When the Internet was made public, one of the major things introduced to the Internet was pornography. Pornography is often thought to be intrinsically sexist. (Deeb-sossa, p1) However, mainstream pornography is made with women (and men) who have willingly submitted themselves. While porn is generally a male indulgence, it has no connection to sexist behavior or violence against women. The question could be asked, is pornography a bad thing? While various sources have various answers, the resounding answer is “No.” With the various forms that porn comes in, from mainstream professional porn, to amateur porn, Hentai, and bestiality, all forms of pornography allow for the visual stimulation of a person.
The principal use of the Internet was originally the sharing of knowledge. Today, one of the most searched things on the Internet is sex (Keyword City, p1). Porn is a classic example used by feminists and anti-sexists to demonstrate male exploitation and domination of the female gender. Is porn exploitation of the female sex? No. Why? On the legal level of pornography (meaning, mainstream pornography, not child porn or recorded rape), all the people who participated participated willingly. The supposed link between pornography and its viewer committing acts of sexual violence is unbased. Pornography does not create violence, nor promote it in its viewer, and the idea that it does is completely unfounded. As research has shown, “Sexual offenders demonstrate that actual violence, and abuse in their personal lives– and NOT media images – are the crucial factors in creating a tendency towards sexual violence.” (F.A.C., p1) Rape, the most rampant form of sexual violence, is purely about power and control; the purpose of rape is very different from the purpose of pornography, which is arousal (Carol, p1). “Sexual assault, or rape, is a violent crime, not a sexual act. The myth that men who rape women are sexually deprived or pathological has begun to be dispelled and replaced with the understanding that rape is an act of power and control, rather than lust.” (TAASA, p1) (Rapers of drunken or drugged people aren’t, in fact, rapists. Rape, in the original sense of the word, is a violent and forcible crime. Date rape and the like wouldn’t fall into the category of rape. The raped party, not being able to give their dissent, has therefore, not been raped. Not dissenting to the rape, the rape is therefore not violent and unwilling, and therefore not rape in the original sense.). Pornography and arousal are synonymous, just like rape and violence are. Pornography and rape are far from synonymous. If pornography was an example of sexism and violence against women, wouldn’t everybody who views pornography be violent like rapists are? Wouldn’t everybody who views pornography be viewing it as an act of power and control? That’s obviously preposterous. Pornography is purely for visual stimulation and arousal; and is not intrinsically degrading to the female gender, or male gender for that matter.
Pornography is an issue of sexual freedom too, an issue of sexual liberation for both genders. “Women's freedom, equality, and safety specifically are best served by the broadest availability of sexual speech…women must be able to discover and legitimize their own sexualities through representing and seeing them represented in a vast variety of ways. We don't anybody telling us which representations are "good" and which ones "degrade" us.” (NACA, p1) This comes from a feminist, so who’s to deny it?
The commonly accepted answer to the question “Is porn a bad thing?” is “Yes.” However, the opposite is true. Porn serves as entertainment and distraction for many people. Sex is often considered the “ultimate” entertainment. It’s hardly a crime to entertain or distract oneself from the chaos of every day life. In porn, people find things they couldn’t find in real life. Any fetish or secret desire a person has that would be hard pressed to be fulfilled in real life is fulfilled on screen. Perhaps a person doesn’t have a sexual partner, porn can fill the gap. One partner may not be as sexually active as the other; porn fills the gap for that other partner. Porn also provides opportunities for people to explore their own sexuality and for people to fantasize about things they wouldn’t necessarily do in real life. It’s obvious people watch porn to get aroused. Many people masturbate while watching porn, and masturbation even has health benefits! “Masturbation can: help reduce stress, release sexual tension, alleviate menstrual cramps, work wonders when a person is having trouble falling asleep, stimulate the immune system to help build up resistance to infections like the common cold, release mood-elevating hormones that help ward off depression, and reduce the number of unwanted wet dreams.” (Dervin, p1) In light of all this, what would you say? Would you say porn is something to be disdained? Is this something that is inherently all about male domination of the female gender? Hardly! A person can find porn geared towards both genders, and all sexual orientations, so how could porn be in any way sexist? The fact that the majority of porn viewers are male is hardly proof of the idea that porn is about male domination of the female gender; that’s like saying there are more whites in America than blacks therefore all whites are racist! A person would have to be blind to not see the idiocy!
You’ve probably been asking yourself, “Well, wouldn’t bondage encourage sexual violence?” Many people are extremely conscientious about their sexual fantasies and are aware that in a sexual setting their fantasies wouldn’t be sociosexually acceptable. However, bondage pornography is about sexual arousal through apparent violence, not to mention that much of it is women dominating men! Bondage pornography doesn’t encourage rape or similar acts because rape, as was mentioned earlier, isn’t a sexual act. (TAASA, p1) Hentai porn is about sexual creativity. Sex in animation is possibly the ultimate sexual creativity. If you create Hentai, it’s sexual fulfillment through the tip of a pen or pencil. The different forms porn comes in are all about satisfying the sexual desire that otherwise wouldn’t be satisfied. We can hardly claim pornography as a detriment to society.
Porn is about sexual freedom and liberation from the social taboos of society. It’s not sexist; it’s not a detriment to the well being of society. Porn is a vent for people’s sexual desires. Porn is not for straight men specifically. Porn is geared towards different sexual orientations and both (if not all three) genders, it’s for straight and gay men, straight and lesbian women, bisexual men and women, and people with unusual fantasies. The fact that men compose the majority of porn viewers is true, however, it’s no base for the idea that porn is sexist, misogynist, or anything similar. Porn is a passtime, a distraction, and a stress reliever! When viewed in a truly objective light, could it be that porn is in fact a good thing? Would the long held social taboos towards pornography be destroyed? Would your conceptions of pornography be completely changed? What a horrible thing that would be!