the pornography issue.

so heres the situation. there was a poster in my women's lit class thats said "pornography is to women as is to nazi literature is jews and kkk literature is to blacks" this got me thinking. mainly i dismissed that statement because in my humble opinion, it is not. first off pornography is not on par with the holocaust or kkk hate crimes. simply put. also, a large part of the feminist movement was women liberating their bodies in any way they choose. and when i see feminists attacking pornography actors, i can help but feel it is slightly hypocritical. again, dont mean to step on toes but thats my observation. also not only women are in pornography, and while possibly irrelevant, many girls I know look at pornography. often. so thats just the question i have and i was wondering your opinions, mainly because people in this fourm seem to be open minded and objective. thx

 

I disagree with the poster, and I think it is biased.

 

I think that pornography can be demeaning towards women and can give young men the wrong ideas about what to expect. However, I don't think it should be outlawed. I myself enjoy the occasional adult film. But I think that in accordance with sex education, the discussion of respect towards woman should be raised, and the fact that "porn sex" isn't always what a guy is going to get in the sack (I've seen some weird stuff...)

Also, I don't think that pornography is neccissarily anti-feminist, as I'm going to presume all of the porn actresses/actors CHOOSE to do that.

 

the less we cast aspersions on women who choose to do such things, the less demeaning it will ultimately be for them. yes, there's bad with the good, and not everyone who chooses that lifestyle or job are well adjusted, healthy or happy. but if we remove the taint and taboo from it, perhaps everyone will be better off.

 

i love porn.

 

Personally, I'm not into looking at pornography, but if a woman chooses to pose or partake, that's her own business, and I don't really see it as demeaning either way. She chose out of her own free will, right? If she's comfortable with it, then why should it matter? You don't like it, don't look, simple as that.

 

all good points. but a friend of mine raised a interesting point when i talked to her about this yesterday. romance erotica books are one of the highest selling genres in fiction. a type of books bought almost exclusively by women. these are books about sex and the relationships that go along with it. the point she raised was this, because (at-least for her, she explained) the relationship is a big part of sex. and this demeans the body of the men as well as the relationship, and the person himself. so in a way isn't that worse, or at-least just as demeaning? not sure I agree or disagree, just thowing that out there

 

I think I see what the lady in your class was getting at.

It's detrimental to accept and buy into the pornography industry as being acceptable and common-place, in my view.

How many years ago was it that only strippers were wearing thongs? Now 8 year old girls are asking their parents to buy them thongs and want to wear makeup to impress boys and want to become sexualized. We live in a world where we are not sexualizing everything, especially women.

The problem I have with the pornographic industry, is that it targets young impressionable women and sells them to a male audience. Predominantly the porn industry is structured to appeal to the fantasies, obscurities and preoccupations of men. It is very difficult to support the kind of sexual exploitation that goes on within the industry itself.

There are women all over the world who are victims of sexual abuse and sexual assault crimes and all in the name and cost of appealing to the needs of men. I see a co-relation to this.

 

Here's my take on the whole "feminists-as-sexual-liberators-of-women" argument.

The impact, imo, was as follows..

Pre-60s sexual revolution--

Men: "Women are sex objects."
Women: "I'm not a sex object, I hate sex!"

Post-60s sexual revolution--

Men: "Women are sex objects."
Women: "Yeah, I'm a sex object!! Fuck me!!"

My ideal world (which of course would never happen):

Men: "Women are human beings. I enjoy sex, but I'm not going to die if I don't fuck in the next five minutes."
Women: "I enjoy sex, it is a healthy and important part of my life, yet it's not what I base my sense of power on, nor do I use it to measure my 'womanhood.'''


...In other words, I don't think either extreme is healthy--women weren't empowered back when they weren't supposed to have a sexuality at all, yet they are equally disempowered when they have somehow fooled themselves into thinking that sleeping with nearly anyone and everyone somehow makes them more "empowered." With the way some "feminists" talk about female sexuality, I can't help but wonder if there's some male chauvinist behind the curtain slipping money to the latest "women's rights" spokeswoman. This whole idea of "I'm sexually liberated so I can go out and be a slut and no one has any right to judge me," just plays too perfectly into male fantasy to be a coincidence.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you want to sleep with tons of people and disconnect your emotions from your body, then fine. You're right--no one can tell you what to do with your body, including me. But for the love of god, stop doing it under the guise that your some modern, hip, "sexually liberated" diva-super-woman who's more enlightened than those of us who don't tromp their sexuality out on display. If I choose to sleep with only one person my whole life, I am not sexually "repressed," I'm simply choosing to use my body for a different purpose.

-Kate

 

Your sig, what is that? ^^

 

Me? Oh, haha! It was some weird-ass pic that was in some article on cracked.com. I liked it cause it was so random.

 

most of these women chose a career in porn.

if they're demeaned or degraded by it, they do it to themselves.

if a mom buys her 8 year old a thong it's the mom's fault not the porn industry. shame on her. that's ridiculous. it's our job as parents to say *no* to thong requests and makeup for 8 year olds and help them enjoy their childhood. (for the record, my now 9 year old daughter loves to play with makeup and would wear it to school if i let her).

if you ever hang out in elementary school it's typically the girls who are boy crazy and more aggressive towards the boys ... the boys become more aggressive with girls when they get older. it's the way it's always been since schools became mix-gendered. we can see this with tween (pre-teen) girls by the amount of money disney makes on boy bands and girl pop stars and their overwhelming fame and popularity ... it's the tween girls who are screaming, spending and swooning over this stuff ..... the boys are ignoring most of it and playing video games, skateboarding and bike riding.

it's in our very genetic makeup as women (hetero) to try to impress boys ... it's how we attract the best mate and have the most choices when attracting that mate. instinctually we're looking for the best man to father our future *children*.

the whole industry is about sexual exploitation ... what is having sex on camera to make money all about other than a sexual exploitation.

 

and let us not forget the growing industry in amatuer porn. people LIKE showing off. remove the stigma or the force and it's no longer exploitation.

 

well said

 

Good post.

Also... why the hell aren't men labeled as "whores" and "sluts" when they sleep around? Why is it socially acceptable for a woman who has lots of sex to be a slut and a man who has lots of sex to be "manly"?

Seems a bit unfair to me.

 

i love you

I think thats silly pornography is not to degrading to women
basically if someone wants to do that then oh well

unless its those ones where they do degrade a woman
those are just stupid and disgusting