Do you have sexual thoughts about strangers? Do you consider sexual thoughts to be objectification?

First off, please forgive me if this is inappropriate for this sub.

I had a conversation with my girlfriend last night that made me question everything I thought I knew about objectification. For most of my (29M) pubescent life, if I see a particularly attractive female it triggers abstract sexual fantasies. Passing sexual thoughts about that person, which then pass. I'd always considered this normal, and assumed everyone had similar thoughts about attractive people they encounter.

My girlfriend countered that she would not "objectify" someone in that way. That it was rude and degrading, and that she did not have such thoughts.

What are your thoughts? Do you have similar thoughts/fantasies? Do you view them as inappropriate? Is there some third angle I'm missing?

(Specifically, the context of our conversation was around the fact that I split my pants and work, and asked my girlfriend if she would be at all titillated if she saw a cute male co-workers butt through his pants, because I would definitely be slightly titillated if I saw a female coworkers panties)

EDIT: What is your definition of "objectification" and when does it become a problem?

Submitted April 05, 2019 at 06:14PM

First off, please forgive me if this is inappropriate for this sub.I had a conversation with my girlfriend last night that made me question everything I thought I knew about objectification. For most of my (29M) pubescent life, if I see a particularly attractive female it triggers abstract sexual fantasies. Passing sexual thoughts about that person, which then pass. I'd always considered this normal, and assumed everyone had similar thoughts about attractive people they encounter.My girlfriend countered that she would not "objectify" someone in that way. That it was rude and degrading, and that she did not have such thoughts.What are your thoughts? Do you have similar thoughts/fantasies? Do you view them as inappropriate? Is there some third angle I'm missing?(Specifically, the context of our conversation was around the fact that I split my pants and work, and asked my girlfriend if she would be at all titillated if she saw a cute male co-workers butt through his pants, because I would definitely be slightly titillated if I saw a female coworkers panties)EDIT: What is your definition of "objectification" and when does it become a problem?