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.
In order to examine the sexual history of the 20th century, it is crucial to understand the context of what Kipnis meant in her quote about pornography. Her idea is no matter what your opinion about pornography; it entices and interests the viewer. It is intriguing to think about it from a cultural standpoint in her view and even from a personal view because society in general, tends to think about the data itself, but not about the people who are against pornography being drawn in as such as someone who thinks as of pornography as a positive. This point will be discussed in the Meese Commission. In her opinion, Kipnis states that there are no boundaries between private and public pornography because they are constantly shifting and therefore it is too difficult to tell where they are. Because of the idea of public versus private domain is a common theme throughout pornography and will be examined further, especially ...
... middle of paper ...
...cs of Fantasy in America, New York, 1996.
Oosterhuis, H., ‘Richard Von Krafft-Ebing’s “Step-Children of Nature”: Psychiatry and the Making of Homosexual Identity’, in K. M. Phillips and B. Reay, eds, Sexualities in History: A Reader, New York, 2002
Sigel, L., ‘Filth in the Wrong People’s Hands: Postcards and the Expansion of Pornography in Britain and the Atlantic World, 1880–1914’, Journal of Social History, 33, 4, 2000
Stewart, S., ‘The Marquis de Meese’, Critical Inquiry, 15, 1988–9
Vance, C.S., ‘Negotiating Sex and Gender in the Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography’, in K.M. Phillips and B. Reay, eds, Sexualities in History: A Reader, New York, 2002, pp.359–74.
Waugh, T., ‘Men’s Pornography: Gay Vs. Straight’, in C.K. Creekmur and A. Doty, eds, Out In Culture, Durham NC, 1995, pp.307–27.
Williams, L., ed., Porn Studies, Durham NC, 2004.
Judith R. Walkowitz is a Professor Emeritus at John Hopkins University, specializing in modern British history and women’s history. In her book City of Dreadful Delight, she explores nineteenth century England’s development of sexual politics and danger by examining the hype of Jack the Ripper and other tales of sensational nature. By investigating social and cultural history she reveals the complexity of sexuality, and its influence on the public sphere and vice versa. Victorian London had upheld traditional notions of class and gender, that is until they were challenged by forces of different institutions.
At the beginning of the 1900s, there was a “sexual revolution” in New York City. During this time, sexual acts and desires were not hidden, but instead they were openl...
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.
Sexuality has often been confused with pornography. It has been trivialised as something that is a denigration and denial of true feeling by sensationalising genuine expressivism.
14 Baird, Robert M. and Stuart E Rosenbaum. Pornography - Private Right or Public Menace. Pg. 51
As a society, we are confronted daily with pornographic images, they feature in our newspapers, on our film screens, and even in our novels. This voyeuristic obsession the media holds has for a long time been desensitizing us to depictions of violence and sex, but has it also disabled us in being able to see the difference between what is carefully constructed satire and what is merely pornography?
Downs, Donald A. The New Politics of Pornography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989. Print.
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
The existence of pornography is not a new invention. For years, humans have found certain depictions to be sexually arousing. Holmes and Holmes (2009), for example discuss how in ancient civilizations, Mesopotamia, for example, there were depictions of men and women in sexually explicit scenes on various household goods, such as plates and washbasi...
...d, John Stuart Mill and the Harm of Pornography, “Ethics”, vol. 102, n. 3, 1992, pp. 534-55
Halperin, David. "Is There a History of Sexuality?." The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader. Ed. Henry
"Sex & Sexuality in the 19th Century." Victoria and Albert Museum, Online Museum, Web Team. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2014.
Somerville, Siobhan. "Scientific Racism and the Invention of the Homosexual Body." Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University, 2009. 284-99. Print.
Stein, Edward. The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science, Theory, and Ethics of Sexual Orientation. New York, NY: Oxford UP, 1999. Print. 20 Oct. 2011
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.