On Tuesday, women’s rights advocates called for heavier penalties on those using sexual images of another person to blackmail them.
“Using such images to extort a victim for sex or to get back together should be punishable by up to five years in prison, while extorting them for money or property should be punishable by up to seven years in prison,” members of the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation, the Judicial Reform Foundation and other groups told a news conference in Taipei.
Images that are distributed online are almost never removed completely from the Internet even when actions to do so are taken, but heavy penalties might discourage people from distributing such images in the first place. Any amendment to the laws should make penalties applicable not just in cases of blackmail and extortion, but also in cases of unauthorized sharing of explicit images.
More should be done to tackle the objectification of women in society. As it stands, sexually charged images of women appear frequently in advertising, promotional events and packaging in Taiwan, and Chinese-language media often feature descriptors that make assertions about a woman’s appearance, such as referring to a woman as zhengmei (正妹, “beautiful or sexy woman”) or lamei (辣妹, “hot chick”), or describing her breast size.
Describing women in such a way in the media is not only inappropriate, it also undermines the focus of the report, which is usually about a woman’s contribution, achievement or success in her field.
At events, sexually charged depictions of women are often used without a second thought. At the annual Dasi Bean Curd Festival in Taoyuan last week, scantily clad female performers danced provocatively to techno music. After Taoyuan City Councilor Chan Chiang-tsun (詹江村) posted a video on Facebook of the performance, people left comments questioning the choice of entertainment for a family event.
In an article published by German media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW) on Feb. 1, 2019, writer Sarah Hucal wrote about a Berlin exhibition exploring the issue of the objectification of women in advertising. She wrote that despite research suggesting that the “sex sells” doctrine could be false, as well as the women’s emancipation movement of the 1970s and the more recent #MeToo movement, sexualized images of women persist in the advertising world.
Such images promote “unattainable beauty ideals,” depicting “unrealistically perfect female forms” and present “women as objects of lust and desire,” she wrote.
However, it would be wrong to see all female subjects of sexualized advertising as victims whose images are created entirely for consumption by others.
“The women in my pictures are always strong, even if they are also sexy. My women always look self-assured,” Hucal cites German photographer Ellen von Unwerth as saying. “I try to make them look as beautiful as they can because every woman wants to feel beautiful, sexy and powerful.”
Perhaps the issue is about ensuring that women are not exploited, that they have command over how they are portrayed, free of coercion, and that society seeks to celebrate the strength and autonomy of women, rather than allowing their continued objectification and commodification.
Punishing the use of women’s images for exploitation is a great start, but tackling the objectification of women in society is not something that can be quickly fixed through legislation. Taiwan fares better than other countries in the region in terms of women’s participation in politics, and this should be celebrated and expanded. The more key roles women hold, including in the military, the less likely they are to face exploitation.
Beginning at elementary school, we should teach children about gender equality, and celebrate girls’ and women’s achievements, instead of doting on their appearance.
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