An Analysis Of Pornography And Respect For Women

825 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What are the effects of sexism in media

In her article, “Pornography and Respect for Women,” Ann Gary examines the moral status of pornography and its direct or indirect implication on the respect paid to women. To start, Gary presents two passages quoted from Susan Brownmiller and the Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography respectively. The two passages are used to convey contradicting attitudes towards pornography, in which Brownmiller views the obscenity as a model of sexual callousness and the Presidential Commission views it as an outlet. In response, Gary considers both opinions and, in spite of whether one is correct or incorrect, suggests that pornography is a moral degradation of women as sexual objects. In respect to the argument posed by Brownmiller, which is considered as a common understanding of pornography, Gary counters the opinion and goes on to pose three questions she wishes to address in the article, which are: Does pornography degrade human beings (as a whole)? Does it degrade in ways or to an extent that it does not degrade men? Does pornography have to degrade women or is there a genuinely harmless and non-sexist version of pornography (Gary 396)? Gary reasons that despite the presence of the degradation of women in modern pornography, an alternate perception of sex and sex roles would enable the conception of non-degrading and non-sexist pornography.
Gary continues her discussion through the presentation of two moral arguments. The first argument depends on the premise that viewing pornography leads to an increase of sexual callousness in attitudes and behaviour (Gary 398). The discussion is comprised of four parts, where she presents examples of those who accept the premise, examples of those who deny the premise, a critical exam...

... middle of paper ...

...contributes toward the attitudes upon sex, sex roles, and sexual roles collectively. If the attitudes were to be altered in pornography, film, and literature, to obtain a level of equality and morality, will the enjoyment of such media be altered alongside? The final essay will discuss the implications of equality in media and if its presence can still retain an erotic quality. As the digital age has advanced much since the debut of Gary’s article in 1978, the essay dialogue will consider the ease of access to pornographic or sexually explicit material and how, in correspondence, its convenience has affected the perception of women as either sexual objects or full-fledged persons.

Bibliography
Garry, Ann. “Pornography and Respect for Women.” Ed. Margaret Dancy, Victoria Costa, and Joshua Gert. Social Theory and Practice 4.4 (1978): 395-421. Web.

Show More
Related

  • A Pornographic World By Robert Jensen Summary

    502 Words  | 2 Pages

    A pornographic world [What is normal] by Robert Jensen takes an inside look at the culture of masculinity and what role pornography takes in shaping that culture. Jensen describes how he was forced to play a “macho” role as a child out of fear of being bullied and ridiculed for not being manly enough. Pornography use started for him and his friends in grade school – they would steal magazines and hide them to share in a group later. He talks of how he learned of a social concept, called the “ideal of prostitution” (the notion of men “buying” women in various forms of undress, solely for their pleasure), at a young age. While there has always been a stigma around pornography, whether stemming from moral or religious reasons, Jenson continued to use porn until his 30s.

    Read More

  • A Feminist Defense Of Pornography Wendy Mcelroy Analysis

    522 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wendy McElroy in “A Feminist Defense of Pornography” argues that degrading is subjective to each women and it’s up to them to define it. As much as that is true, does it mean that there shouldn’t be a standard to the word “degrading”? Take for example, pain is subjective, the same papercut can feel painful to me yet not to another person. There are even people who suffer from congenital analgesia (the inability to feel physical pain), But does this mean that it is right to inflict physical pain on those people? The law is the standard for defining physical pain and so the term “degrading” should also has its standard as it will cause harm to others.

    Read More

  • Censorship Of Pornography

    2262 Words  | 5 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Pornography and Feminist Fight for Women’s Rights

    1342 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pornography and Feminist Fight for Women’s Rights. There was a complaint in 1992 about having The Nude Maja in a classroom. The complaint came from a feminist English professor who stated that the painting made her students, as well as herself, uncomfortable. Another incident occurred at the University of Arizona when a female student’s photographic artwork consisting of self-portraits in her underwear was physically attacked by feminists.

    Read More

  • Restricting the Production, Distribution, and Sale of Pornography in Canada

    2975 Words  | 6 Pages

    14 Baird, Robert M. and Stuart E Rosenbaum.  Pornography - Private Right or Public Menace.  Pg. 51

    Read More

  • The Relationship Between Pornography and the American Culture

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    A review of the contemporary research on the negative effects of pornography is replete of scholarly and anecdotal evidence and opinion about the damages associated with viewing it. But the evidence is limited when it comes to criticism of mainstream media’s damages to certain groups, particularly young women with their romantic comedies.

    Read More

  • The Supreme Court Standard of Obscenity Evolution since 1950

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slade, Joseph W. Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2001. Print.

    Read More

  • Women In The Pornography Industry

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Sexualization And Objectification Of Women In Society

    1471 Words  | 3 Pages

    A common trend in the entertainment industry today is the objectification of women in society. Sexualizing women are seen in media such as; movies, advertisement, television show and music video, where their main focus is providing the audience with an image of women as sexual objects rather than a human. This is detrimental to society since the media is producing social stereotypes for both genders, which can further result in corrupted social habits. Objectification in media are more focused on females than male, these false images of women leave individuals with the wrong idea of the opposite sex. As media continuously use sexual contents regarding women, the audience starts underestimating women. Specifically movies, it allows media to shape the culture’s idea of romance, sex and what seems

    Read More

  • Values of Miss America Pageant

    2474 Words  | 5 Pages

    It is shocking to see the digression in humanity’s morals and values over the past decade. As cliché as it sounds, the media is the center of it all. The way women are being represented, from our television sets, the radio, pornography and even art has pushed beauty to the top of the list of controversial and widely debated topics around the globe. “Whenever we walk down the street, watch TV, open a magazine or enter an art gallery, we are faced with images of femininity,” (Watson and Martin).

    Read More

  • The Sociological Issues Of Pornography

    1848 Words  | 4 Pages

    The issue of pornography has been debated and argued among many about its effects on morality and society. The questions most raised are is pornography moral or immoral and what defines it as such. Also, what makes something be seen as pornographic and therefore immoral. Often when someone brings up the subject of pornography they often envision something dark and seedy which in no way could ever be justified as virtuous. However, there are others who see it’s as being a healthy outlet and without harm to others. When applying the sociological theories of utilitarianism and deontology we can understand the different ideas of pornography. We can also use the perspectives of Emotivism and ethical egoism to make a rational argument about

    Read More

  • The Harmful Effects of Pornography

    1630 Words  | 4 Pages

    Whether pornography is an excuse to make acts of violence public? A big number of famous scholars, no matter men or women, have given their opinions. Each of them has their own view, but we can sort them into two groups, which are against to serious censorship and willing to convict and uproot pornography. Because of pornography, women’s status can never be equal to men’s. Recently, a revolution about the perception of moral values comes out in the world, which refers to how deep the changes of the method people think and act. Media have continuously played a big role in processing those changes in the revolution. Whereas, a lot of changes have been much worse. New violations of human dignity and Christian ideals have taken place. Within here, the media is also important. In the media, widespread pornography and wanton violence have increased in these years. Books and magazines, recordings, the cinema, the theater, television, videocassettes, advertising displays and even telecommunications regularly present a representation of violent behavior in sexual activity, which has been openly pornographic and morally offensive.

    Read More

  • Pornography Research Paper

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Liberal Feminism Essay

    2063 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many feminist theories believe that pornography is part of male culture and the patriarchy in which women are exploited and abused. In fact, one of radical feminism philosophy’s primary concerns is pornography as they believe porn degrades women and that women involved in the industry are physically damaged by patriarchy, as pornography as often directed by male pornographers (McElroy 2016). Renowned radical feminist Andrea Dworkin explored issues like misogyny and pornography. Dworkin spoke out for several causes, primarily in ending violence against women. Her famous work Pornography: men possessing women (1981) argues that porn teaches men to rape and violently abuse women. However, studies show that watching pornography its self does not cause any considerable social harm. Despite this, it is true that the adult industry itself can be torturous and

    Read More

  • Pornography

    1739 Words  | 4 Pages

    To some, pornography is nothing more than a few pictures of scantily clad Women in seductive poses. But pornography has become much more than just Photographs of nude women. Computer technology is providing child molesters and child pornographers with powerful new tools for victimizing children. Pornography as "the sexually explicit depiction of persons, in words or images, Sexual arousal on the part of the consumer of such materials. No one can prove those films with graphic sex or violence has a harmful effect on viewers. But there seems to be little doubt that films do have some effect on society and that all of us live with such effects.

    Read More

More about An Analysis Of Pornography And Respect For Women

Open Document