Sensuality, Sentimentality, and Objectification

Sensuality and sentimentality seem to pose possible concerns of objectification in their own way. This is especially visible when put into the context of sexuality.

Sensuality is the experience of the physical through our senses. We gain a particular knowledge of others this way, but this is not the complete person. Each one of us has an interior self that can be seen as separate from the physical. 

Sentimentality interacts with the psychological. The viewer recognizes possible abstract values in the other that are attractive, such as masculinity, femininity, or a particular mixture of each. These values, though maybe good, can be idealizations that the other may not embody, or they may do so only in limited ways. This, then, is an oversimplification of the other as well. 

In both situations, there can be a refusal to see the person for who they actually are. In the sensual view the other can be a mere physical experience. In the sentimental view the other can be a mere representation of ideology. Neither is complete and both have the potential, if one chooses, of being the only plane of interaction upon which a relationship is based. I can decide to only engage the physical, or the psychological value if I want.

Each scenario can lead to a kind of objectification in its own right then. This is due to the refusal to integrate the deeper reality of someone for the sake of something more pleasurable. 

Despite this rationale, I can’t help but raise some questions that seem to offer some problems to the conclusion. 

What is our obligation towards disclosing ourselves to others? In an increasingly globalized system, most know our person in a purely representational way. We offer only the best views of ourselves that play on desirable personifications. We show our good sides, both physically and psychologically, and most will never know anything beyond this easy to curate surface. 

Do we owe more though? Does everyone deserve to know us? Are we justified in manipulating our image even if it’s only through omission? And if we are, are others then justified in reducing us in similar ways simply because they want to? Can they look at us in their own subjective view to derive the pleasure they seek? If the objectification of individuals is wrong, how do we navigate all of this?