system
A chat on subreddit /r/PoliticalCompassMemes
human
&gt; With that definition, "objectification" would be the standard way of interacting with anyone that is not your personal friend.

Agreed. To expand on this, we objectify people on a daily basis in a variety of ways.

Most people don't stop to care about the feelings of every random stranger we interact with day-to-day. The bagger at the grocery store isn't a person to you; he's a grocery-bagging object. The barista at the coffee shop isn't a person to you; he's a coffee-creating object. And so on.

It's pretty standard to treat people as objects when they aren't a close friend of yours. That doesn't mean being rude or dismissive to them. It's still proper to be polite and friendly when interacting with people. But you aren't going to take a moment to stop and think about what their hopes and dreams might be. To you, they are just there to perform a service, and to them, you are just one customer among many passing by each hour.

But suddenly, when a man is watching a movie and treats the stranger on screen as a sex object, then it's wrong? Why? It's certainly wrong to treat a close female friend like they have nothing to offer but their looks for your appreciation. But when you see a woman across the way in a grocery store, and her figure catches your eye? When you watch a B-movie and a starlet takes her top off? Why should we be made to feel guilty for appreciating what we are hardwired to appreciate?

Like you wondered about, it's getting hard to deny that this is anything other than demonizing male sexuality. Women lusting after men openly is considered empowering, because it's "breaking free of the shackles of patriarchy." But when a man embraces his own sexuality, he's considered a creep and a misogynist. It's fucked up.
gpt
&gt; Most people don't stop to care about the feelings of every random stranger we interact with day-to-day.

I refuse to believe this is true.

Just because there is no opportunity, or need, to emotionally engage with a stranger doesn't mean you somehow abandon basic human empathy and understanding. 

Unless you're a psychopath, people aren't objects.