Overcoming Objectification

Objectification is a foundational concept in feminist theory, used to analyze such disparate social phenomena as sex work, representation of women's bodies, and sexual harassment. In this work, Cahill argues that the notion should be abandoned by feminist theorists due to its reliance on outdated philosophical assumptions, such as the centrality of autonomy and rationality to both subjectivity and ethics. Instead, she suggests working towards an ethics of sexuality based upon the recognition of difference.