Newsflash: Porn, Good for Us?

Would you agree with a person who told you pornography is good for us? Well after reading Milton Diamond’s "Porn: Good for us?" in The Scientist, you might question your original beliefs about porn. Diamond’s article examines the common beliefs “that ready access to pornography disrupts social order, encouraging people to commit rape, sexual assault, and other sex-related crimes. And even if pornography doesn’t trigger a crime…it contributes to the degradation of women.” However, even though the social research is purported to show evidence for the “goodness” in porn, the degradation and objectification of women overrides these findings.

Diamond throughout his article tears a part many of the common assumptions regarding the porn industry. To demystify the belief that watching porn leads to violence, especially since many of the videos and movies show violent acts, Diamond counters by saying some believe watching porn is a way to satisfy sexual arousal, thus becomes an alternative to sexual aggression. All of the studies that analyzed the correlation between porn and sex crimes have found that an increase in availability of porn corresponds to decreased or constant levels of sex crimes. This holds up in studies in Denmark, Sweden, Japan, Finland, the Czech Republic, and the United States. Another interesting finding is that rapists and child molesters, when compared to a group of “normal” males, use less porn; which is a surprise because some rapists and molesters recreate a fantasy and act in a similar fashion. Finally, Diamond cites that “calloused attitudes toward women” do not correlate to one’s exposure to porn. The whole article is brought together at the end, when Diamond mentions that there is no evidence supporting the claims that porn causes the above behaviors made by women’s shelters and other venues.

Levy’s Female Chauvinist Pigs is the perfect starting point for providing evidence to Diamond’s contrary. One of the strongest points Levy makes in her book occurs early on, “How is resurrecting every stereotype of female sexuality that feminism endeavored to banish good for women?” (Levy, pg4) This quote directly relates to porn and the broader category of raunch culture, in which it falls, because porn is basically female performance of sexuality for the pleasure of men. In addition, raunch culture is the mainstream appearance of women exposing their bodies in order to gain some type of liberation and confidence. Many women cite empowerment, gaining approval, and desire not to be excluded as reasons they participate in something so demeaning to their sex. Levy goes on to say that "it is not enough to be [a] successful, rich and accomplished" woman anymore (pg33). Even if women believe they are showing how confident they are in their own skin, they are actually neutralizing the talent and power they possess. This is further supported by the fame women get when they pose in Playboy or other magazines aimed at men’s pleasure. Amanda Beard is now more popular for her center page spread, than her swimming abilities. Is this what women have come to in order to get similar attention as men do without exposing their downstairs? Women are basically being encouraged to transform themselves into what mainstream society wants, instead of being themselves.

The fact that the sexual revolution, also known as raunch culture, coincided with the women’s liberation is interesting because both movements were fighting to liberate woman, but did so in conflicting ways. Feminists used tactics that didn’t involve using the female body for the pleasure of men, while those involved in the sexual revolution took full advantage of a naked woman. They believe this revolution displays their freedom; they are able to do whatever they desire with their bodies. One of the initial goals of women’s liberation was advancing “women’s sexual pleasure and satisfaction” (Levy, pg54) , which brought a completely different perspective to the 2nd wave of feminism and allowed Hugh Hefner to use them to create the sexual revolution, a movement that “seemed to apply only to men” (Levy, pg58). Hefner’s influence was greatly felt as a fraction in the women’s liberation movement formed; anti-porn vs. the freedom to look at or partake in porn. Even though the feminism movement became torn, there was still strong support against the porn industry because of how it simplifies a woman into what she will do for man’s attention.

The statement porn decreases rape and other sexual assaults against women is alarming. Rape culture, a culture in which rape and other forms of violence against women are common and tolerated, as well as involving the presence of images depicting sex and violence, is a major issue affecting our society today. Today’s advertising uses scenes that show a woman being gang raped or her crotch positioned directly over a target. How do these images represent anything besides violence against women? Any porn video would easy display similar scenes and ideas involving aggressive and violent actions towards. The fact that rape has decreased ever since porn has invaded our country is skeptical. Rape is one of the hardest crimes to convict, if not the hardest, because it typically involves the victim’s story vs. her/his attacker’s. The conviction rates for this crime are awful, thus many women these days feel that the pain and embarrassment that coincides with reporting a rape is not worth it. Thus, Diamond’s statement that porn is good for us is debatable on this aspect as well.

The participation by women in porn, whether watching or flaunting their naked bodies, has allowed the porn industry to become as profitable as it is nowadays: it even “makes more than the top technology companies combined, including Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Amazon.” Thus, porn is more of a part of mainstream culture than many would think. Furthermore, 9.4 million women logged onto porn websites in one month alone. This is alarming because we cannot say that men are the only ones to blame for the existence of porn, women are fueling this industry’s existence as well. The involvement of women watching porn on such high levels brings in the topic of patriarchy because one’s identity is defined through this system. Therefore, porn is considered acceptable to all women, despite only a fraction of us participating in objectifying our sex. Even though many women disagree about what porn represents, they still take part, further supporting the inferiority of women. As Allan G. Johnson points out in “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us,” in order to change the way porn shapes our society, we have to first acknowledge that it exists, which can be hard since we are used to porn being a part of our culture.

Other critics of porn could reside in the middle by considering the context in which porn is viewed. Some couples or individuals watch porn—maybe not the violent type—to get aroused. However, others view it to get themselves aroused in order to rape or degrade women because believe women are inferior objects used for whatever a man desires. Furthermore, porn that involves violent acts against women, whether it is watched only to excite or as a stepping stone to rape, is wrong no matter the reason. Even though this stance takes elements of both anti-porn and pro-porn, this position still agrees with pro-porn advocates roughly half the time, thus is considering the context even a justification for participating in an industry so demeaning to women?

Even the thought of porn being good for society should immediately raise eyebrows. Some may find Diamond’s evidence convincing, but the evidence he provides does not acknowledge the extent of porn’s impact on the objectification of women, the role of a man in creating the sexual revolution, the commonplace of porn in today’s society as shown through advertising, or the role patriarchy plays in accepting it. Until supporters of porn consider the above aspects, there is no way watching women participate in sexual exploitation for the sole purpose of male pleasure is good for society!