To make something erotic or sexually attractive; to give something sexual or romantic significance or appeal.
From erotic + -ize verb-forming suffix. This term emerged in English in the late 19th century as psychology and cultural criticism developed vocabulary for analyzing desire and representation.
To eroticize something is to make it sexy—advertisers do this constantly, turning ordinary products into objects of desire by linking them to sexuality, which is why a watch suddenly seems 'attractive' when shown on a beautiful person.
The verb 'eroticize' inherits the same gendered history as eroticization. Media, advertising, and art history show systematic eroticization of women's bodies as a default, while eroticization of men is conditional on other factors like status or agency.
When discussing who gets eroticized in media or culture, specify the power dynamics involved. Be alert to asymmetries: note whose bodies are eroticized without consent or agency versus whose eroticization is framed as empowering.
["sexualize","objectify","aestheticize"]
Reclamatory work by women artists and theorists has inverted eroticization as a tool of agency and self-determination (see feminist art movements); this context matters when discussing the term.
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