Standpoint Theory

A standpoint is a place from which we view the world that determines what we focus on as well as what we don’t know. The standpoint is a specific location in time and space that determines how one sees the world. The social groups like sexuality, socio economic status, gender, etc. we belong to shape how we see the world and how we communicate. Not that everyone in that social group will have the exact same view point but they’ll be closer to each other. Now, the problem is that these social groups influence the way we see the world, but all the groups were not treated as equals. For example, poor people might be oppressed by the rich community; historically, women were not considered as important as men; blacks and whites were not treated equally, etc. Therefore, it was observed that some groups were treated better than others and some group oppressed others. Societal inequalities generate distinctive accounts of nature and social relationships. The standpoint theory argues that the perspective from the lives of the less powerful provide a more objective perspective than lives of the powerful. So, poor people have a better and comprehensive way of seeing the world compared to the rich people. The standpoint theorist idea suggests that dominant people have a less objective view of the world. Privileged groups are not forced to observe the realities of inferior groups; therefore their standpoints are more narrow and biased.
In Indian context as we see, there has always been the dominance of patriarchal society. It is only recently, that feminism has gained importance. The standpoint theory gives the feminist way of understanding the world. The theory is influenced by the early Marx and Engel’s idea of “ideal knower”. But they talked about it only in terms of class. After much research, it was seen that the standpoint theory was also influenced by symbolic interactionism, which suggests that gender is socially constructed. This is the basic difference between sex and gender where sex is a biological phenomenon and gender is social. Therefore, though we have biological differences but most of what we do to be a man or a woman comes from society and from those groups that we are a part of. But standpoint does not embrace relativism. It says that all we have is our location through which we view knowledge but some visions of the world are better than others. So, the problem is that we tend to look at the scholarship from the position of the oppressor. The standpoint theory argues that all scholarly enquiries should start from the lives of women and others who are marginalized because they know what their oppressors want but they also have their own perspective and it gives us more holistic way of understanding what something actually is. The theory also argues that the differences between men and women influence our communication but it is important to remember that culture is not experienced identically by all members because of inequality. In our society, men have the power to define women as we see that women are required to take their husbands name after marriage. The theory also points out that women are not a monolithic group but belongs to different race, class, sexual orientation, etc and thus do not all share the same standpoint. But, the theorist argue that even if though we are different with inner cultural groups, it’s important to frame as if we are all the same type and only this allows for political solidarity and gets things done.
As the standpoint theory clearly indicates, local knowledge of the truth is very important. One only sees the truth from their perspective and it always comes with added values. Therefore we only know the partial truth if we see from any one point of view.
Here, let’s take into account the standpoint theory and use it in the perspective of sexual objectification of women through media. Since time immemorial, women in India have been the victims of male chauvinism and are treated as objects for the sexual gratification of men. But, the shameful part is, even in the 21st century when feminism is becoming so prevalent, sexual objectification of women has not lost its grounds. Advertising of products through mass media is the most common step that any company takes in order to penetrate the market more and generate better sales and revenue from their product. Though sexually explicit content is present for both genders; however, it is especially worse for females in advertising. Advertisers hope to capture the attention of potential buyers by showing a half-naked woman in a seductive post Now there are many examples where women are shown in a stimulating manner. Few of the examples being:
• Slice Aamsutra advertisement by Katrina Kaif.
• Set Wet deodorant advertised during IPL 2014.
• Axe Body Spray Commercials.
• Advertisement for GoDaddy.com
• Hardee’s fast food commercial.
• Chanel No.5 commercial by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
The list of sexually explicit advertisement objectifying women is way too big. But these commercials are being successful for the reason that when perceived from male perspective, the appeal for the desired product increases exponentially when associated in this manner. This standpoint is due to the prevalence of male dominance in several societies of the world which is still persisting in many societies. Men have the tendency of view themselves as superior beings and have the stereotypical belief that women are weaker than men. Therefore, men run the society, protect women and in turn can use them the way they feel pleasurable.
A study by marketing professors Darren W. Dahl, Jaideep Sengupta and Kathleen D. Vohs consisted experiments examining the differences between men and women’s attitudes towards the gratuitous use of sex in advertising. It was observed that sex sells, but only to men and not women. The negative reaction of women from women in the study when exposed to sexual ads could explain why ads containing sexual imagery for relatively cheap products – such as Richmond Ham – racked up more complaints than a spot like Keira Knightley’s Chanel advertisement. Another paper published in the Journal of Psychological Science suggested the same findings that sex associated with luxury brands were not seen as offensive by the women as it kind of made sex expensive and they felt worthy of it.
Here, it is observed how the social and cultural groups affect the standpoint of people about the sexual objectification of women by media. The upper class female which is the target group for luxury and high end brands does not find their advertisements as offensive as compared to the advertisements for cheaper products which use sexual content in them. The standpoint is also subjected to gender and the culture we follow. Men, in general, are not offended but enjoy the sexual content in the advertisements; then countries with relatively conservative society have a different view about this kind of objectification. Personally, I feel that the sexually explicit content that depicts female objectification enhances the sexual discrimination faced by women, which in itself is a hindrance for women empowerment and supports patriarchal dominance in the society.