Vlerchan
January 11th, 2015, 10:50 AM
It should not be controversial to argue that our exposure to sexual experience is going to shape our own sexual experiences. It creates for us the norms, the does-and-don'ts, and so on. That is why the pornofication of our societies is such a big deal:
Against The Family:
It has been demonstrated that prolonged exposure to erotica leads to perceptions of exaggerated sexual activity in the populace. This concerns all conceivable sexual activities (e.g., sodomy, group sex, sadomasochistic practices, bestiality), except oral–genital contact, the incidence of which is nonetheless overestimated in comparison to those who consume erotica less frequently or not at all. Dispositional changes include diminished trust in intimate partners, the abandonment of hopes for sexual exclusivity with partners, evaluation of promiscuity as the natural state, and the apprehension that sexual inactivity constitutes a health risk. Cynical attitudes about love emerge, and superior sexual pleasures are thought attainable without affection toward partners. The institution of marriage is seen as sexually confining. Increasingly, having a family and raising children is considered an unattractive prospect.
Zillmann, D. (2000) Influence of unrestrained access to erotica on adolescents’ and young adults’ dispositions toward sexuality, Journal of Adolescent Health 2(1) p. 41 [Not in Abstract]. (http://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(00)00137-3/abstract)
The quoted text (above) was published in 2000. Since then pornography has become more entrenched, more widespread, and in my own subjective opinion a lot more demeaning at its fundamental. However it still provides a valuable insight into the impact of pornography on defining our future sexual conduct. It links exposure to a number of outcomes: (1) increased normalisation of formally-taboo activities in the subjects mind; (2) diminishing levels of trust in intimate partners; (3) abandonment of hopes for a monogamous relationship and normalisation of promiscuity; (4) cynicism towards love and; (5) the advancement of a preference of detached-sex.
I consider all listed but (1) always negative - and (1) negative depending on the act-in-question. I don't consider societies where promiscuous and detached sex is the norm appealing. It indicates a marked movement from the societal structure as prevailed since the onset of the Industrial Revolution - one that produced greater outcomes (http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_8_Special_Issue_April_2013/26.pdf) than the norm we are advancing towards.
Against Woman:
This current study analyzes the content of popular pornographic videos, with the objectives of updating depictions of aggression, degradation, and sexual practices and comparing the study’s results to previous content analysis studies. Findings indicate high levels of aggression in pornography in both verbal and physical forms. Of the 304 scenes analyzed, 88.2% contained physical aggression, principally spanking, gagging, and slapping, while 48.7% of scenes contained verbal aggression, primarily name-calling. Perpetrators of aggression were usually male, whereas targets of aggression were overwhelmingly [94%] female. Targets most often showed pleasure or responded neutrally to the aggression.
Bridges, A., Wosnitzer, R., Scharrer, E., Chyng, S. and Liberman, R. (2010) Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis Update, Violence Against Woman 16(10) p. 1065. (http://vaw.sagepub.com/content/16/10/1065)
I find that the impact of our pornography consumption on our sex lives takes an even darker tone when we analyse its content. In mainstream pornographic media woman endure excessive amounts of abuse directed towards them and whilst it's reported "[t]argets most often showed pleasure or responded neutrally to the aggression" I consider this response even more harmful. It must be remembered that these are paid actors trying to entertain their majority-male audiences: there is no reason to presume this enjoyment is genuine - but at the same time this feigned-enjoyment sends a signal that this behaviour is fine to their viewers.
Getting to the more subjective I find it objectifies woman as being in-effect a collection of fleshy-orifices. In mainstream pornographic media woman are boasted around as mere tools existing on-set to pleasure their man, devoid of their own sexual agency. It's degrading at its most fundamental. It should be obvious why I consider this harmful if we get back to my original statement: "our exposure to sexual experience is going to shape our own sexual experiences" and considering the average age of exposure to pornography is continuing to decrease, an increasing number of youths are being brought up with borderline-misogynistic pornography teaching them how to have sex.
In short, it's setting up young people to take a very particular view of sex that is at its base anti-woman.
Conclusion
I feel I should add that being against this line as pushed in pornography does not mean I'm against sexual practices as they exist in real-life. I am fine with couples discussing and consenting to all forms of sexual acts that people might find deprave or otherwise. If you love to deep-throat and take it to the face, you go girl; all power to you. What I have a problem with is the industrialisation of these practices and selling them as if they are a norm in sexual relations - which has the self-fulfilling effect of making them the norm (Zillman 2000).
I also don't have anything against the existence of pornography. I'm not calling on people to ban or censor it. I still think it can be worked as a powerful tool demonstrating the extent of woman's sexual liberation and her sexual agency. This is why I refer to 'mainstream' pornographic media throughout. However I do think at the same time we should work as societies to promote inter-relationship trust and monogamous sexual relations; we need to create the education structures capable of combating the denigrative effects of the pornofication of our societies and these need to come into action from a young-age.
I all-in-all I seek the fostering of a culture that is respectful of the advances of sexual liberation movements in the last 40 years but at the same time dampen the harmful effects of of the sexual revolution on working structures and the woman within them. I believe this is achievable.
[Soundtrack] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydrtF45-y-g)
Against The Family:
It has been demonstrated that prolonged exposure to erotica leads to perceptions of exaggerated sexual activity in the populace. This concerns all conceivable sexual activities (e.g., sodomy, group sex, sadomasochistic practices, bestiality), except oral–genital contact, the incidence of which is nonetheless overestimated in comparison to those who consume erotica less frequently or not at all. Dispositional changes include diminished trust in intimate partners, the abandonment of hopes for sexual exclusivity with partners, evaluation of promiscuity as the natural state, and the apprehension that sexual inactivity constitutes a health risk. Cynical attitudes about love emerge, and superior sexual pleasures are thought attainable without affection toward partners. The institution of marriage is seen as sexually confining. Increasingly, having a family and raising children is considered an unattractive prospect.
Zillmann, D. (2000) Influence of unrestrained access to erotica on adolescents’ and young adults’ dispositions toward sexuality, Journal of Adolescent Health 2(1) p. 41 [Not in Abstract]. (http://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(00)00137-3/abstract)
The quoted text (above) was published in 2000. Since then pornography has become more entrenched, more widespread, and in my own subjective opinion a lot more demeaning at its fundamental. However it still provides a valuable insight into the impact of pornography on defining our future sexual conduct. It links exposure to a number of outcomes: (1) increased normalisation of formally-taboo activities in the subjects mind; (2) diminishing levels of trust in intimate partners; (3) abandonment of hopes for a monogamous relationship and normalisation of promiscuity; (4) cynicism towards love and; (5) the advancement of a preference of detached-sex.
I consider all listed but (1) always negative - and (1) negative depending on the act-in-question. I don't consider societies where promiscuous and detached sex is the norm appealing. It indicates a marked movement from the societal structure as prevailed since the onset of the Industrial Revolution - one that produced greater outcomes (http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_8_Special_Issue_April_2013/26.pdf) than the norm we are advancing towards.
Against Woman:
This current study analyzes the content of popular pornographic videos, with the objectives of updating depictions of aggression, degradation, and sexual practices and comparing the study’s results to previous content analysis studies. Findings indicate high levels of aggression in pornography in both verbal and physical forms. Of the 304 scenes analyzed, 88.2% contained physical aggression, principally spanking, gagging, and slapping, while 48.7% of scenes contained verbal aggression, primarily name-calling. Perpetrators of aggression were usually male, whereas targets of aggression were overwhelmingly [94%] female. Targets most often showed pleasure or responded neutrally to the aggression.
Bridges, A., Wosnitzer, R., Scharrer, E., Chyng, S. and Liberman, R. (2010) Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis Update, Violence Against Woman 16(10) p. 1065. (http://vaw.sagepub.com/content/16/10/1065)
I find that the impact of our pornography consumption on our sex lives takes an even darker tone when we analyse its content. In mainstream pornographic media woman endure excessive amounts of abuse directed towards them and whilst it's reported "[t]argets most often showed pleasure or responded neutrally to the aggression" I consider this response even more harmful. It must be remembered that these are paid actors trying to entertain their majority-male audiences: there is no reason to presume this enjoyment is genuine - but at the same time this feigned-enjoyment sends a signal that this behaviour is fine to their viewers.
Getting to the more subjective I find it objectifies woman as being in-effect a collection of fleshy-orifices. In mainstream pornographic media woman are boasted around as mere tools existing on-set to pleasure their man, devoid of their own sexual agency. It's degrading at its most fundamental. It should be obvious why I consider this harmful if we get back to my original statement: "our exposure to sexual experience is going to shape our own sexual experiences" and considering the average age of exposure to pornography is continuing to decrease, an increasing number of youths are being brought up with borderline-misogynistic pornography teaching them how to have sex.
In short, it's setting up young people to take a very particular view of sex that is at its base anti-woman.
Conclusion
I feel I should add that being against this line as pushed in pornography does not mean I'm against sexual practices as they exist in real-life. I am fine with couples discussing and consenting to all forms of sexual acts that people might find deprave or otherwise. If you love to deep-throat and take it to the face, you go girl; all power to you. What I have a problem with is the industrialisation of these practices and selling them as if they are a norm in sexual relations - which has the self-fulfilling effect of making them the norm (Zillman 2000).
I also don't have anything against the existence of pornography. I'm not calling on people to ban or censor it. I still think it can be worked as a powerful tool demonstrating the extent of woman's sexual liberation and her sexual agency. This is why I refer to 'mainstream' pornographic media throughout. However I do think at the same time we should work as societies to promote inter-relationship trust and monogamous sexual relations; we need to create the education structures capable of combating the denigrative effects of the pornofication of our societies and these need to come into action from a young-age.
I all-in-all I seek the fostering of a culture that is respectful of the advances of sexual liberation movements in the last 40 years but at the same time dampen the harmful effects of of the sexual revolution on working structures and the woman within them. I believe this is achievable.
[Soundtrack] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydrtF45-y-g)