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Cited by 30Death Anxiety and Social ExclusionGender and Feminist StudiesEvolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

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Immortal Objects: The Objectification of Women as Terror Management

Goldenberg, Jamie L.·2013·Nebraska Symposium on Motivation
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-6959-9_4
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Abstract

Philosophical theorizing, research on self-objectification, and the newest empirical research on the objectification of others converge to support the notion that the objectification of women entails rendering women, quite literally, as objects. This chapter begins with a review of this literature and then moves onto the question of why women are viewed as objects. The answer offered is informed by terror management theory, and suggests that the need to manage a fear of death creates a fundamental problem with the physical body, and such difficulties resonate especially in reaction to women's--menstruating, lactating, childbearing--bodies, and men's attraction to them. Evidence is presented to support this, and for the position that this situation plays a role in, not just expectations for women to be beautiful, but in the literal transformation of women into inanimate--immortal--objects.

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Metadata

Authors
Goldenberg, J. L.
Affiliations
University of South Florida (US)
Corresponding author
Goldenberg, Jamie L.
ORCID
Goldenberg, Jamie L.
Venue
Nebraska Symposium on Motivation
Publisher
Springer New York
Published
2013
Volume
60
Pages
73-95
ISSN
0146-7875 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1007/978-1-4614-6959-9_4
OpenAlex
W2224669805
Cited by
30
References
6
Citations by year
2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3
FWCI
6.72
Type
conference paper
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • Nebraska Symposium on Motivation/The Nebraska symposium on motivation (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Digital Commons - University of South Florida (University of South Florida) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Feminist Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
Keywords
objectification of women, terror management theory, self-objectification, fear of death, female body, menstruation, lactation, childbearing, beauty standards, gender stereotypes, immortality
MeSH terms
Female, Humans, Male, Object Attachment, Psychological Theory, Self Concept, Women, Dehumanization

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