Why the new ‘porn norm’ is hurting women …

Publié le 15 mars 2013 par binKa

by Sarah McKenzie March 3, 2011 published in The Age National Times

Porn is well and truly part of mainstream culture — no longer hidden behind neon-lit shop fronts and brown paper bags. With the advent of new technologies, accessing pornography is cheap, quick, easy and anonymous; in fact, it is estimated that one-third of Australian adults are consumers of porn.

It is tempting to think that the majority of this material is of the lame-storyline, large-moustache, Vaseline-lens variety. However, porn that would have been labelled hard core back in the ’70s is now more likely to be considered the norm. Recent research shows that acts of aggression against women are a commonplace – indeed expected – part of the porn narrative.

In defending their industry, many accuse the ‘‘anti-porn brigade’’ of focusing only on particularly violent examples of pornography.

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A recent study published in the journal Violence Against Women, however, has analysed the best-selling porn videos to see just how widespread and routine the degradation of women in pornography has become.

The research found that physical aggression was present in 88 per cent of scenes. Of these, there was an average of 12 aggressive acts per scene. In addition, name-calling occurred in about half of all scenes.

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, the perpetrators of violent acts were most commonly men, while the targets of their violence were nearly always women. In almost every case, women were shown reacting to aggressive acts with pleasure or neutrality, enforcing the idea that women enjoy being dominated or degraded during sex.

Sexual acts that women would typically find painful or degrading were common in the videos analysed. Boston sociology professor Gail Dines has previously reflected on this particular sequence and noted that it often comes with a ‘‘joke’’ about the woman being made to ‘‘eat shit’’. Professor Dines further points out that the brutality of the industry has become such that most porn actresses have a ‘‘shelf life’’ of three months because their bodies are so physically damaged by the job.

Even defenders of the industry would have a hard time arguing against the unequivocal finding in this research that there has been a sharp increase in the levels of aggression shown in films over the past two decades. They commonly contest, however, that the degree and frequency of violence towards women doesn’t matter because porn is ‘‘just fantasy’’.

It has to be pointed out that no one is suggesting that men who sit down to watch porn go out afterwards to assault or rape women. However, the trend towards the increased degradation of women in porn means we run the risk of becoming desensitised to depictions of sexual violence. We also raise the very real possibility that a generation of young men and women will come to view the humiliation of women as a normal part of sex (to say nothing of a distinct lack of female pleasure).

It would be simply naive to claim that porn has no effect on our society. Porn and culture interact, simultaneously reflecting and shaping each other. The increasing expectation of young women (and to a lesser extent, men) to look and act in a way that reflects the so-called ‘‘porn aesthetic’’, the popularity of ‘‘sexting’’ and the increasing uptake of practises such as labioplasty are just a few examples of porn concepts that have made the leap into mainstream culture.

It stands to reason, then, that when we fantasise about hurting women, our real relationships suffer. When we gain sexual arousal from the (even fictional) debasement of women, it changes the way we view men, women and sex, on an individual and a societal level.

But for all the disturbing findings in the recent research, perhaps the most depressing statistic was that kissing, hugging or laughing was depicted in only 10 per cent of sex scenes. This statistic alone should be enough to make us want to challenge and change the ‘‘porn norm’’ so that it includes positive representations of women, and space for intimacy, trust and respect.

Sarah McKenzie is a freelance writer.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/why-the-new-porn-norm-is-hurting-women-20110302-1be54.html#ixzz2NZqqJ6M5

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