An Analysis Of Pornography And Respect For Women

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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...

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...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.

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