Porn Does Not Make Sex Objects
“An Australian study has cast doubt on the commonly held view that pornography shows women as nothing more than sex objects. The study, to be published in the noted international Journal of Sex Research, analysed 50 of the bestselling pornographic videos in Australia to find out whether people were represented as sex objects. Queensland University Professor Alan McKee, who led the study, said researchers compared the way women and men were represented in each video. They noted such things as who initiated the sex, whose pleasure was paid attention to, whether people in the videos got to speak about what they wanted during sex and whose perspective the videos were presented from. ‘We were surprised at just how active and in control the women were in these videos,’ Prof McKee said today. ‘This study suggests that mainstream pornography in Australia doesn’t represent women as sex objects, it shows them as active sexual agents.’ The findings are part of a three-year government-funded study — the most comprehensive of its kind — on pornography in Australia. Interim results released in 2003 on the content of pornographic movies found super-size breasts scare some men, conservative voters love dirty magazines and adult videos have realistic plots. Dr Alan McKee said those initial results had shattered the ‘dirty old man in a trenchcoat’ stereotype of pornographic consumers.” —News.com.au (Australia)
It’s not at all surprising that a contemporary study should shatter that old canard about pornography objectifying women. After all, pornography has come a long way from the days of Deep Throat and The Devil in Miss Jones, films which once irked feminists. PervScan can still remember walking down the street in New York and seeing protesters marching with placards that showed that famous Hustler magazine cover in which a woman is being stuffed upside-down into a meat grinder. It’s hard to deny that that was the very epitome of objectification — but evidently the times are a-changing. Nowadays much of the best porn is made by women themselves, and some is even being made by a new breed of feminist. No wonder the study revealed fewer signs of objectification.
One thing that ought to be pointed out, however, is that the study only used fifty of the bestselling porn videos. Given the enormous flood of pornography online, fifty is a very small sample size. Maybe those videos are popular precisely because they don’t objectify women? That would change the whole picture. Or consider the fact that there are many porn sites that produce a new video each and every day. Maybe all these objectify women? It’s hard to conclude that “porn doesn’t objectify” when you use such a small sample size. More research needs to be done. More porn needs to be watched… Hey, can you get paid for that? Probably more than a few readers here would be happy to contribute to the research.
FINALLY!!! An intelligent study; straight, not one-sided like all those mindless surveys we’ve been assulted with in the past that were conducted to support a view.
I had to read that twice. I thought it said secret active sexual agents. Thought a new Bond movie was on the horizon…
Heh, what a hilarious “study”. Not only does porn objectify, our society objectifies. The fashion industry, cosmetic surgery industry, music, you name it. So it’s ridiculous to say that porn does not objectify, but it is equally ridiculous to ignore the objectification in our society as a whole. I can immediately think of several porn sites which treat women as pieces of meat: meatholes.com, pissmops.com, bangbus.com, any of Max Hardcore’s sites… these sites come right out and admit they do so. These are sites with women being called “whores” and “f*ckmeat”, women getting throat-f*cked til they puke, pissed on, gangbanged, covered in cum, etc. Sites like these are *popular*. The sites I just listed are commercial, if this kind of thing didn’t sell, trust me, they wouldn’t be doing it. Think about that next time you want to pretend that objectification doesn’t sell.
And this is coming from a woman who loves porn! Instead of pretending that porn doesn’t objectify (let’s get real!), let’s admit it does and say “So what?” I get off on porn that further objectifies and then degrades the sorts of beautiful young women who are already objectified by society. I think it’s hot. Oh well!
I also don’t think that some porn made by women has any bearing on whether it objectifies. After all, women objectify one another. Women are very capable not only objectifying one another, but also abusing and degrading one another. As for feminism, in the real world women are not all the same in one big sisterhood. I’ve been to women’s studies classes out the wazoo and I still like to see whores degraded. I don’t know too many feminists who like Barbie! Think about it.
Times may be a-changin’, but they’re not changing in any way that makes objectifying and/or degrading porn obsolete. Far from it. Just look at some of the sites I listed above, which are quite popular in terms of visits and subscriptions.
On a final note, I’ll point out that there is no contradiction between being “active” and being objectified. If a pornstar is active doing all sorts of things, she will still be objectified regarding her tits and ass and other physical features. Also one can be active and be degraded. If a pornstar is active running around drinking piss from 50 guys, she might be active as hell but she’s still being used as a human toilet. Most women would feel pretty degraded to be in that situation!
BTW, from a friend…
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A good critique of this study:
http://www.rabble.ca/babble/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=24&t=000907
I oppose all censorship of porn, but the problem with this study is that it blatantly contradicts itself and comes to some patently ridiculous conclusions. Degradation and objectification of women are common in porn, including mainstream porn. Pretending otherwise won’t make it go away, but will only make it easier for the pro-censorship people to accuse their opponents of dishonesty.
In regards to what Kate ignorantly believes, porn does not objectify woman. Woman in porn get to chose what and with who they work with. Men make much less than woman because men inporn are nothing more than props. If you watch porn and think it objectifies woman than it is actually you that does it. I have been in the porn business for over 10 years, so this is not just some one who watches it. And I feel sorry for Kate that she is so cloed minded. If your mind isn’t open keep your mouth shut too
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Latina Goddess
