Sexual Subjectivity: Contesting Objectification and Humanising the Rapist

Publication Date: 01/01/2026

Pages: 29-51

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-11338-2_3

Abstract:

This chapter provides an existential account of sexual subjectivity to present sexual objectification as harmful, whilst simultaneously offering a non-pathological account of the rapist. Simone de Beauvoir’s existential philosophy presents an intersubjective and embodied account of the subject, from this, the chapter develops a definition of sexual objectification as a denial of subjectivity that involves the recognition of subjectivity. This definition presents sexual objectification as necessarily harmful to support the radical feminist use of this concept in explanations of sexual violence, contributing to debates in both philosophy and feminism. As a process in the mind of the rapist, sexual objectification can be seen as a distortion of the foundation of consciousness. This account is able to humanise the rapist as the distortion of consciousness is the evasion of responsibility for oneself. Through combining insights from existentialism and symbolic interactionism the chapter proposes that the denial of subjectivity involves the negation of moral emotions such that men can rape in the absence of a negative self-reflection. This is a non-pathological explanation of the rapist as the distortion of consciousness is explained by the constitution of free subjects. The use of Simone de Beauvoir to provide a theoretical account of the rapist contributes to the emerging field of existential criminology, which has not thus far included consideration of Beauvoir.

Source: Scopus

Sexual Subjectivity: Contesting Objectification and Humanising the Rapist

Authors: Wimbledon, A.

Publication Date: 26/02/2026

Publisher: Springer Nature

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-11338-2

Source: Manual