You may be thinking that, as a South African, I am here trying to raise awareness of the dangers of the AI text-to-image community ‘art’ platform. After all, as an American-owned outlet for social journalism, ‘Medium‘Probably most Americans have read. Why not write for a South African blog?
Well, for starters, the US with a population of about 340 million offers more readership than South Africa with its roughly 60 million inhabitants – at least 55% of whom are poor ((of which at least 55% are poor (The World Bank(On average, a poverty-stricken South African keeps body and soul together on an income between US$45 and US$86 per month.)Statsa)
In comparison, the US poverty rate is estimated to be around 11% (Poortiva), with the income of each U.S. resident estimated to be approximately $1,300 per month (Health insurance) Of course, the cost of living in America is higher than in South Africa – but in the context of access to AI art generators, that’s another topic.
In 2023, North America (theoretically US, Bermuda, Canada, Greenland and Saint Pierre/Miquelon) accounted for 38% of the global AI image generator market, ((The vision) Admittedly, this may well change over the past two years, mainly because the Asia Pacific market share was expected to grow at a higher rate in 2023. After all, given the growing pace of American tech innovation and the fact that the largest AI companies are located in the US, it’s probably fair to say that most users of AI art generators and most members of AI community art platforms are American.
With all of this in mind, it makes sense for Americans to try to educate users of AI text-to-image community art platforms about the scourge of female objectification. They have more influence over market trends and, thereby, more power to stop this potentially dangerous scourge.
So, let’s get down to the brass tacks. As I wrote in an earlier article, there is widespread concern that AI text-to-image art is being used to perpetuate the objectification of women. And being objectified by others often triggers self-objectification.
“Clothing is a conscious process of appearance management,” with clothing style used to “cover or reveal the physical appearance of the wearer” (Yangqi Wang, Kang Meng, and Zhaofeng Jiang, International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology(Frontiers)
Interestingly, however, the targets of violence against women may not necessarily be flashy dressers. Some research even suggests that—because sexual harassment and violence against women is “about power”—a provocatively dressed woman who exudes “confidence and assertiveness” may not be the harasser’s “ideal target.”
Whatever the case, female objectification has made all women potential targets, regardless of how they dress. This is because “sexual violence is the result of dehumanizing perceptions of women’s bodies” that is achieved through the aggressor’s “exposure and interpretation of bodily images” (Frontiers)
Here’s the bottom line: Research suggests that women’s motives for dressing attractively to men are misrepresented—and that many women are unaware of the clothing-revealing cues men send (Avigail Moore, International Journal of Women’s Education) It is in this context that AI text-to-image community ‘art’ avalanches of extraordinary women on platforms present such a terrifying threat.