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pornography and the effects on society
pornography & it's effect on society
negative impacts of pornography to the modern society
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We as Americans have choices. Living in the nineties almost everything is acceptable, from dyed hair, body piercings, to homosexuality. When do we say enough is enough? How much can we expose our youth to today without turning them into rapist, murders, and thieves tomorrow? We are leaving them nothing for the imagination. Cartoons are now promoting sex, drugs and violence. We don't have respect for other people's boundaries, bodies, or privacy. Women need to stand up for themselves and stop being what the men want them to be and start respecting their bodies. Because of these women, the pornography industry is stronger than it has ever been.
Pornography came about in the 60's when independent filmmakers saw that sex sells. Since then films have got more graphic and degrading. Today there are films that are viciously violent, and some that induce death. At the rate that the pornography industry is going now, who knows what kind of images our future generations are going to susceptible to. Is it that people don't care anymore? You can walk down the street and see virtually the entire male or female body posted on a Calvin Klein advertisement. But who's to say that is pornography and not art? There is a fine line to be drawn to decipher between the two. There is no clear definition of what pornography is. The word pornography actually originates from two Greek words, porne, which means harlot, and graphine, which means to write. What I get out of this definition is possibly stories about sexual escapades of women. As time passed the definition of pornography has exploded to graphic pictures, movies, magazines and Internet sites. What will it come to next?
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To sufficiently take a side in the ever-growing debate of pornography, one must first define the concept around which this discourse surrounds itself. A working definition for pornography is a piece of material that has the object purpose of arousing erotic feelings. Radical feminists, however, strictly define it as “the act of sexual subordination of women” (Dworkin 1986).
[3] Since the 1950’s, a sexual revolution has spawned in America, accordingly downgrading previous anathemas in society, like pre-martial sex, masturbation, and homosexuality. For example, according to an article describing the sexual revolution, “In the 1950s, less than 25 percent of Americans thought premarital sex was acceptable; by the 1970s, more than 75 percent found it acceptable” (Stossel 74). Norman Podhoretz recounts how in the early 1950’s obtaining pornography was like trying to buy illegal drugs. But Playboy changed all of that, as it emerged as an “acceptable” form of pornography in 1953.
One of the most prominent and detrimental forms of sexual objectification is in pornography, where it defines a woman’s role as a sexual object for men to use freely (Insert Plato Citation). It was concluded that 88% of the scenes on porn contain acts of physical aggression, which can overexpose men into thinking that this sort of aggression is normal and raise their tolerance of violence (Insert PornStats Citation). It can further warp the minds of the watchers into thinking that this is what relationships and sex are truly like, when in reality many women are forced into the industry or are overly intoxicated to keep the entire experience feeling numb (Insert ThePinkCross Citation). Pornography also touches in on an even darker subject of pedophilia, or the paraphilia involving sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Pedophilia is mostly found in males, who are also the sex that is 543% more likely to watch pornography (Insert PornStats Citation). Television shows and movies exhibit men of all shapes, sizes, and ages married or dating women of one body type, which is usually young and slender. The combination of the media and pornography feeding into the desires for young, petite girls by exposing them in an explicit way leads to the statistic that one in five men are capable of being sexually aroused by children, to some degree, though they may never act on those feelings (Insert TheGuardian Citation). On the other hand, it is still likely to see people telling young girls to not dress in a revealing manner. In the way society uses this, it is almost an oxymoron. The media is telling girls to look a certain way and when they do they are shamed for it. It should be left at if a girl is too young to be wearing ‘that short of...
An analysis of the relationship between pornography and the American culture reveals that the industry is blamed for dozens of social ills for the men of our society. Those ills also work to damage the women in several irreparable ways. Some of the damages to men include: illegal sexual behavior, illegal non-sexual behavior, callousness, sexual harassment, casual sex, and multiple sexual partners. The problems for the women directly involved in the industry are long term and long lasting, creating overall issues that affect women’s economic and social status. But what are there damages caused by the type of movies most women love, the type of movies they drag their boyfriends and husbands to, the type of movies millions watch unashamedly in public-the romantic comedy?
In the American culture today, women are becoming more sexualized at a younger age due to the influences of the corporate media. Corporate media and society form the perfect idealistic body that women should have and is constantly being promoted making younger girls start to compare themselves to them at a young age. Certain shows and movies, such as Disney, influence young children and teenagers through their characters as to how a woman is supposed to be accepted. The way the corporate media and society make this body image they want women to have starts in a very early stage in a woman's life without them knowing. There are these childhood movies, such as Disney, Barbie and Ken dolls, programs such as Netflix, teen magazines, and the most common source of them all, the internet.
Kristol’s article writes that pornography and the pornographic industry has always been dominated by men (491). Throughout the history of the United States, men have taken precedence over women in many aspects. Men were considered the workers of the family while women stayed home and acted as housewives or catered to the men. The idea of feminism and women’s equality, however, is growing throughout the nation. With feminism and women’s equality at large, society must progress toward eliminating male domination and allowing the extension for women's opportunities; therefore, pornography and the male-dominated industry should be limited by the government. Aside from men and the power statuses they hold in pornography, Gail Dines in her article “Facts and Figures” discloses information about the male tendencies after watching pornography. Men have been reported to support female rape, have aggressive behavior toward women, have a decreased sex drive toward wives or girlfriends, and desire forced sexual acts after viewing pornography (1). Despite America’s best effort to protect all citizens, in reality, females are typically victims of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and pornography is a cause of such violence. Although it is a key factor that plays a role in causing violence and aggressive behavior toward women, Americans are able to easily access videos or films instantly because of modern technology and the lack of pornography censoring. Because of the tendency to cause abuse in the real world, pornography must be censored in order to ensure that women are granted equal amounts of safety and
The term pornography originates from the Greek language, and the definition of this word is "depiction of the activities of whores" (Sushma, 2014). Pornography is encountered in many forms. Such as films, books, photographs, on television, in addition to the internet. Pornography is in each and every culture. Some cultures are more accepting than others when it comes to pornography. Some denominations do not approve any forms of pornography in addition to finding the act of viewing and reading this material as a sin. Even though several people in the world condemn pornography, the industry that produces these movies, plus other materials is a booming industry. Pornography has provided a higher income for those that are involved, including the
Stewart Homes, a British author and pro-pornography critic once said that “art is nothing more than sanctioned pornography.” I strongly disagree, because today’s modern pornography is vastly different from art. Not only does it degrade human minorities, but it prevents humanity from moving towards perfection. When we analyze pornography through the artistic definitions of Leo Tolstoy and John Dewey, we can come to understand that most porn is nothing more than entertainment that is designed to arouse physical sensation, and not emotion. Even when this is true (as it almost always is), pornography cannot be censored, because it will always have a potential to become aesthetical in nature.
Pornography: printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings. Under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, pornography consisting of aged 18 or older consenting adults, is legal. Anyone with the access to a computer is four letters away from the ability to view pornography. Simply typing “porn” into a Google search bar will yield thousands of videos of illicit content, most of which will be free to view. The quality of these videos vary site by site, some are home videos of couple posting their exploits online to see, and some videos are full scale productions with plots and famous porn-stars who are
Porn according to the dictionary is defined as a printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity intended to stimulate erotic rather than an emotional feeling. A word described as so is what has lead porn to becoming a money making business, that has come to grow over the years quite a bit. An empire that many were afraid to even talk about ,but now want to be apart of. Now porn or as they would call it now as the Adult Film business is seen every where, from DVD’s to magazines and late night television shows to the internet. It can be accessed from anywhere at anytime. Adult film wasn’t something that was new to society, but yet society is acting new towards it. Many are saying that this is something that has affected their lives, or that it should not be around at all.
has to listen to any popular local radio station after 8 P.M. to hear strings of
While it is certainly interesting to see how deeply pornography has permeated our culture, it does nothing to show whether this is good or bad. Many defend their right to record, publish, sell, buy, and view pornography, but that is not the real question. Rational people will decide for themselves what they should do about it and parents will decide what they need to do for their children, but first pornography must analyzed. Only after the pros and cons are measured should the policy be altered.
Again, there are different ideas of what is considered pornographic from artwork, movies, and books. While one may look at a painting that depicts nude forms or read a book that includes sexual acts may not see this as a form of pornography while others would find it morally offensive. Feminist would argue that the morality of porn is it is degrading and humiliating to those involved, not of its sexual nature. Their concern is that it promotes sexism and violence against women or children. “What is objectionable about pornography…is its abusive and degrading portrayal of females and female sexuality, not its content or explicitness” (Rodgerson & Wilson, 1994) However, others may feel that it is sexually liberating and in no way degrading to those involved. Those women feel in control of their sexuality and choose to participate in acts as a way of expressing themselves while feeling it has no barring on their moral character. While others would argue that it promotes immoral behavior which would lead to criminal acts or an unhealthy obsession with sex. “The most commonly feared adverse effects of pornography include undesirable sexual behaviors (e.g. adultery), sexual aggression, and loss of respect for traditional family structures and values, loss of respect for authorities, and a general nonspecific moral decay.” (Hald & Linz,
In the today’s society, social media has gone out of hand. Most people these days have a cell phone, Ipad and/or laptop and most definitely a television at their home. Therefore, access to pornography has become extremely easy and can be available to any individual in less than 5 minutes. The best definition of pornography can be explained as sexually explicit words or images intended to provoke sexual arousal. The easy access to porn has raised many people to question if porn is harmful, if it should be censored, and if it is unsafe. Many debates have been going on about porn concerning freedom of rights, speech, and entertainment and right of privacy. The main people to have argued on this point are Catherine Mackinnon and philosopher J.S. Mill.
Pornography is ripping apart our society. Although Christians are sometimes discus tied with the impact and apathetic about the need to control this menace. Pornography is a year business with close ties to organized crime. Pornography involves books, magazines, videos, and devices and has moved from the society into the mainstream through the renting of video cassettes, sales Of so-called "soft-porn" magazines, and the airing of sexually explicit movies on Cable television.