One of the primary ways that pornography influences our culture is via its reinforcement of gender norms. Pornography reinforces gender norms by depicting stereotypical behaviors that reflect masculine and feminine gender expectations. For example, in heterosexual pornography men are almost exclusively portrayed as aggressive and dominant, while women are nearly wholly rendered as passive and submissive. In this way, pornography fetishizes the dominant/submissive male/female dichotomy which pre-exists in our patriarchal society. Among other things, one of the unfortunate aspects of this dichotomy is that it characterizes women as the gatekeepers of chastity and men as sexual conquerors. Rather than something which is mutually enjoyed, sex then is construed as a thing that is either withheld or taken as a matter of power.
Beauty Norms
Even a cursory glance at pornographic media provides ample proof that pornography often reinforces beauty norms for women. For instance, porn starlets must necessarily mirror the ideal by being thin, large breasted, and by presenting a stereotypically feminine and pretty appearance. Oftentimes with porn actresses and models, this figure is achieved via various body modification surgeries. By presenting these artificial images, pornography invokes “a very narrow, clichéd version of what’s sexy as opposed to any kind of authentic sexuality” (qtd in Pollet & Hurwitz). The societal implications of these artificial images are evident in the increasing popularity of plastic surgeries, in particular breast enhancement procedures. Of course, this trend is not wholly attributable to pornography; in fact, mainstream media—including television, film, women’s magazines, etc.—are just as likely to propagate beauty norms for women as pornographic media.
It may not qualify as a beauty norm yet, but one currently popular beauty trend that is partially ascribable to pornography is the Brazilian wax, or the complete removal of the pubic hair. The problematic aspect of this trend is its influence on the rising popularity of labiaplasty surgery, a procedure in which excess labial tissue is excised for purely cosmetic reasons. In her article “Designer Vaginas,” Simone Weil Davis discusses how pornography has encouraged this phenomenon. Davis notes: "These days, in part because of the video dissemination and the mainstreaming of pornography, women . . . can see the vaginas of a lot of different other women. They may desire those vaginas, they may simultaneously identify with them, but if they are rich enough or have great credit, they can definitely have them built" (292). Davis goes on to include a quote from The Los Angeles Times’ interview with plastic surgeon Dr. David Matlock. Of the influence of pornography on his patients seeking labiaplasty, Matlock relates: “Women are coming in saying, I want something different, I want to change things. They look at Playboy, the ideal women per se, for the body and the shape and so on. You don’t see women in there with excessively long labia minora” (292). While some women may genuinely enjoy an increase in confidence and sexual satisfaction post-labiaplasty, it is likely that many women submit to the surgery primarily out of a desire to please their male spouse/partner. One of the many criticisms of pornography is that it objectifies women, measuring their worth solely by their ability to conform to the status quo for female desirability.
Violence
The issue of pornographic media’s influence on violence in our society is a highly contentious one. Many individuals who oppose pornography believe that it may compel men to commit violent acts against women, including rape. Others who support pornography argue that empirical studies have failed to produce conclusive evidence which supports a correlation between pornography consumption and violence. Furthermore, these individuals contend that suggesting pornography causes sexual assault and rape removes the burden of responsibility from the perpetrators of such acts.
So what do the experts say?
Experts are divided over the issue of pornography and violence. In her article “Pornography and Censorship,” author Caroline West explains that “The question of whether pornography causes harm raises tricky conceptual issues about the notion of causality, as well as empirical and methodological ones. The causal connection between consumption of pornography and violent sexual crime, if there is one, is unlikely to be a simple one.”
Journalist, professor, and anti-porn activist Robert Jensen provides an overview of several scientific studies on pornography and violence in his essay "Pornography and Sexual Violence." Jensen begins his essay by noting that "If the question about the connection between pornography and violence is constructed simplistically--"Does pornography cause rape?"--the answer is clearly no. Since some men who use pornography don't rape, and some men who rape don't use pornography, pornography is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for rape." According to Jensen:
- Malmamuth, Addison, & Koss' 2000 review of research literature on pornography and violence deduced, "if a person has relatively aggressive sexual inclinations resulting from various personal and/or cultural factors, some pornography exposure may activate and reinforce coercive tendencies and behavior."
- Seto, Maric, & Barbarre's 2001 review "concluded that men predisposed toward violence are most likely to show effects from viewing pornography and that men not predisposed are unlikely to show effects."
In other words, pornography consumption is not inherently an incentive toward violence against women. Some research suggests that men with a pre-existing propensity to act violently may be encouraged to do so by violent imagery in porn. However, as William A. Fisher and Guy Grenier relate in their paper "Violent Pornography, Antiwoman Thoughts, and Antiwoman Acts: In Search of Reliable Effects," other researchers"[criticize] this conceptualization as an implicit 'monkey see, monkey do' theory of media effects and [point] out that human behavior is not the simple equivalent of all the models that human beings may have observed. They [argue], in contrast, that the human observer of violent pornography is a cognitively active person who interprets incoming stimuli and who has a lifetime of learning experiences concerning acts which are socially permitted and those which are socially proscribed."
It seems unlikely that empirical studies will ever be able to establish causality in respect to pornography and violence. As many scientists point out, it is virtually impossible to account for all of the various environmental and social factors which may influence a man's behavior and attitudes toward women. At the same time, it seems naive to suggest that pornography is an entirely neutral phenomenon. It is imperative then that we as a society continue to examine and make explicit the misogynistic and racist overtones contained in some pornographic media in order to better understand the potential influence such things may have on gender and race relations in our culture.
Sources:
Davis, Simone Weil. "Designer Vaginas." Women's Voices, Feminist Visions.
Fisher, William A. and Guy Grenier. "Violent Pornography, Antiwoman Thoughts, and Antiwoman Acts: In Search of Reliable Effects."
Jensen, Robert. "Pornography and Sexual Violence." http://www.vsdvalliance.org/secPublications/pandsv.pdf.
Pollet, Alison and Page Hurwitz. "Strip Till You Drop." Women's Voices, Feminist Visions.
Shaw, Susan M. and Janet Lee. Women's Voices, Feminist Visions. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.
West, Caroline. "Pornograph and Censorship." http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pornography-censorship/.
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