Pornographication

Pornographication, sometimes referred to as raunch culture, denotes the intrusion of the style and contents of the sex industry into mainstream culture (music, television, Hollywood movies) and the sexualisation of Western culture.[1] Pornographication, particularly sexualising the images of women, is said to demonstrate "how patriarchal power operates in the field of gender representation."[2] In Women in Popular Culture, Marion Meyers argues that the portrayal of women in modern society is primarily influenced by "the mainstreaming of pornography and its resultant hypersexualization of women and girls, and the commodification of those images for a global market."[3]

The phenomenon has been discussed by authors such as Marian Meyers and Kath Woodward. Pornographication also features in discussions of post-feminism by Ariel Levy,[4] Natasha Walter,[5] Feona Attwood, and Brian McNair.[1][6]

History of Pornographication

Pornography and the modern sex culture has been around for many decades, but got its roots in the Greek word "porni, which means prostitute andgraphein,which means to write. It is shown throughout various global cultures. In ancient Greece and Rome, there was many sexually charged images on the walls. When the printing press was invented, it was much easier to distribute information to the masses this is how the first versions of erotica came about. What most people think about Western pornography and the sex culture started with the Enlightenment of the 18th century. With many more people had access to viewing pornographic material during the enlightenment of the 18th century, and in England there was even a famous book called Fanny Hill; or, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure. This had commercial success as one of the earliest forms of erotica. During this time, people started thinking more freely, so pornography could challenge the norms of the time, as with Marquis De Sade's book Justine.While most pornographic images before the 19th century were images or books, when the motion picture was invented, it created a whole new medium for sexual imagery. At the start of the 1920's, it was becoming popular throughout the West. As time went on, and the Internet was invented in the 90's, more people could express themselves sexually online, and anyone could post pictures or videos if they chose to.[7] Pornography in the West is generally much more widely accepted, with "66% of men and 41% consume pornography on a monthly basis". [8]

Forms of Media

Listed below are some of ways sex culture is shown in society:

  1. Movies
  2. Television
  3. Books
  4. Newspapers
  5. Radio
  6. Video Games

These are some of the main forms of media that are used today, but there are others and this is not an exclusive list. Below are some examples of each form of media and how sex is portrayed in them. Also listed are some of the effects of each form of media.

Effects of Media

Movies

In slasher movies, sex and violence are often coupled together. In famous movies, such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and other horror movies, women are portrayed as weak and are often victims. Because of repeated viewing of these movies, people may become desensitized and especially males could be prone to "be less disturbed by scenes of extreme violence and degradation directed at women." Men could think that violence is normal towards women, and therefore lead to more sexual violence towards women.[9] These movies are just one example of how sexuality is translated to men and women. They explicitly show men as dominant and powerful, and women as weak. Men, after repeated exposure to violent films, were less likely to feel empathy and remorse. [10]

Television

Teens who were exposed to highly sexual content on TV were more likely to "act older" than their age. If what was being shown on TV was educational, it could yield a positive result on teenagers. For example, on one specific episode of Friends, which has nearly 2 million viewers at the time, one of the characters had gotten pregnant even after using contraception. After the episode, teens were actually more likely to engage in safer sexual activity, and as much as 65% remembered what was in that episode. If information is shown on TV that could teach teenagers, it could then be a positive thing after seeing the consequences of not practicing safe sex.[11]

Books

Literature which people read for sexual satisfaction is one of the earliest forms of media portraying sexuality. Now, there are various websites to satisfy most people's varied sexual preferences and tastes. As erotica was a form of social protest against the values of the culture at the time, as was with the famous book The Romance of Lust, written as a few volumes between 1873-1876. Described in the book are homosexuality, incest, and other socially unacceptable concepts. The values of the Victorian era perpetuated purity and innocence. So this book offered a new perspective. [12] In recent years, erotica has become the new norm, and is extremely popular. It is so popular they make movies of it. The most recent commercial success was Fifty Shades Of Gray, describing in detail scenes of sadomasochism and other forms of kink. It sold over "31 million worldwide", and even has its own movie starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. [13]

Magazines

Magazines portray sex in a very indirect way often. As seen in advertisements throughout, sex is portrayed without anyone needing to say a word. But, in a lot of ways, this can be devastating to people's psyches, especially women. Magazines feature women barely clothed in provocative positions. This communicates that women are not good enough. One of the more unlikely effects is it affecting dieting patterns. [14]

Sociological Theories

In order to understand how sex culture is so prevalent in our society, we need to look at human sexuality as a whole and why people gravitate towards such mediums as described above.

Structuralism

Structuralism is commonly defined as, "analyzing a specific field as a complex system of interrelated parts[15] Thsi term used in sociology was popularized with Michel Foucault, in France where most of the early research took place on it. Sociologists who look at sexuality focus on the idea of social institutions, such as the family, law, and the economy. The economy requires money to go in and out of the system. People could say sexual relationships are a social institution. Due to the Western's acceptance of Judeo-Christianity, you will hardly ever see incest represented in the media. The idea of the family is so powerful and strong, that dating someone or having relations with someone in your family is highly taboo and often frowned upon. A structuralist would argue that sex culture is an offshoot of these institutions. When it comes to pornography, it is another way of income and is an offshoot of the economy and the highly capitalistic ideas of the West. [16] This is also expressed in how the family affects teenagers who view certain types of media, and those who are marginalized may be more susceptible to the negative impacts of sexuality.


Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism first coined by George Herbert Mead came up with this school of sociological thought in the 1930's. Its premise is primarily based on "objects acquire meaning, thus becoming symbols, through communication". One of his most famous books Mind, Self And Society is famous for describing this theory in depth. Here, he pinpoints the self as an object and other create meaning around it. At the same time, we change the self depending on how we perceive other's ideas of our selves.[17] So in studying something like sexuality or acts related to sex, a sociologist under this perspective could look at pornography and the messages it communicates, or look at magazines and the messages they send to people. One graphic example provided is the "power" symbol communicated in pornography. In pornography, men are seen as powerful and dominant, whereas women are not. They do not out-rightly say this, but most people will get that message looking at it. This is especially true in violent pornography, where the person watching feels like they have a complete sense of control over the content, where women are depicted as enjoying it, so that communicates that it may be okay to be violent towards women. [18]

Scripting Theory

With scripting theory, it “is the result of elaborate prior learning that teaches us an etiquette of sexual behavior." It is all about social learning and scripting theory states that everything we see and do sexually in our culture in influenced by a set of social scripts that are conditioned into people. These provide details and instructions to guide us into how people choose partners and therefore, who they find attractive or desirable. As mentioned before, magazines can indirectly send this message. Since what is shown primarily is a woman's appearance, so women instinctively realize they need to appear a certain way for a mate. It is a socially learned behavior that happens from repeated exposure. [19]


See also

References

  1. 1 2 McNair, Brian (2009), "From porno-chic to porno-fear: the return of the repressed (Abstract)", in Attwood, Feona, Mainstreaming Sex: The Sexualisation of Western Culture, London: IB Taurus, pp. 110–130, ISBN 978-1-84511-827-3.
  2. ↑ Woodward, Kath (2011), "Gendered bodies: gendered representations", in Woodward, Kath, The Short Guide to Gender, The Policy Press, University of Bristol, p. 85, ISBN 978-1-84742-763-2.
  3. ↑ Meyers, Marian (May 2008). Women in Popular Culture: Representation and Meaning. Hampton Press.
  4. ↑ Levy, Ariel (2006). Female chauvinist pigs: women and the rise of raunch culture. New York: Free Press. ISBN 9780743284288.
  5. ↑ Walter, Natasha (2010). Living dolls: the return of sexism. London: Virago. ISBN 9781844084845.
  6. ↑ McNair, Brian (2013). Porno? Chic!: how pornography changed the world and made it a better place. Abingdon, Oxon New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 9780203134153.
  7. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/topic/pornography
  8. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-raj-persaud/effects-of-porn-on-the-brain_b_5416615.html
  9. ↑ Sapolsky, Barry; Molitor, Fred; Luque, Sarah (DOI Autofill PMID Autofill URL Autofill Access date Insert current date Ref? Ref name Ref group Insert Show/hide extra fields Preview Cancel Reset form). "Sex and Violence in Slasher Films: Re-Examining the Assumptions". Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly (Spring 2003). horizontal tab character in |date= at position 4 (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ↑ http://www.stopvaw.org/sexual_assault_and_the_media
  11. ↑ http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9068.html
  12. ↑ Lazenby, William (1873–1876). The Romance Of Lust (1892 ed.). United Kingdom: Grove Green. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  13. ↑ http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/13/living/fifty-shades-buzz-50-shades-success/
  14. ↑ Thomsen, Steven R.; Weber, Michelle M.; Brown, Lora Beth (2002). "). The relationship between reading beauty and fashion magazines and the use of pathogenic dieting methods among adolescent females". Adolescence. 37 (145): 1-18.
  15. ↑ http://www.philosophybasics.com/movements_structuralism.html
  16. ↑ Foucault, Michel (1998). The history of sexuality: Volume 1, The will to knowledge. London: Penguin.
  17. ↑ Herbert Mead, George (1934). Mind, Self, And Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Books.
  18. ↑ Gossett, Jennifer Lynn; Byrne, Sarah (2002). ""Click Here"; A content analysis of Internet rape sites". Gender & Society. 16 (5): 689-709.
  19. ↑ Hyde, Janet; DeLamater, John (2003). Understanding Human Sexuality (9 ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Further reading

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