how to compliment women without objectifying them In the typical process of complimenting people, something may go wrong - the possibly well-intentioned compliment has an undesirable effect of objectifying someone, usually the woman. I’m all for positive self statements but I’d much rather hear those statements address other than physical parts of who women are. A lot of us love getting compliments but it’s the intent behind the compliment that can be problematic. The idea of sexual entitlement is wrong - when the person feels entitled to that sexual desire being reciprocated - it infringes on the other person’s boundaries and turns creepy. Please compliment women on something other than their appearance. Women are evaluated overwhelmingly on their physical appearance. Some women appreciate being recognized for what they do or who they are more so than for what they look like. Please avoid Sexually-Charged ‘Compliments’, if you do decide to say something nice about her appearance avoid using sexual overtones, that is just sexual objectification. You are reducing the woman to nothing but the sum of their parts to be used for another’s pleasure. People’s bodies belong to them, and trespassing into that personal space can make some people really uncomfortable. According to author and psychologist Patricia A O’Gorman, “The struggle women have with compliments is that these acknowledgments of their ‘desirability’ hit what I’ve named ‘girly thoughts.’ Girly thoughts are how women internalize societal messages that inundate them with information about how they should act, should look, and what they should want, turning this into an inner toxic self-talk that misdirects their energies. This is what women need to learn to fight against.” An article titled ‘The Transformative Power Of Feminist Compliments’ by Teresa Newsome suggests the although ‘feminism can be complicated in practice
26
