Sexual Objectification is Degrading Society

Hello DDO, and welcome to my *third* instigated debate. I hope to make this a learning experience for not only myself and my opponent, but for the voters as well. _____________________________ The first round for both contenders will be for definitions, and revisions if there are to be any. This debate is a tricky one to define, but I'll try my best. But first, a little background The topic at hand stems from a remark made by InsertNameHere (http://www.debate.org...) on Nags' (http://www.debate.org...) profile, during a discussion about Islamic values. That remark was: "Which just comes to show that society is degrading." This was in response to a comment before about beer commercials showing scantily-clad women as a way to get males to buy the beer - aka. sexual objectification. It brought up an interesting point in my mind about the status of sexuality in societies and cultures across the globe, and its central, if reluctant, role in the world's major religions, including Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism. Which has brought me here, to debate this interesting topic. Now, on to definitions. Sexual objectification: "Sexual objectification is the viewing of people solely as de-personalised objects of desire instead of as individuals with complex personalities. This is done by speaking/thinking of women as only their bodies, either the whole body, or as fetishised body parts." - http://finallyfeminism101.blogspot.com... That paragraph - from a feminist blog - just about sums up what sexual objectification is. Instead of a focus on personality traits or emotional attachment towards a member of the opposite (or in some cases, same) sex, the focus is solely on sexual attractiveness. How good a girl looks, how nice her body is, how exposed she is, etc. People often connote this with shallowness, however it is pervasive throughout Western society, and the remark by InsertNameHere about beer commercials is an apt one. Degrading/Degradation: "changing to a lower state (a less respected state)" - http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu... I chose this Princeton University definition of "degradation" because it connotes a specific feeling in regards to society and culture. A change to a "less respected state" seems to fit perfectly, because the loss of respect for a culture usually leads to a loss of association, and loss of association will eventually lead to that culture's demise. Society/Culture: "The institutions and culture of a distinct self-perpetuating group." - http://www.thefreedictionary.com... This is the hardest to define, as the term "society" can connote many different things. However, I believe this definition - that "society" and "culture" are a distinct group of people which is self-perpetuating - is the best in regards to this topic. Because, if you are to "degrade" society, then it stands to reason that you are taking away that society's ability to renew and replenish itself with constant association. I believe these definitions fit well, however I am not married to them - just in a relationship. I will allow for some revision, but only for the purpose of mutual understanding - meaning that the definitions provided, are provided for the purpose of understanding where the other is coming from, and hopefully creating a debate where we can keep confusion down to a minimum. I just ask that my opponent keep within the spirit of the debate, which means that I will not argue over the existence of society (I'm talking to you, Objectivists/anarchists/libertarians) or sexuality, or any other thing that people can think up. I will be the first to present an argument, as I'm the instigator. Thanks in advance to my opponent.