Bartky: On Alienation

As seen by Bartkey, alienation, the fragmentation of oneself, is broken down into three categories; stereotyping, sexual objectification, and cultural domination. Stereotyping refers to the general idea of what woman are supposed to do and how they are expected to act. For example, the "happy" subserviant housewife or the necessary "ladylike" rhetoric of women. Bartkey sees sexual objectification as an internalized oppression. Women are objectified by men and seen merely as sex objects. However, men are not the only to blame for this oppression. Women become their own worst critics and perpetrator of oppression when an ideal image of women is projected, invoking extreme insecurity and oppression due to an unattainable goal. This ideal image enslaves women to believe that all women should look like that and if they do not, they are inferior. Finally, cultural domination, refers to the exclusion of women from cultural partcipation and recognition. As culture can be expressed in so many ways and has great influence over most social factors, the exclusion of women, severely alienates them society and themselves.

To me, it seems the most devastating form of alienation is sexual objectification because not only are women being objectified by external forces, but also by internal forces; themselves. This looks like a lose-lose situation. Can one escape this objectification? Or are women forever the ant under the microscope in the hot sun? I believe there is a way out... the feminist consciousness. She must reject the standards of the ideal image and recognize the beauty in her own image, for each person is as objectified as they allow themselves to be.