Introduction Pornography is an issue that has generated serious speculation; it has grown from a state of insignificance to being a major social issue in most parts of the world. The period from early 1960’s has been labeled as the modern pornography wave. It is a period that saw major discussions in all aspects of the phenomenon from terminology, definitions, the level of sexual content, the economic impact, and most importantly its effects. This paper seeks to address the issue of pornography from the perspective of male participation, consumption, and the interrelated issues. The paper includes a review of two articles; the first article is a scholarly article from a peer reviewed journal, while the second one is a popular media article. Both articles are compared from the perspective of how they approach the issue of male pornography; the paper seeks to distinguish both approaches as it demonstrates the significance of using scholarly articles as opposed to media articles. Article 1: U.S Male and Pornography, 1973 – 2010 This paper was done by Paul J. Wright from Indiana University, Department of Telecommunications. Wright argues that although social scientific research on the effect of consumption of pornography among males may be highly debated, it might not have focused testing the feminist perspective that pornography aggravates sexual aggression against females. He posits that previous research might have addressed the use of pornography amongst males; however, they overlooked the permissive approach to sexual affairs (Wright, 2013). Methods In the study, Wright applied a cross-sectional Social survey on the data spanning from 1973 to 2010. He applied the GSS surveys that examined social issues among adults 18 years an... ... middle of paper ... ...by concluding that exposure to pornography would exacerbate engagement in unprotected sex and having multiple sexual partners. It may further be concluded that scholarly articles are a reliable source of information basing on the premise that the norms used are standardized, they use scientific approaches and the findings are further reviewed by professionals within a certain discipline. Nevertheless, popular media articles may be applicable among the general public or average readers who may not understand the jargon and the complexity seen with scholarly articles. References Kutchinsky, B. (1991). Pornography, Sex Crime, and Public Policy. Institute of Criminology and Criminal Science, University of Copenhagen. 25. 47-64. Wright, P. J. (2013). U.S Males and Pornography, 1973-2010: Consumption, Predictors, Correlates. Journal of Sex Research, 50 (1), 60-73.
While McElroy and Lumby have clear views on wether or not porn benefits women and feminists Natalie Purcell takes a neutral stance in her article Feminism and Por...
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.
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).
...gument against pornography is claiming that intercourse is an act of rape, the argument immediately seems outlandish and almost laughable, and it surely seems that way to the average person. People see these examples of radical feminism and attribute those isolated incidents as representative of the entire feminist movement as a whole. Therefore through complexity, the feminist movement lost a substantial amount of its genuine credibility due to perceived extremist views on female sexuality. This, among many other incidents, seems to be the cause of this great reversal in female sexuality in our current day society. Instead of putting an end to pornography, it flourishes. Instead of bringing an end to female objectification, it is often nowadays encouraged. This reversal of feminist ideals is the main cause for the damage to female gender roles in the 21st century.
When I was first given this assignment it made me a bit uneasy. I was nervous about writing an extended essay on one particular topic. Being that there are so many social issues that need to be brought to light I was having a little trouble sticking to just one. However, with some guidance and encouragement I decided to finally settle with the issue of sex in the media. Within this extended essay I will attempt to shine light on the history of sex in advertisement and examples of different ads, prove sex sells any and everything, the role the media plays in our youth’s lives and creates hyperactive sexual development in children between thirteen and seventeen years old and how the media degrade women and associate them as mere objects. I will also provide various definitions of sex in the media, visual representation of gratuitous exposure in the media, statistics and interviews by people who support my position and oppose it.
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.
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
Pornography has a tremendously evolved from being shunned in the past to its increasing popularity in today’s media and culture. Numerous popular media such as the television show Sex and the City and Howard Stern’s television and radio broadcast popularize pornography and porn stars. Therefore, the popularization of pornography has become normalized into today’s hypersexual media. Gail Dines concluded how porn becomes normalized in today’s culture, “ The more sanitized the industry became, the more it seeped into the pop culture and into our collective consciousness,” (26) Dines believed the creation of Girls Gone Wild, publicity of Jenna Jameson, and Vivid Entertainment had an major impact on our cultural shift towards the acceptance of pornography.
According to Vandenbosch and van Oosten, constant exposure to porn is associated with the objectification of women (2017, 1019). This, however, can be prevented by porn literacy education which aims to "increase awareness and an informed view of the goals and representations of sexual interactions in pornography" (Albury 2014). Findings reveal that individuals who received porn literacy education adopted notions of women as sex objects lesser than those who did not receive (Potter 2004). This shows porn literacy education aids in diminishing the relationship between porn consumption and women objectification (Vandenbosch and van Oosten 2017, 1030).
Fisher, William, and Azy Barak. “Internet Pornography: A Social Psychological Perspective On Internet Sexuality.” Journal of Sex Research. 38.4 (Nov. 2001): 312-24.
Mass media has a huge influence on sexuality and opens windows on sex, there is a huge concern regarding sexual contents in television, internet and media in general, in the absence of improper sexual education in school, youth tend to derive partial information and misinformation about sex by themselves. Such sources include Hollywood movies, pornography and also TV show. The media is the fastest way of spreading information to the public, subsequently films are becoming more and more explicit, children these days are exposed to pornography, According to journalism professor and media critic Jane Brown, the media is piquing teen i...
... between exposure to pornography and commission of violence, but this research was conducted in 1993 which is now outdated. Another point, which she emphasized, was that a greater availability of sexually explicit material seems to correlate with higher indices of gender equality. But when the sexually explicit material shows the subordination of women or women presented as sexual object who enjoy pain or humiliation, how can they be equal as men when the men are shown as the gender that enjoys subordinating women. (Strossen,550). Feminist author Diana Russell notes in her book Rape and Marriage the correlation between deviant behavior (including abuse) and pornography. She also found that pornography leads men and women to experience conflict, suffering, and sexual dissatisfaction.
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.
Recent decades have witnessed a growing interest on studying pornography consumption by many academia and scholars from different disciplines, such as economics, sociology and psychology. According to D’Orlando (2011), sex market is considerably vital for many academia and scholars in comprehending the transformation of contemporary customs (D’Orlando, 2011). For example, the study of pornography market may assist in understanding the evolution of the medium of expression. In order to comprehend the ways in which gender has played a role in constructing pornography today, it is vital to firstly comprehend the transformation of the pornography market.
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.