Analysis Of Pornography, Autonomy, And Equality, By Andrew Altman

595 Words2 Pages

Andrew Altman, in “The Right to Get Turned On: Pornography, Autonomy, and Equality” supports and defends rights to production, selling, and viewing of pornography, even hard-core pornography depicting sexual violence. He argues that sexual autonomy gives right to produce and access pornography, including the ones that contains sexual violence. However, his argument is too focus on the sexual autonomy right of an individual that he fails to give importance to issues such as the harm that violent pornography brings to the society. Altman defines pornography as “sexually explicit material, in words or images, which is intended by its creators to excite sexually those who are willing viewers of the material” (Altman, 308). He argues that restricting pornography, even violent porn, is a violation to an …show more content…

The message that hard-core pornography, depicting sexual violence and inappropriate scenes, sends out is morally wrong for it is corrupting the person’s mind with lust and violence, which can serve as a trigger for them to commit rape and sexual assault in order for them to fulfill their sexual desires and fantasies. Porn negatively influences the society, because it depicts women as an object to satisfy their sexual needs. The women’s are portrayed in a humiliating and degrading way, affecting the value of women. The value of marriage is also affected, because pornography misuses sexual intercourse as a means for sexual desires and pleasure, mostly hard-core porn containing intense scenes promoting sexual violence. According to John Stuart Mill, if an activity causes harms to others, it can be restricted, whether a right is violated. Hard-core Pornography devalues marriage, degrades the dignity of woman, and promotes sexual violence, causing harm to the society, thus it should be

Show More
Related

  • 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

  • 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

  • Hustler - Censoring a Film about Censorship

    3819 Words  | 8 Pages

    [2] In this issue essay I will first discuss the history of pornography in America and the emergence of Hustler. I will then show how the movie makes the viewer feel proud of the country without letting the viewer choose if he or she is really pleased with what is being protected, pointing out the impossibility of portraying the obscene images in an R-rated film. After that, I will discuss the possible ramifications of pornography, including violence against women and children. I will then address the moral implications of a complete freedom of expression and the possible effects of promoting ignorance about pornography through the movie. Finally, I will comment on my views regarding pornography and censorship in our society.

    Read More

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

    2975 Words  | 6 Pages

    27 Baird, Robert M. and Stuart E Rosenbaum.  Pornography - Private Right or Public Menace  Pg. 52

    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

  • 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

  • Censorship Of Pornography

    2262 Words  | 5 Pages

    Pornography is considered by many to be an unwelcome and distasteful part of our society. However, I argue that it is necessary to voice the unpopular viewpoints, under the Constitution. This paper is a defense of pornography as a constitutional right of free expression, under the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. In illustrating this argument, I will first define pornography as a concept, and then address central arguments in favor of pornography remaining legal and relatively unregulated – such as the development of the pornography debate throughout modern US law, and how activist groups address the censorship of adult entertainment.

    Read More

  • Let’s Put Pornography Back in the Closet

    601 Words  | 2 Pages

    Susan Brownmiller is a feminist, the founder of Women Against Pornography, and an author of several books (57). The essay “Let’s Put Pornography Back in the Closet” comes from the book Take Back the Night, published in 1980 (57). She clearly wants to inform and persuade the audience of this essay to believe that pornography is degrading to women. In her introduction, Brownmiller tries to gain the reader’s sympathy by stating, “Free speech is one of the great foundations on which our democracy rests” (57). However, she does not think that pornography should be protected under the First Amendment. Her reasoning is biased and based on her own moral beliefs.

    Read More

  • Pornography Should be Regulated

    2299 Words  | 5 Pages

    When deliberating over whether access to pornography should be prohibited, four areas of contention must be elaborated upon and evaluated critically to provide a sensible basis on which a judgement can be made. Firstly, it must be concluded whether pornography can be classed as a form of speech, and whether it enjoys the same protections as art and literature under the principle. Secondly, works such as those of Catherine MacKinnon can be drawn upon to offer a feminist perspective of the effects of pornography on the treatment of women within modern democratic society. Moreover, the principles of Devlin and Feinberg offer relevant acumen regarding the criminalisation of pornographic media. Overall, this essay will argue that whilst access to pornography should not be entirely prohibited; publications that depict ‘extreme’ situations should be subject to regulation and restriction.

    Read More

  • Feminists vs. Playboy Playmates

    2635 Words  | 6 Pages

    Hiebert, Rick. "A Hard Line Against Soft Porn." Report/Newsmagazine 5 February 2001: 47. Academic Search Elite. Palni SiteSearch. Goshen College Good Library. 10 March 2002. ASE Fulltext.

    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

  • Pornography in the 20th Century

    2231 Words  | 5 Pages

    Laura Kipnis has described pornography as “an archive of data about...our history as a culture”. Therefore if, she described it as such, what can it tell us about the sexual history of the 20th century? Examining the history of the forms of archive from pornographic playing cards to blu-ray discs and the internet, this shows the ever changing form of how as a society we view pornography. From the forms of archive come the social implications of pornography. This will be examined through the 1986 Meese Commission in the United States of America into the pornographic industry. Finally, this exposition will also examine the differing views of Gay and Straight pornography and the changes that have taken over the 20th century. Overall, the 20th century was a fundamental shift in sexual attitudes towards pornography.

    Read More

  • The Illocutionary Force Of A Pornographic Work

    432 Words  | 1 Pages

    Ultilizing the tools of speech act theory to explain how pornography subordinates and silences women, Rae Langton argues that pornographic speech subordinates by virtue of its illocutionary force (Langton 1995, 215). Langton points out that pornographic words and images, like utterances in general, are a form of social action. The literal content (locutionary force) of a pornographic work may be the depiction of a particular sexual act, and this may have the effect (perlocutionary force) of arousing particular viewers and shaping their attitudes toward women. The illocutionary force of a pornographic work pertains to the actions performed in depicting sex and women. For example, a sign that says “Whites Only” contributes to the social subordination of non-whites by performing the act of commanding racial segregation.

    Read More

  • The Fight Against Child Pornography

    2328 Words  | 5 Pages

    In recent years, pornography has established itself as perhaps the most controversial topic arising out of the use of the Internet. The easy availability of this type of sexually explicit material has caused a panic among government officials, family groups, religious groups and law enforcement bodies and this panic has been perpetuated in the media.

    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 Analysis Of Pornography, Autonomy, And Equality, By Andrew Altman

Open Document