Objectification

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɒbˌd͡ʒɛkt.ɪ.fɪˈkeɪ.ʃʌn/

Definitions

1. The process of treating or regarding a person as a thing lacking individuality, dignity, or human qualities rather than as a subject with agency and inherent worth
2. the act of reducing or viewing someone as merely a physical thing or commodity devoid of subjectivity, agency, or inherent human dignity
3. the practice of treating individuals as impersonal objects stripped of their humanity, autonomy, and intrinsic worth rather than as conscious beings

Etymology: Objectification is a compound built from "object" and the suffix "-ification", which turns a verb into a noun for the act or process of doing something. It was formed from "objectify", so the word describes the process of making someone into an object. Its meaning, treating people impersonally as things rather than as individuals with feelings and agency, grew out of the older sense of objectify, which meant to give concrete form or physical reality to an abstract idea. The shift from that older sense to the modern one is the interesting part. Objectify began as a term for turning a thought into something external or tangible, and the move toward treating people as things came later, as the word's use spread in discussions of how individuals are reduced to bodies, roles, or instruments. The word's history thus runs from philosophical language about concrete reality to a critical term for dehumanizing treatment.

Synonyms: dehumanization, reification, commodification, instrumentalization, materialization