ST2: Reading and understanding a text

The question I chose was "to what extent does advertising contract our ideas of gender?" and the text I chose was 'Kant on sexuality and objectification' from the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy.

In this piece of text, Kant puts across his views of sexuality exercised outside of a monogamous marriage quite strongly; the tone of voice is quite persuasive and seems like something he is quite passionate about. He thinks that monogamous marriage is the only way two people can practise sexuality without becoming an object. He says it’s “the only relationship in which two people can exercise their sexuality without the fear of reducing themselves to objects.” He explains that he thinks practising sexuality outside of a monogamous marriage is wrong, and that it makes the loved person like an object of appetite, and that “they treat humanity merely as a means for their sexual purposes.” He also explains his views on objectification, which he says is “regarding someone as an object, something for use.” He feels like once a person has been used for sexual desires, they will then be pushed aside and no longer bothered with.  Something else that is mentioned within the text is his view on prostitution and concubinage (a sexual relationship between a man and more than one woman); which he believes objectification is present in and therefore thinks it is unethical and problematic. He says “A person cannot allow others to use her body sexually in exchange for money without loosing her humanity and becoming an object.” With regards to concubinage he believes that there is a huge amount of inequality involved,  as “the woman surrenders her sex completely to the man, but the man does not completely surrender his sex to the woman.