When women are given advice about sex and clothing, when we’re advised to be chaste and modest, a striking amount of that advice compares us to consumer goods. We’re told that we’re chewing gum, and nobody wants gum other people have chewed. We’re told that we’re candy, and nobody wants candy without the wrapper. We’re told that we’re iPads, so our manufacturer recommends using covers which protect us and make us more beautiful. We’re told that we’re diamonds or pearls, buried deep in the ground or the ocean, valuable because we’re hard to reach. We’re told that we’re shoes, and nobody wants used, smelly, second-hand shoes. We’re told that we’re apples: the best are the hard-to-reach ones at the top of the tree, the worst are the rotten ones that fall off the tree and can be picked up by anyone, and only the best of men will go to the trouble of climbing the tree for the apples that are hard to get. We’re told that we’re cars or expensive watches or wads of cash, and if we’re left unlocked, or are flashed in dangerous neighborhoods, we should expect to be stolen. We’re told that we’re meat, and if we’re dangled in front of hungry dogs we should expect to get eaten. We’re told that we’re cows and that sex with us is milk, and we’re asked why anyone would buy the cow if they could get the milk for free.
And somehow, all of this is supposed to make us feel valued, and is supposed to teach us to value ourselves.
I have some important information: Women are human beings. We are not gum or candy; we are not diamonds or iPads; we are not watches or wads of cash; we are not cows or milk. Women are human beings — and when you treat us like consumer goods, you are not treating us as valuable. It doesn’t matter whether you’re treating us like expensive goods or cheap ones, whether you’re calling us diamonds or gum. When you treat us like consumer goods, you’re treating us as less than human. You’re teaching others to treat us as less than human. And you’re teaching us to think of ourselves as less than human.