Abstract

This thesis explores how the objectification of women—treating women as though they are objects rather than subjects—goes beyond men treating women as sexual objects to be used. This thesis conceptualises three novel forms of objectification in addition to sexual objectification. The first new type of objectification described herein is procreative or childbearing objectification, in which women are treated as tools for conceiving and birthing children by men. The second new domain of objectification is child-rearing objectification, wherein women are used by men to raise and care for their children. Finally, the third form of objectification defined in this thesis is spousal objectification, which occurs when men treat women as a means for looking after their domestic lives. This thesis presents five studies (N = 3083) (including four Exploratory Factor Analysis studies), which were conducted in the form of questionnaires that explore whether these new types of objectification can be separated from sexual objectification and considered domains in their own right. With each study, the Objectification of Women Questionnaire was modified according to the findings from the previous studies. By the fourth EFA study, the results from the data analysis become more interpretable, suggesting that it is possible to differentiate domains of objectification (instrumentality), though they remain highly correlated, indicating that the questionnaire would very likely function best as a higher-order model.