Appendix Three
Women in Pornography
Pornography has
always been such a dirty word, and a topic of much controversy. It is a topic in
which feminists do not see eye to eye. Pornography has gained more society
acceptance over the past 50 years, with its spark in the 1950’s with the
introduction of the Playboy magazine[32]
.
Extremists and conservative feminists assume that
pornography is detrimental to woman and causes violence against them. Where as
liberal feminists see pornography as a way to bring woman’s sexual desires and
thus liberate women.
Researchers have found a correlation between indulgences in pornographic
materials and the rape and abuse of women and children[32]. Pornography has
created a negative view about intercourse, by separating emotions from the
physical act. It promotes the view that sex is casual, impersonal and violent[32,
33].
Pornography is especially degrading to Woman
as she is often diminished down to an object. She is humiliated, degraded, and
subjected to abusive activities in pornographic films for the sexual pleasure of
the man (men) she is having sex with. Pornography is responsible for spreading
the lie that Woman is sexually available and willing at a moment's notice to
fulfill man's sexual demands[32,
33].
Often women feel that they must give in to
their partners demands and desires sexually so that they can keep their men.
One woman said that
“ ….. I agree to act out in private a lot of the scenarios that my husband read to me. These depicted bondage and different sexual acts that I found humiliating to do... He read the pornography like a TEXTBOOK, like a journal. When he finally convinced me to be bound, he read in the magazine how to tie the knots and bind me in a way that I couldn't escape …..”[32]
Pornography creates unrealistic demands about
the frequency of sex, the specific sexual acts, and the nature of Woman’s
response. Man who devours pornography later compares his partner to the images
that he has just seen. These images idealizes Woman as young, thin, and
flawlessly shaped and thus in reality woman can never truly live up to this
expectation. Man will gradually view Woman as not sexually attractive whereby
destroying their relationship[32].
Conservative feminists have fought to censor
pornography for the protection of woman. But, these feminists have been accused
of censoring the wrong thing. Liberal feminists do not believe that pornography
degrades women, but that woman’s sexuality is liberated. Lesbian s/m fantasy
was created almost entirely as a product of a reaction of women against
censorship of pornography[34]. By censoring all pornography, there is a censorship
of female erotica, which promotes a positive image of woman. The liberal
feminists view desire not an object that the subject imagines, but a sequence in
which the subject has his own part to play[34].