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viewsSexy or Sadistic?
By Barbara J. Berg, Ph.D., Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 4 comments
It’s tempting to blame it on Clarence. Thomas, that is. Since he so consistently rules on the wrong side of both history and women’s rights, it’s just about axiomatic that I’d be opposed to anything he likes. And he does like his pornography! But even taking the proclivities of our Supreme Court justice out of the picture, I’m opposed (although just as opposed to censorship) to anything that degrades women and extols violence against them. And most porn, in my opinion, does both.
I know, I know. Porn seems to have become much more mainstream. With Britney Spears’ breakthrough videos orchestrated by a porn director and stars like Jenna Jameson giving away trade secrets in How to Make Love Like a Porn Star and doing non-X-rated appearances on TV, it’s easy to imagine that porn has started preaching the gospel of nonviolent sex. No such luck!
A research project presented at a recent conference in Boston identified a total of 3,300 acts of aggression 
(approximately one per every minute and a half, overwhelmingly male toward female), in 250 top-rated adult videos. Slapping, gagging, choking, use of weapons usually followed by some form of extreme sex. And how do the abused women respond? By cooing “This feels great,” “I love this.”
As porn has become more available, it’s become more competitive, more demeaning and unrealistic, pushing us to the edge of our fantasies. It gives a distorted picture of what women (and men) want. Surely not all guys get turned on by a woman in chains with a knife to her throat being screwed by two men at once. The pornography industry simultaneously reflects and reinforces the fantasy of male control. And, it peddles the dangerous equation of a woman’s pain and powerlessness with her sexual allure.
For some strange reason these views have pegged me as the stereotypical asexual second waver, totally unhip and uptight. Strange because my generation was the one that urged women to revel in their sexuality and go bra-less, we embraced the mantra “Make Love, Not War,” and we wrote and devoured Our Bodies, Ourselves—the book that sent thousands of college girls into the bathroom with mirrors between their legs so they could examine their genitals. That told us “masturbation is a special way of enjoying ourselves” and then gave us instructions on how to do it.
Asexual? I don’t think so.
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4 Comments
Although not personally in
Although not personally in favor of pornography, I'm not so certain the women who make their living in front of the camera do so unwillingly. I've actually known a few people who worked in the industry...from the days when Andy Warhol guided the lens to modern times. Some women were definitely feeding a drug habit, but most were comfortable with their bodies and viewed sex as a means to an end -- fame and fortune (dubious, at best). There is an old joke: With one of these (pointing to a vagina), I can get as many of those (pointing to a penis) as I want. Some women really do travel that career path -- in Hollywood and on Madison Avenue.
Now, talk to me about prostitution....not call girls, because those women, too, have made a career choice. I'm referring to street walkers who have lost themselves to addiction. They are truly demeaned by the men who "manage" their "careers."
Actions can only be labeled as abuse if one of the participants is unwilling. As widespread as pornography viewing may be, I don't believe it is responsible for violence against women. Rapists don't need visual stimulation to enforce their actions since their attacks are about power not sex.
Men who abuse women will do so whether the cameras stop rolling or not. Whether it is nurture or nature, violence will always be with us. Women need to understand how fragile their security really is. Since my daughter's kidnapping and rape, I have written extensively about our need to take responsibility for our own safety.
Great Article
Thank you for the guts to print this article, Skirt. And thank you to Ms Berg for an excellent article. We can (and I hope we do) make changes in media and print to bring women into a place of power.
Once more, it's testking
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Thank you so much, Dr.
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