than liberate. The SPG gang aren't degrading themselves; they're showcasing their sexual freedom. In a liberal college environment, this deliberate choice (and after all, it was a choice, seeing as how they chose to pose for the posters to begin with) should be applauded rather than condemned.
Now, as for the charge that women specifically are being made into objects: If you look carefully at the posters, you'll notice that there are plenty of men having sex on there, too. The women on the posters are either in an equal power relationship with the men or are even more powerful than them. Think, for a minute, about how the vast majority of art views women as sexual objects through the scope of a male gaze; now think about how empowering it is for women to be able to reverse the trend by taking that gaze out of men's hands and putting it into their own. Think about how powerful it is for a woman to be seen as she wishes to be seen and not as others wish to see her.
As for the charge that the people on the posters are being seen only as sex objects, view the arguments above: Through an expression of their sexual identity, the people assert their independence and make themselves subjects, not objects.
As for the charge that we as a community are somehow degraded by seeing these posters - nonsense. There is nothing wrong with the liberal expression of ideas, especially when they encourage you to form your own.
So what we are left with is a faulty definition posted by people who didn't even have the guts to attach their name to it. In place of "objectification," I would now like to list the OED's definition for another term:
"Free expression: the uninhibited expression of one's thoughts, feelings, creative capacities, etc."
Will I go to Sex Power God? No, but that's my choice, and I love having a choice, which is what the posters are all about to begin with. The sign-makers can express themselves just as freely as the poster-makers can, and more power to them.
But the posters aren't about objectification - they're about free expression. And it's unfortunate to think of them as being about anything else.
Aaron Cutler '08 freely expresses his desire for you to see "The Greeks," playing both this weekend and next weekend at Stuart Theatre.
