Act of treating a person as an object and source of gratification for oneself. This practice is built on a relationship of inequality, devoid of empathy and recognition of the person as a human being and a subject with rights and feelings. The person who is in a situation of privilege, adhering to the conceptions of ownership and dominance, feels legitimized to treat others coercively and as subordinate beings for personal benefit. This belief about women, which is so prevalent in pornography and advertising, is at the root of many sexual crimes. Rita Laura Segato, who asserts that objectification and the extractivist mindset are the foundation of patriarchal power, has developed the concept of ‘pedagogy of cruelty’, which she defines as follows: “I call pedagogies of cruelty all acts and practices that teach, habituate and programme subjects to transmute the living and its vitality in things” (2021, 1). Segato points out that trafficking in women and sexual exploitation are the paradigm of the pedagogy of cruelty.
Segato, Rita Laura (2021). «Crueldad: pedagogías y contra-pedagogías». Lobo suelto, 1-3.