Effects of Porn

Pornography Can Lead To Violence toward Women Domestic violence and sexual assaults on women continue to plague American culture. According to Ms. Magazine, a woman has a seven times greater chance of experiencing a sexual attack in the present time than in 1933. This statistic indicates major changes in male attitudes about sexual aggressiveness toward women. It seems that men have an increasingly lower esteem of women. Why do women experience abuse now more than ever? One may look to American culture to explain the continued oppression of women. Sadly, aspects of our culture teach men to regard women as objects rather than human beings. For example pornography, a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States, exists primarily for the purpose of enjoyment by a male audience. The mass circulation of pornographic films and magazines provides cultural, ideological support for the increase in sexual attacks on women. The word pornography comes from the Greek root porne (which means harlot, prostitute or female captive) and graphos (which means description of). True to the root meaning of the word, pornographic material depicts women as articles purchased or captured. Pornography dehumanizes women. The material often focuses only on certain body parts such as the breast or legs, suggesting that a woman does not exist as a whole person but rather she consists of many pieces that a man can pick and choose from. Some pornographic material more blatantly portrays women as enslaved objects, showing their bodies in chains and bondage, down on all fours for a conquering male figure or pretending to enjoy pain. Even pornography that does not portray overtly abusive images remains hostile toward women. Depictions of sex between men and women more often than not fall into the dominant-passive model, where the women fall into the passive roll. Devoid of foreplay, tenderness, caring, love or romance, pornography’s main interest remains to exploit the female body for the...