A critical understanding of our acceptance of Abusive pornography
Pornography is an old and deeply rooted item in the human species. In Greek, it is known as πόρνη (pórnē) which translates into prostitute, or prostitution which is the commodification of sexual acts. To perform sexual favors for compensation. γράφειν (gráphein) is Greek for illustration or the recording of. And so, the word Pornography derives from the meaning of recording prostitutes, whether by word and reputation or nowadays by the camera. Pornography is typically a means of representing sex in a way that perhaps others could not do on their own. Visual or written media portrays the intimacy between one or more entities, sometimes used for educational purposes, and other times used to attain something not had in one's life.
In some respects, this is merely an intimacy with the preferred gender of the viewer, while for others it is a more intense and not so popularly given form of pornography based on more than just the preferred gender. Either understanding regards something that a person is otherwise not receiving and at the very least the standards that our country holds for such pornography so far as it is found in three separate cases all pertaining to Child Pornography.
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In Miller V. California the law in California that prohibited obscene material from being distributed via mail was upheld as it was seen as reasonable to keep material of “prurient interest” from being distributed via mail. That is material that is considered to be of morbid degrading sexual interest. The reason I find this to be so interesting is due to the recognition of child Porn itself to be something that in itself degrades Children, the existence of pornography that exists outside the realm of where people are understood to be able to legally provide consent is considered abhorrent. Why is it abhorrent? Because it is of Prurient interest, I would argue that Abusive pornography that depicts the emotional, physical and mental degradation of women is of morbid sexual interest.
In New York v. Ferber, the law that was upheld was in regards to the outlaw of materials that clearly advertised the sexualization of underage individuals. The law was carefully designed to prevent physical, mental, and emotional harm toward children of the state. So, this implies that the existence and trafficking of child porn material were degrading to children and could have a lasting effect on children. Just as the existence of child porn is shown to be damaging to children, the actual objectification of abuse of any human in pornography should be by the same understanding of an issue that could potentially harm physically, emotionally, or mentally and the category of persons involved.
While I do not draw a direct link between the wrongness of Child Porn and what some may view as the wrongness of abusive porn, I do in fact observe that the court understood that the existence of certain forms of sexually explicit content was unsafe. I would argue that this is not limited to just children but could be argued in the case of depictions of rape, abuse, or fictionally none-consenting content. Pornography is a representation of things not typically attainable in one's own life, and for that reason, there are questionable items that exist in porn.
The effects of pursuing something that one does not have in their own life while being a part of a relationship or even pursuing a relationship can create expectations that may not always be fully communicated in relationships. This lack of communication in addition to the increased consumption of seemingly mainstream pornography can create situations where one partner is performing or acting on sexual fantasies that perhaps the other does not consent to.
To be clear the linkage between Porn and those who consume it have a more abusive tendency toward those degrading in their selection of adult media is directly varied to the type of porn consumed, and the amount of porn by which they consume. The distinction that will be made is over the abusive forms of pornography as it pertains to how a woman is treated and how one may learn from this to ultimately treat them as such in real life. Studies that will be discussed show us the link between abuses that occur in direct correlation to abusive porn consumption, however, the research does not show the level at which porn is shown to respect a woman. Is there such porn? Does this porn counteract the mistreatment of women in mainstream porn?
Nearly 87% of men are reported to use Pornography in a month, and nearly 58% view it weekly, additionally, a study shows that nearly 88% of the top Pornographic scenes portray physical violence by way of slapping, spanking, or gagging. 48% of these scenes showed foul treatment of these women in a verbal context, calling them precarious figures or even degrading them with words, often these are shown to be methods of coercion in Pornographic scenes. In other words, the treatment of women in this context both physically and verbally is shown to be pleasurable to women in nearly 94% of the population of porn senses that were analyzed (Bridges 2010, pg. 16).
One cannot deny the sheer influence that Pornography has on those who view it, there is a dedicated audience, and like with any media it tends to influence, viewers. As it was reported in 2016, there were nearly 4.5 billion hours of Pornography consumed on Pornhub.com alone, Homo sapiens have existed for nearly half of that amount of time (Drucker 2016).
It is in this notion that we begin to see the development of interesting compulsive, addictive, and uncontrollable porn usage behaviors. One study identifies these behaviors as a direct result of Problematic Pornography Use (PPU) and identifies a direct link between PPU and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). In this study, the researchers cover the positive correlation between PPU and IPV, showing that not only does this relationship exist today, but it has been pervasive for many years (Brem 2018). This relationship was merely an example for a broader study on interpersonal violence in relationships. However, it shows us that statistics for PPU that is consumed, and the existence of this relationship are factors in sexual violence.
Addiction is a great factor when analyzing the behavior of people when acting based on these addictions. If someone is compulsively led to consuming PPU then there is a difference between the total amount viewed by the population, versus the total consumed by certain individuals. If there are those who more expressly consume PPU then we may see a rise to higher amounts of abusive treatment. The American Psychology Association defines Addiction as being a compulsive need for the consumption of a certain substance or act. Typically, it is characterized by consumption patterns and the lack of regard for one's own health or the health of others.
When we combine the simple fact that there are certain people in this population of PPU consumers, who are already attested to have committed Interpersonal Violent acts, are also bound to this Pornography via addiction. Meaning that the mistreatment of women in popular porn media is a topic that certain individuals have a compulsive need to view, and therefore act on.
Porn addiction researcher, Kevin Skinner, collects that pornographic intake is at minimum an underlying factor in nearly half of all divorces in the US today. Earlier I mentioned that Porn is where certain people go to find something they cannot otherwise have. In marriage, there is a sanctimonious promise that is made where two people agree to give each other, to the best of their ability and consensual bounds, everything that the other needs to be happy. If these elements include things that clearly are not attainable from the partner, or perhaps moreover the partner is not willing to undergo the treatment that is desired for their own partner's happiness, there most certainly will be a rift in the marriage. Often times when unaddressed that rift becomes a divorce.
There are many that would argue that Porn has no negative effects and that the legal system has in part made porn an industry that is regulated under the first amendment. To really understand why it is that there is porn that is identified as “good porn” and “bad porn”. Obviously, Child Pornographic material is outlawed in America, and for good reason. However, one can’t help but realize it is more than just outlawed on the simple fact that there is no way for the minor to provide legal consent. Morally speaking there is an actual abhorrence for those caught with child pornography typically serve time in prison, and are separated as deviants from society.
What conclusions can be drawn from why it is that child predators are considered untrustworthy by society? Innocent lives foundation gives us three reasons why Predators choose to be what they are: Sexual Gratification, Emotional, and physical Relief/escape, and control. Each of these reasons contributes to the understanding of those in the pornography as less than, as things to be viewed as sexual gratifiers. Things that exist for the relief of one's stress or escape from one's reality, and most simply the consumption of this porn makes the predator feel powerful.
In understanding the secondary effects of pornography as it pertains to sexual violence. One can turn to the reasons why Pedophiles are typically regarded as unsafe civic entities. They objectify a category of people on the bases of sexual gratification, control, and fantastical desires. There is an unrealistic expectation that is held for those in Pornography that can be understood by viewing the United States' stance on child pornography.
There was a clear understanding that Child pornography had a degrading effect on our society, as well as the overall productivity of those in our society, so long as child porn was legally pervasive. Statistics showed us that there was an issue of child porn, and it continues today to show is it is still an issue. However, the effects of Child pornography are not what this paper is coving. Rather it is a similarly degrading form of content that has yet to make its way to the definition of obscenity. Porn that includes legally identified materials of obscenity is not always considered obscene. We have a society that does allow for seemingly unchecked production, so long as the fantasies are clearly designed to fulfill disgusting prurient desires, there will be harm to those fictionally being involved as well.
Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition addresses the Child Pornography Protection Act of 1966 which prohibits 'any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture' that 'is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct,' and any sexual image that is 'advertised, promoted, presented, described, or distributed in such a manner that conveys the impression' that shows a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.' (Ashcroft V. FSC 1966, 535 US 234). This specific Act was ruled to violate the 1st amendment, as even though some materials are advertised to be showing minors as having sexual affairs, there are actually no minors affected in the production of the porn. And also, because there are actually no minors involved, and it is only advertised to have minors, there is certain protection by the constitution to perform this as it does not negatively affect any actual minors directly. This specific ruling has been the backbone for the existence of questionable or even prurient pornography for many years. It stands that so long as the parties involved are not actually what they pretend to be that the material is seeming legal and lawful, despite whether it pertains to fictions of prurient interest.
Many adolescents today, combined with the ease of access to pornography, use popular porn as an educational tool for understanding sex and how sex can fit into one’s life (Rothman 2015). It is by the lessons that are shown in porn that we see the education of large portions of our youth act in relation to their understanding of relationships and sex. This is why I so firmly disagree with the court’s ruling to allow for any form of porn advertisement so long as it really does not in reality break any laws. Teaching a child hypotheticals is as effective as teaching them the same situations in reality.
And in a study on shelter-based women were asked if their partners asked them to perform acts seen in porn, and data shows that these requests from male partners have increased as time has passed (Sommers 1987). Seeing as how this fact is from so long ago, one can only surmise the contents that have arisen for the favors being asked as well as the frequency of the request.
People who participate in watching abusive porn may not be fabricating realities in their perverted minds that are directly harmful to other parties, but they are realities that ignore the consent of individuals, and what it means to retract that consent. And whether the mistreatment of people sexually as shown as a commodity in our current porn industry is an element that needs regulation will long be up for debate. But I do believe that this sort of porn is no doubt prurient. However, as it is not actual rape that is being performed, it is not actual domination that is being performed and it is not actual abuse that is being performed and so long as the constituents directly involved give contractual acceptances to these behaviors, there is no legal grounds or way to fight this yet. So long as adults pretend to be minors in pornography, and there is a legal outlet for such porn, there will also be legal outlets for people to pretend to be abused and accepting of it in pornography. And this kind of Pornography has effects that are more than just secondary, they are effects that are pervasive throughout a person’s life.
Bibliography
- 'Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition.' Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/2001/00-795. Accessed 10 Nov. 2019.
- “Addiction and Substance Use Disorder.” What Is Addiction? https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/addiction/what-is-addiction.
- Brem, Meagan J et al. “Problematic Pornography Use and Physical and Sexual Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Among Men in Batterer Intervention Programs.” Journal of interpersonal violence (2018): 886260518812806. Web.
- Bridges, A. J., Wosnitzer, R., Scharrer, E., Sun, C., Liberman, R. (2010). Aggression and sexual behavior in best-selling pornography videos: A content analysis update. Violence Against Women, 16, 1065-1085.
- Drucker, Ali. “Here's Exactly How Many Hours of Porn People Watched in 2015.” Maxim, 6 Jan. 2016, https://www.maxim.com/maxim-man/how-much-porn-do-people-watch-2016-1.
- 'Miller v. California.' Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1971/70-73. Accessed 10 Nov. 2019.
- 'New York v. Ferber.' Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1981/81-55. Accessed 10 Nov. 2019.
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- Rothman, E. F., Kaczmarsky, C., Burke, N., Jansen, E., Baughman, A. (2015). “Without porn . . . I wouldn’t know half the things I know now”: A qualitative study of pornography use among a sample of urban, low-income, Black, and Hispanic youth. The Journal of Sex Research, 52, 736-746.
- Skinner, Kevin. “Is Porn Really Destroying 500,000 Marriages Annually?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inside-porn-addiction/201112/is-porn-really-destroying-500000-marriages-annually.
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- “Why Predators Watch Child Pornography.” The Innocent Lives Foundation, 10 Oct. 2018, https://www.innocentlivesfoundation.org/why-predators-watch-child-pornography/.
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