Question: Is objectification of women inevitable and could women reframe it as a positive thing in the future? What would stop women from ever seeing it as positive?

Both men and women objectify women:

This article cites a study that shows that both men and women objectify women. People's brains see men as a 'whole' and women as 'body parts'.

The researchers from the study ask if this is because of evolutionary reasons or the media (or both).

This boob cam shows that both both men and women glance at boobs.

My personal view:

I think men's chests are very sexy. A great chest is a definite head-turner. Women definitely do objectify men's bodies and think 'sex' when they see one they consider 'hot'.

But I'll also admit that if a topless man and topless woman passed, I'd glance at her chest before his. Doesn't matter at all how attractive she or her breasts are, I'll still look at her first.

Breasts were our first source of food and comfort:

Women's breasts are obviously normally hidden away, which makes them more enticing. But I've long thought that a big attraction with breasts is that they were our 'everything' when we were newborns - food, comfort, warmth. If something is your first and only source of food, it has to have a massive impact on your psyche (not everyone was breastfed, of course, but throughout human history, most were)

Women's bodies represent 'home' and 'survival':

But in terms of objectification, I haven't considered that other parts of a woman's body also are our 'firsts'. A woman's body is our first home. Women = home. That's a huge concept. Her blood was our nourishment. Her heartbeat was our music and first sound. Vaginas are the path to our first experience of the outside world.

In terms of men and sex, 'survival' has to rank ahead of 'sex' in terms of immediate needs. Women represent the first means of our survival, which is a stronger need even than sex.

Objectification in the media:

Women's bodies and body parts are used to sell all kinds of things. Women are often 'background decoration' in movies and games and have no or few roles as 'people'.

Women's magazines are full of women, not men--younger, good-looking women more often than not. Men's magazine feature younger, good-looking women.

If a beachside holiday location is being advertised, they are likely to show a very attractive woman in a bikini on the beach rather than a man.

Could there ever be a society in which women like being objectified?:

Because of all the above, a woman being looked at could be seen as a positive and natural thing. A woman's body is the beginning, the home, the nourishment, the first experiences of the world. Men looking at women's bodies could also be interpreted as positive and natural because people like sex, and sex is good. And sex starts the whole process by which human life comes about.

I personally don't mind when a woman checks out my cleavage. But when a man does it and holds his stare, I don't like it. Doesn't matter what he looks like, I don't like it. Why does a man's stare make me feel objectified but not a woman's?

Of course, some women LOVE men looking at them, and will wear low-cut tops and shorts with asses showing. A trend with young girls is to wear extremely short shorts. Is this a more positive attitude, in the end? "If you're going to look at me, well, here it is. I'm going to enjoy your stares."

Why don't women currently see being objectified as positive?:

It's been proven girls and women don't perform at their peak when they feel objectified.

Women feel discounted as people when they are not shown as people in their own right in the media.

Why don't (most) women like men looking at them? I can only surmise it's because of a perceived threat. In historical times, if a man looks at a woman sexually, there could be consequences. She could be carried off and raped, or raped and killed. This threat remains today, to a lesser extent.