Pornography dates back to the 19th century in the Roman Empire, and eventually spread to other nations leading to outlaws of it. Ultimately, it was abolished, but pornography still managed to be smuggled. Pornography is now legal, to an extent according to age. Presently, there are many people who believe that women are portrayed as objects as opposed to persons when exploited in pornography. Also, that this creates the false impression that these women in pornography are secretly yearning to be raped. Other people, however, would disagree with these ideals and claim that pornography does not exploit women by characterizing them as objects. Some say that there are certain extents to which women are depicted as objects as well as where this …show more content…
is being portrayed. The Victorian Era is known for being an Era in which sex was repressed.
During this time, sex between those who are not married, was strongly looked down upon. Also, sex was strictly for pro-creation, never for pleasure. Therefore, Victorian pornography highlighted many negative and frightening possibilities of sex such as bodily decay and suffering (Joudrey, 2015). This makes it seem as though both the man and woman would have harm done to them for engaging in intercourse. However, in other categories of Victorian pornography, the perspective that it is God’s will to forcefully take a woman’s virginity takes place. According to scholar Joudrey, there are vivid explanations of doing so in short stories such as Venus in India (1890). Even supposing this view was acceptable in the Victorian Era, it is not a man’s duty to take a woman’s virginity to form her into a “real woman”. Today, this would presumably appear as rape especially because the women had no say in the matter and surely depict the women as objects rather than …show more content…
persons. Immediately upon thinking about historical art, many think of the infamous nude statues and nude women in paintings. In Rome, Antonio Canova’s statue The Three Graces (1813), shows three women standing while holding one another completely naked. There are also other famous paintings and sculptures of naked women such as La Grande Odalisque (1814) by Ingres as well as Nude, Green Leaves and Bust (1932) by Pablo Picasso, the list goes on. However, there aren’t many statues and paintings of men that are nude, resembling the art of the women. Even though there are a few, such as the sculpture of David, this characterizes women as an object that can be exposed without question. Whereas for men, it is a rarity to be exposed in such manners. In present day, pornography mostly contains of videos with an explicit display of sexual activity which is intended to prompt erotic feelings. Taking part in viewing pornography is discussed among peers as a normal, acceptable activity. However, what isn’t discussed as much is the portrayal of women in these explicit displays as well as the portrayal of women in everyday life. Women are seen as sexual beings especially based off of how they are dressed. Many women today look up to celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, who veritably, has been made famous for being in her own pornography video. She dresses in tight, short, and revealing clothing which prompts many women, even on the Cal State Long Beach campus, to dress provocatively. Many claim that this makes women dressed for sex, or asking to be raped, while to others, it is seen as a sense of self expression or simply “looking good” because they want to for themselves as opposed for others. Researchers Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1995) found that according to the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, attitudes and the myths themselves are approached differently for men and women. Women use the to deny vulnerability they personally have and men use them to justify the sexual violence that is done by men (Bryant, Mealey, Herzog, & Rychwalski, 2001). Also, when men were interviewed, they claimed that when women wore suggestive clothing, it was unfair to a man to be rejected because the woman was subjecting him to temptation. This correlated to the rape myths such as women who wear promiscuous short-skirts rather than long skirts are guilelessly asking for trouble. Pornography in the 19th century was mainly targeted toward a younger, “disorderly” crowd in place of the upper class.
Today, pornography has different targeted audiences based on various categories of pornography. There are pornographies made that are targeted toward women in which are slow and focused more on the people’s language rather than solely genitally focused. Most pornographies, however, are made specifically for men. These videos contain a large focus on the genitals, the men are portrayed as dominant, and the women please the men taking any measures necessary. According to a study, pornography that was intended for men and women aroused the men who were being studied. Women on the other hand, activated negative affects after watching the pornography intended for men and positive after watching the pornography intended for women (Mosher, 1994). In general, men are the main target of pornographies and women as well as feminists believe that pornography should not characterize women as objects. Also when making this study, it was difficult to find pornography that was made by women, majority of the videos are made by men and produced for
men. Although in many of these explicit videos, it may appear as though the women are enjoying the tasks that they are performing, many of them are simply acting and in addition, on drugs. As reported by interviews on a documentary, there are many incidents in which women partake in two to three hour long live-stream videos, maintaining their stamina with drugs, and then off camera have to have sex with the producers (AntiPornography.org). Former pornographic film star Danny Austin watched this incident in person and could not put into words how disgusted he was with the treatment and exploitation of the women. He as well as others have left the industry due to the mistreatment of women. Events similar to this have been experienced by many who have come forth to tell of their experiences. Alternatively, former pornographic film star, Candida Royalle, has taken action against the mistreatment by founding Femme Productions which does not exploit women in such ways and is filmed by women and made for women as well (Maclan, 1994). The mistreatment of women in pornography does occur, and it is viewed as exploitation by men and women who have even been in pornographic films themselves. In my perspective, women are indeed exploited and portrayed as objects in pornography. Dating back from the 19th century, until present day, women have been mistreated and this situation has been overlooked. Although there have been people who have stood up for the cause and people who quit the industry, the issue still remains. The targeted audience, men, continue to view pornography in whichever form they do. Also, women continue to dress provocatively in public as well as participate in pornography, which in turn, prompts many men to rape women as previously mentioned in the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
... pornography is just expressing ones self; to others, itþs considered an art form. But studies have shown that this þart formþ is the chief cause of many murders and rapes that occur in the United States. And it doesnþt start with þhard-coreþ. The early stages of erotica are actually the start.
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
When it comes to relationships there are many things that need to be present in order for it to work out. You must have support from both sides and honesty is also a big factor. When pornography enters a relationship it can be destroyed and could possible ruin that relationship forever. This essay will be able to inform you of all the ways that pornography can and does ruin relationships. Support for this argument will be drawn from the following sources: Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, Love, Sex, and Health, and The Question of Pornography.
Pornography is an engine for female empowerment. At its core pornography is explicit artwork meant to communicate explicit ideas. It is a means by which society is sexually educated, liberalized, and empowered. While some pornography today has many negative archetypes, as societies acceptance of pornography has liberalized, so to have women as a whole reaped the rewards of greater equality. Pornography has been, and still is, a means of education, communication, and role-playing which allows for taboos to be broken beyond the bedroom. Pornography has been a source of sexual empowerment for women, and a front in the culture wars over women’s place in today’s cult...
The media is a large part of our everyday lives; everywhere we go we can find a source of media. It influences our thoughts, feelings and behaviours every day as it is a huge influence in today’s society. Society heavily relies on the media to show them what is in the norm and what is going on in the world. The media also serves as another way to display the normative of the society. Sexuality is a big part in the media and what is appropriate sexuality. The media negatively affects the people who do not fit society’s ideal normative. This includes people with a sexuality that is not the normative of heterosexuality. In the media, these people of other sexualities are excluded and made to feel they do not fit into society. My pyramid shows how society classifies people by their sexuality in the media. This involves highlighting the normative sexuality and excluded any other sexuality from the mainstream media.
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
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,
Meng Vue PHIL-235 General Ethics Case Study 2 Phase 2 Is Pornography Right? With the growth of technology, pornography has become an increasingly evident and exhausting issue of debate. I think there is an understanding of the basics of what is meant by the term pornography that allows there to be a conversation about this topic without a precise definition, but in general, pornography can be any kind of sexually explicit material or content.
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
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.