How Less Clothing Can Lead to More Objectification
✍| By Ms. Safieh Hashemi
A recent study from Northern Ireland reveals a disturbing reality: more than 80% of women surveyed reported experiencing some form of gendered harassment before turning 17. These included catcalling, unwanted sexual remarks, and inappropriate physical attention—often happening in ordinary, public settings like streets, schools, or workplaces.
The shock isn’t just in the numbers—but in how normalized and internalized these experiences have become. Many of the women said they didn’t recognize such behavior as harassment at the time. It was “just a look,” or “only a comment.” And that’s exactly the problem: when a culture tolerates objectification in subtle forms, it becomes part of everyday life.
What Science Says: The Less You Wear, the Less You’re Seen as a Person
Decades of psychological and neurological research have shown that the way a woman dresses significantly impacts how she is perceived—not only socially, but even in how the brain processes her image. Studies using functional MRI scans have revealed that when women are shown wearing less clothing, the observer’s brain is more likely to activate regions associated with tools or objects, rather than those involved in perceiving people with thoughts and feelings.
This objectification doesn’t require intent. It happens subconsciously—even among women themselves. The skin-to-personhood ratio, in a way, matters. The more visible the body, the more invisible the human behind it becomes.
This is not about blame—but about awareness. It’s not that certain clothing causes harassment. It’s that exposure increases the likelihood of being perceived as less human, and more as an object of attention or consumption. And that perception can open the door to normalized, everyday violations.
Modesty as a Moral and Psychological Boundary
In many traditional cultures, modest dress is not a symbol of oppression—it’s a boundary. A signal that says: this body is not for public consumption. While some modern discourses treat modesty as regressive, research shows that it may in fact protect against dehumanization, both in how others perceive a woman and in how she sees herself.
Importantly, modesty is not merely about fabric. It’s about presence—about asserting one’s identity beyond appearance. And in a world saturated with hypersexualized images of women, modesty can act as resistance to a culture of objectification.
Harassment Doesn’t Start with Touch
One of the most revealing findings in the Northern Irish study is that many women didn’t initially identify their early experiences as harassment. Why? Because there was no physical contact. Just words. Just stares.
But that’s where it begins: objectification starts not with action, but with perception.
When women are persistently seen through a narrow lens—whether due to their clothing, body, or presence—they are no longer fully seen at all. They are scanned, judged, and categorized—without their consent.