Mass Media And The Porn Industry Essay

, Research Paper

Mass Media And The Porn Industry

It started by way of messages and scribes, evolved through the presentation of

newspapers and radio, brought us together with television, and now serves us worldwide

via the ever popular Internet. It is the mass media, and even from the earliest days of

existence, it has contributed greatly in ways that both enlighten and enrich society, and

ways that deteriorate and perplex it. It is not a surprise to learn, then, the mass media is

the most powerful source of information we have, and nothing else in today’s world

influences public perception quite as heavily.

Unfortunately, however, most of what is broadcasted or transmitted in the news

today is with reference to the chaotic condition of our planet, or something else that

society as a whole sees as detrimental or damaging. But the news on television is not the

only type of media taking the criticism of society. Other forms of mass media, specifically

movies and television programs containing pornography and violence have also been

heavily criticized. The underlining concept to be debated here is that society has been

negatively influenced, specifically, by these images of pornography and the result is

increased violence against women. This assumption, and it is indeed only an assumption,

is completely fallacious, however, as no concrete and completely conclusive evidence has

ever been formulated in support of the theory.

Having said this, why is it then, that many in society still believe otherwise; why do

they continue to believe that pornography is”evil” and is a major cause for violence against

women, specifically rape. There are many reasons for this misinterpretation and through

the following few points, an attempt will be made to show that pornography has very little

to almost no correlation with violence against women (of course nothing is “absolute” in

society). In order to demonstrate this, it must be made evident that pornography is not

“evil” and does not cause undesirable behavior by displaying nude women in sexually

explicit circumstances. Thus, it is important to indicate that women are not treated only as

sexual objects through the media. This is done in an attempt to quash any traces of “evil”

in pornography. Subsequently, a second point, that some may consider to be completely

bizarre, can be addressed; that pornography actually reduces the amount of violence

against women.

For thousands of years, sex itself has been considered “evil” and revolting. This is

exactly why the concealment of sex organs and teaching feelings of shame toward human

sexuality is so common worldwide (Christenson 1990:4). These same feelings of shame

are the chief reasons that sex is considered a personal and private matter. Contrary to the

beliefs of many, the mass media did not create these settings; society creates this image.

In some societies, women have no reservations with regard to living their whole lives

completely naked, while in other societies women are covered from head to toe, leaving

only their eyes revealed. The media has been bombarded with criticism, overwhelmingly

from the female community, relative to the amount of sexually explicit material that

published in magazines, and that appears in television and in the cinemas. A common

argument against pornography is that the media portrays women as being nothing more

than sexual playthings and objects to satisfy male sexual desires. As before, the media

once again, is not to be held responsible for creating this image; these views are products

of society.

It would be downright absurd to assume that women in this society are treated as

sexual objects only because the media releases or broadcasts pornographic material. A

magazine associated with makeup and skin care, for example, will quite obviously not be

concentrating on much else. Such a magazine would not display pictures of women who

mountain climb, or women who water ski; only images of makeup and text referring to

skin care would be relevant. Clearly, society does not consider women to be beings who’s

purpose in life is to worry about makeup and skin care; but why are the complaints only

directed towards pornographic material then. The answer to the question may be more

complicated, however, what remains obvious is that the media does not portray women as

only being able to fill male sexual desires. To say that pictures featuring nudity, etc., are

making objects out of women is foolish. One should consider females who pin-up posters

of male rock stars or children who collect sports cards. Society, however, does not say

that objects are being made out of these rock stars and sports heroes; pictures of clothed

people are no less objects of naked people.

Many complaints are also made to the effect that pornography only offers a one

dimensional view to life; that women are seen as nymphomaniacs who

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать