Der Speigel #44 Oktober 2017 in Strangely Estranged

The cover of this months Der Speigel caught my attention as we fueled up at the Shell in Kohln. It reminded me of the opening graphics shown on The Truman Show. An image of a developing fetus sucking his thumb.

Inside I found an interesting article on… you ready… page 115. They interview a psychologist about a fetuses development under a stressed mother. Brain development and personality are greatly effected by the level of stressors in the mothers life during pregnancy. They failed to mention other studies that contribute homosexuality and left handedness to stress as well.

He went on to talk about how important it is to treat the child as an individual. Children and adults treated as objects do not fare well. Curious about what exactly that means, I looked objectification up and found philosopher Roberta Nussbaum’s definition of “objectification”. Do I fit this definition?

1.) INSTRUMENTALITY – treating the person as a tool for another’s purposes
2.) DENIAL OF AUTONOMY - treating the person as lacking in autonomy or self-determination
3.) INERTNESS – treating the person as lacking in agency or activity
4.) FUNGIBILITY – treating the person as interchangeable with (other) objects
5.) VIOLABILITY – treating the person as lacking in boundary integrity and violable, “as something that it is permissible to break up, smash, break into.”
6.) OWNERSHIP – treating the person as though they can be owned, bought, or sold
7.) DENIAL OF SUBJECTIVITY – treating the person as though there is no need for concern for their experiences or feelings.

Nussbaum has argued that the topic of objectification is not only important to sexuality, which has been discussed at length, but to the Marxist view on capitalism and slavery.

So what it feels like they’re trying to tell you is, “Mistakes were made, let’s do it right this time around.”