Pornography and Gender Inequality - Essay Example

Pornography and Gender Inequality: An Analysis of 0 Introduction Perhaps one of the more perplexing aspects of discussing pornography is that its definition is an issue in itself. Yet in the analysis of the issue, we find it necessary to define the word and its symbolic functions. The way pornography is used in the common language is far from similar to the way it is defined in the dictionary or in legal terms. It can mean various things to various individuals. To some people pornography is any type of written or picture with sexual content. To other's it is the defamation of women through public sexual content. Even if an individual read all the books, looked at all of the websites and court cases pertaining to pornography, they would not even scratch the surface of this highly debatable and highly controversial issue. The issue is so complex that even one of the Supreme Court Justices, Justice Potter Steward , was not sure on what pornography actually accounted for as evidenced in his statement "I don't know what porn is, but I'll know it when I see it" in the case Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964). Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary is no help either for it only offers a general definition of pornography as a picture or writing showing or talking about sexual behavior that is intended to cause sexual excitement. With this definition, anything that describes sexual intercourse, even in the context of love, becomes pornography. Our discussion would involve deconstructing pornography, particularly those in videos, as a mirror of the pervading gender inequalities that exist in our society. The view that we would analyze is that pornography is being used as an instrument to further strengthen the patriarchal system we have now in place. For the sake of this discussion, we will use the definition of the 1986 Attorney General Commission on Pornography. It defined pornography as material that is "predominantly sexually explicit and intended primarily for the purpose of sexual arousal." Hard-core pornography "is sexually explicit in the extreme, and devoid of any other apparent content or purpose." 3.0 The Booming Industry Before proceeding to deconstruct the gender inequalities present in video pornography, we first provide an overview of the industry. There are many mediums for which pornography is being commercially distributed. This includes sexually explicit books, magazines, movies and Internet sites, with a distinction commonly made between soft-core (nudity with limited sexual activity that does not include penetration) and hard-core (graphic images of actual, not simulated, sexual activity including penetration). The pornography industry is a very lucrative business, probably because there is such a big desire for it in the entire world. Pornography in the post-World War II era has changed from an underground business with extensive ties to organized crime, to a flourishing industry that operates more openly and includes many small producers and several corporations with substantial assets. In 2002, more than 11,000 new hard-core video/DVD titles were released (Adult Video News, 2002) and annual sales are estimated at $10 billion or higher (Lane, 2000, p. xiv). 4.0 Deconstructing Gender Inequality 4.1 Content and Social Implications An examination and analysis of the content of contemporary pornography suggests that there are basic themes in pornography: (1) All women at all times want sex from all men; (2) women enjoy all the sexual acts that men perform or demand, and; (3) any woman who does not at first realize this can be easily turned with a little force, though force is rarely necessary because most of the women in pornography are the imagined "nymphomaniacs" about whom many men fantasize. It is in this analysis that we observe that contemporary pornography will make use of any relationship of domination and subordination - a power differential between people that can be sexualized and exploited. Although there are cases which casts racist stereotypes such the hypersexual black men, hot-blooded Latinas, compliant Asian women, the primary domination/ subordination dynamic eroticized in pornography is primarily that of gender. There is virtually no relationship of power and domination one can imagine that has not been "pornographized." (Elman, 1997) As pornography has become more acceptable, both legally and culturally, the level of brutality toward, and degradation of, women has intensified (Jensen, 2004). As one pornography director put it, "People just want it harder, harder, and harder what are you gonna do next" (Adult Video News, 2003). Another director was blunt in describing his task: "One of the things about today's porn and the extreme market, the gonzo market, so many fans want to see so much more extreme stuff that I'm always trying to figure out ways to do something different. But it seems everybody wants to see a girl doing a d.p. (double penetration) now or a gangbang. For certain girls, that's great, and I like to see that for certain people, but a lot of fans are becoming a lot more demanding about wanting to see the more extreme stuff. It's definitely brought porn somewhere, but I don't know where it's headed from there". (Adult Video News, 2003) These comments point to the problem in many researchers' creation of categories such as violent versus non-violent pornography. Are double annals (in which two men penetrate a woman anally at the same time) or gag-inducing oral sex (in which men try to press their penises so far down women's throat that they gag or vomit) violent or merely degrading but non-violent If virtually all pornography constructs women as sexual objects to be used by men, is there pornography that isn't denigrating Another concern is the question of conditions under which the women work in pornography. The study of Lovelace (1980, 1986) gives evidence that force and coercion are sometimes used to secure women's participation but the contemporary mainstream/ corporate industry has no problem finding women (and men) who are willing to perform. Still, the question of what effect the routine sexual activity in pornography (such as double-penetrations, in which a woman is penetrated vaginally and anally by two men at the same time) has on women is largely unexplored. Anecdotal evidence (Gittler, 1999) combined with extrapolations from the data available about women in prostitution (Baldwin, 1989; Farley, 2003) suggests that psychological and physical damage is common and that heavy alcohol and drug use are routine. 4.2 Theoretical Perspectives To many, pornography is a form of pleasure which must enjoyed and not prevented. The argument is that the consent of the women was acquired. However, Catherine MacKinnon (1997) argues that it is through the act of sex that men furthers and imposes inequality. That is, pornography is the sexualizing of inequality. MacKinnon actually takes an extreme view and considers all acts of heterosexual sex as acts of dominance. While this is an interesting point of contention, what is important is the recognition of pornographic sex as a form of dominance-subordinate relationship which we have mentioned earlier. Rape is the foremost representation of sex as an act of dominance.When is it that sexuality is constructed by male power and from inequality According to MacKinnon, "violence is sex when it is practiced as sex" (1997, p.164). Pornography enables men to construct sexuality. The male power embedded in pornography allows men to make inequality into sex by expressing violence as sex. There is extreme danger in pornography's expression of violence as sex. Such an expression allows men the capability to play out such violent expression in the lives of women not displayed in pornographic magazines or films, but women who live in a real world, women such as your mother or your sister. In support of MacKinnon's theory, John Stoltenberg asserts that pornography institutionalizes the sexuality of male supremacy by saying, "Here's howHere's who...Here's why" Through keeping women "down," pornography makes female subordination erotic, sexy, and thrilling. "It keeps sexism necessary for some people to have sexual feelings" (Stoltenberg 1993, 7). Pornography is dependent on inequality. Without it, men would not be able to violate, dominate, and use force. Without inequality there would exist no male sexual arousal (MacKinnon 1989, 211). Support for MacKinnon's claim can also be found through Carol Gilligan's eloquent usage of Viriginia Woolf in "Women's Place in Man's Life Cycle." "'It is obvious that the values of women differ very often from the values which have been made by the other sexit is the masculine values that prevail'"(1997, p.206). Andrea Dworkin shares many of MacKinnon's theoretical views. Dworkin agrees with MacKinnon that pornography represents sexuality's construction in action. Similarly to MacKinnon, Dworkin believes that the violation of women is made sexuality. She sees gender insubordination as a means by which men express their power by dominating women, and maintaining female submissiveness. Finally, Dworkin views male dominance as male pleasure. Moreover, she sees violations such as the act of rape as the defining paradigm of sexuality: the ultimate display of male power and female powerlessness. Pornography is the arena where Dworkin see male sexuality being represented (1993, p.5). Many researchers have found Dworkin's theory to be quite valid. Lynne Segal applies this theory to her critique of pornography. She redefines pornography as "material which depicts violence against women, and is in itself violence against women" (Segal, 1993, 8). Kate Millett (1970) argues in her "Sexual Politics" that women had been historically and is continuously "confined to the cultural level of animal life" because they serve only reproductive and sexual pleasure purposes. Millet's composition had a profound impact on gender feminists who have now adapted the position that only a profound political difference between the two sexes can explain why women are and have been the constant victims of men and that there is an unbreachable schism between the interests of men -- as a class -- and the interests of women -- as a class. The class dichotomy would remind of Marxist perspectives where society was categorized mainly according to affluence and influence. Friedrich Engels, a well known Marxist, discussed the gender inequality by tracing back the institutional oppression of women back to the Industrial Revolution where much of society's values have been modified or already existing inequalities further exemplified. Nonetheless, to discuss pornography and inherent social inequality thru the lenses of Marxism is rather inappropriate because there is no place within Marxist ideology for gender. In Marxism, your political class interests are defined by your relationship to the means of production: are you a capitalist or a worker It makes no reference to whether you are a man or a woman. What gender feminists have done is to adopt the class structure offered by Marxism Gender and redefining it according to two different classes of people with entirely separate and antagonistic interests: Men and women. It is thru this dichotomy that the familiar word 'patriarchy' comes into play. The basic concept is that men oppress women. They have throughout history, they will do so in the future. Why Because they are men and that is their class nature. Consider the words of MacKinnon in Toward a Feminist Theory of the State: "Heterosexuality...institutionalizes male sexual dominance and female sexual submission." 4.3Pornography as a Form of Sex How would one identify pornography today It is important to not only identify the theoretical standpoint that sexuality is exemplified by pornography, but to understand where and how the standpoints are displayed. This form of identification will allow for critical thinking about pornography to truly occur. In identifying pornography, I would look towards what is identified by it. Sex and sexuality are identified by pornography. Pornography is a form of sex, often prostituted sex. Could a skin magazine such as Playboy, not showing a picture of intercourse, be sex Could a pornographic film showing a scene of a naked woman lying chained and blindfolded be considered sex To both questions, the answer is yes.The reason behind this is that an act, in any form, that displays dominant/submissive behavior, perhaps engaging in or suggesting an engagement in violent behavior, allows for the possibility of sexual arousal. That pornography allows one to become sexually aroused means that it becomes sex itself. That is the form it takes (MacKinnon 1987, 6). Best said in the words of Georges Bastille: "In essence, the domain of eroticism is the domain of violence, or violation" (Dworkin 1993, 19). Pornography, as a form of sex, acts as a domain of violence. For this reason, male power allows sexuality to be shaped by violence, and produce violent crimes in our daily lives. "Male sexual power is the substance of culture" (Dworkin 1981, 23). 4.4 Objectification Pornography violates women indirectly and directly. Women, as non-consumers of pornography are still affected by the sexual inequality that it strives to reproduce and maintain. Women who are photographed or filmed, are those affected directly. The degrading manner in which women are displayed through pornography is one consequence of the sexualization of inequality. Pornography allows for women to be seen as objects. It allows for the continuous objectification of women. A woman may be represented as an animal through costume, or reference, i.e. a Playboy bunny. Even if a woman is saved from being reduced to an animal, in pornography she is always an object. Regardless of how she is displayed, the pornographed woman is always an object of male desire. The truth is that the women who grace the pages or screen will never be seen for anything other then a breast, a leg, a vagina, an object to be used for male pleasure. In a society where male domination prevails, women are denied individual status. The sex that men have is with "their image of a woman" (MacKinnon 1984, 328). She is not Alison, Kim, or Jennifer. She is a "playmate," a "bunny," or a "chick." If not this, she is reduced to a body part. "There is only a generic she, frequently called cunt so that what defines the genus is clear. She is the hole between her legs. Her nature justifies whatever men need to do to make that hole accessible to them on their terms" (Dworkin 1993, 175). Once again, "on their terms." This is the power that pornography provides for men. Moreover, this is the answer to sexual construction that pornography provides for men. Said best by MacKinnon, "pornography provides an answer. Pornography permits men to have whatever they want sexuality" (1997, p.176). Whatever they want sexuality, and whenever they want it. Objectification of women is pornography's visual display, male dominance in sexuality is the display in action. 4.5 Women Without A Voice What becomes of objectified women Based on the theoretical claims of MacKinnon and Dworkin, I would argue, whatever men want to become of them. By controlling our sexuality, men control our lives. In an androcentric society, the one common thread among women is that they are voiceless. Male power exhibited by dominance in pornography, takes away the very voice of women. Graced over magazine pages or across a screen, a woman is incapable of speaking the word that a pleasure seeking man hates to hear: "no." Based on pornography's popularity, I would assert that this is the way men like it. In fact, they don't want to hear no. They don't want to hear anything. Women are viewed as a dispensable object of male pleasure. The role of women is to please her man, and to not say a word about it. The danger, as I will further discuss later, is that this fantasy of the ever-agreeing, voiceless woman, is not reality. However, blinded by pornographic euphoria, some men try to turn it into a reality. The difference being, when they hear no, and keep using the woman as an object for their pleasure, they are committing the crime of rape. Because pornography makes rape seem wanted, normal, and acceptable, it essentially legitimizes the act of rape in our society. Through violating women, the sexual message in pornography is that if there is one thing that women are worthy of, it is sexual mistreatment (Dines et al. 1998, 19). 4.6 Misconceptions The sexualization of inequality exhibited through pornography projects misconceptions about women, their sexuality and their levels of enjoyment. Dworkin makes a passionate statement about the misconceptions that pornography makes about women. In her eyes, and my own, "Pornography says women want to be raped, battered, kidnapped, maimed; pornography says women want to be humiliated, shamed, defamed; pornography says that women say No but mean Yes-Yes to violence, Yes to pain" (Dworkin 1993, 203). Pornography allows men a dangerous role to act out their power and set the standard for sexuality. It gives men a stage from which to vocalize what women are not allowed to say. Pornography gives men a stage to stand on and tell others what women like, what women enjoy, and what women want, as best exhibited through the above words of Andrea Dworkin. But then again, is this really what women like, what they enjoy or what they want 4.7 Possession: The Male Experience of Female Sexuality With such expectations placed on women, how does this affect what men experience as female sexuality The described expectations are further representations of male power: male dominance/female submissiveness. The sexualization of inequality in pornography allows for this inequality to flourish. Pornography permits a domain for male superiority. Using, and most often abusing their power, men view women as objects that they can possess. "In contemporary industrial society, pornography is an industry that mass produces sexual intrusion on, access to, possession and use of women by and for men for profit. It exploits women's sexual and economic inequality for gain. It sells women to men as and for sex. It is a technologically sophisticated traffic in women" (MacKinnon 1989, 195) 4.8 Gender and Inequality Made Natural The claim that trafficking in women is a common practice can be backed up by the theoretical claims of MacKinnon and Dworkin. Dworkin asserts that social institutions and sexual practices are among the things that male domination is a system of (1993, p.174). That men are able to "possess" women is a symbol of their "ownership." Moreover, this ownership represents a gender hierarchy where men own women publicly, as a social class, as well as privately, as sexual beings (Dworkin 1993, 176). Male power allows for gender differences to be encompassed by gender hierarchy. Thus, the inequalities of men and women become part of the hierarchy, and are deemed acceptable and natural. The gender hierarchy allows for the subordination of women to be accepted as the natural history of mankind. Dworkin theorizes that subordination includes a hierarchy, a gender hierarchy. Hierarchies are composed of one group on top, another below. In the gender hierarchy, men are on top, and women are on the bottom (Dworkin 1993, 248). The inferior placing of women in the gender hierarchy leads to many implications for women's experiences and their sexuality as one such experience. 5.0 Conclusion The most common ending of pornographic films is the footage of a man ejaculating onto the body of a woman (Dines et. al 1998, 67). This clearly supports our claim that pornography is used to project and exercise the gender hierarchy. Ejaculating on a woman, and not in her, exhibits male hierarchy by reducing the women to an object for male pleasure. In many ways this action is a form of men "keeping women in their place." It is degrading, and humiliating, and is a pornographic tool to show the woman not as a woman, but as a whore, slut, etc. There are libertarian ideas that projecting pornography as an instrument for gender inequalities is that this view equates female victimization with female sexuality. Furthermore, some libertarian feminists criticize radical feminist theory for depicting pornographic fantasy as lacking a positive meaning for women's sexuality (Berger et al. 1991, 42).But then again, where do in the scenes of these videos can respect for the woman be identified Inequality, male power, subordination, and dominance are valued. Sexuality constructed at the hands of men is valued. "The sexual colonialization of women's bodies is a material reality: men control the sexual and reproductive uses of women's bodies. In this system of male power, rape is the paradigmatic sexual act" (Dworkin 1993, 229). REFERENCES Berger, R.J., Searles, P., & Cottle, C.E. (1991). Feminism and Pornography. New York: Praeger Publishers. Dines, G., Jensen, R., & Russo, A. (1998). Pornography: The Production And Consumption Of Inequality. New York: Routledge. Dworkin, Andrea. (1981). Pornography: Men Possessing Women. London: The Women's Press. Dworkin, Andrea. (1993). Letters From A War Zone. Brooklyn: Lawrence Hill Books. Gilligan, Carol. (1997). "Women's Place in Man's Life Cycle," from In a Different Voice. In Linda Nicholson (Ed.), The Second Wave (pp.198-215). New York: Routledge. MacKinnon, Catharine A. (1987). Feminism Unmodified. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. MacKinnon, Catharine A. (1989). Toward a Feminist Theory of State. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 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