One claim that has been made in feminism is that women are being “objectified” – treated as objects.

The response is that you are both a subject and an object. So am I, and there is nothing sexist or misogynistic about it.

You are an object because you exist. You are a subject because you act. Being human means being both a subject and an object; and there is nothing contradictory between the two.

Of course many people will find it more attractive to be a subject than an object. That is called not living in the real world. For as long as you exist, you are an object. You may be correctly angry if people see you only as an object and fail to see you as a subject. But you will never do away with being an object unless you cease to exist.

Once again, both men and women are both subjects and objects. And not being either is impossible for human beings.

What feminists are right about is that there are many men who fail to see women as also subjects – as beings who think, choose and deliberately act. They are right to confront that attitude. Failing to see someone as a subject is profoundly disempowering to that person, and it fails to see that person as a conscious, volitional being. Being a subject is just as inextricable from being human as is being an object. And it is completely wrong to deny people that role.

The correct conclusion, once again, is that we – both women and men – are both subjects and objects. And all people, women and men, should be viewed from that premise.