Sex and the porn industry – a time bomb
The feminist movement has
achieved considerable progress over recent decades, but what it still has not
been able to successfully counter is sexual objectification. This issue affects
both men and women, but for women it is arguably more insidious because it
invariably involves characterising them as passive and (sexually) submissive.
With the internet everyone
now has access not only to useful information but also to numerous pornographic
sites. With virtually no controls or regulation, these are increasingly being
accessed by children and providing their sexual initiation.
Since the advent of mass
advertising, young people, particularly girls have been under extreme pressure
to conform to its fashion standards of beauty, from body shape to facial
expression. Now, on top of those pressures, comes the impact of pornography.
Even very young girls are increasingly facing demands made on them by boys
whose only sexual experience has been gained through watching pornography.
Online pornography has
become the number one source of sexual ‘education’ for many boys. From such
sites they learn to view women as sexual objects for their sole gratification,
to be used, abused and demeaned. The examples they see, encourage them to make
demands on girlfriends to perform and behave in ways they see women doing in
porn films. Many girls not only find such demands and pressure difficult to
reject, but find themselves bullied and ridiculed if they try to. We have reached a new crisis in adolescent rites of passage,
not only in the UK. The ubiquity of
pornography is perhaps even more insidious in those countries with little
structured education and certainly no sex education and often discriminatory
attitudes towards women, but widespread access to the internet.
One recent survey on the effects of pornography and the internet
is Don’t
send me that pic published
in October last year by Plan International Australia and Our Watch.
The survey gathered responses from girls and young women aged
15-19 in all states and territories of Australia. In the report participants said that online
sexual abuse and harassment were becoming a normal part of their everyday
interactions.
If
there are still any questions about whether porn has an impact on young
people’s sexual attitudes and behaviours, perhaps it’s time to listen to young
people themselves, the reports argues. Girls and young women describe boys
pressuring them to provide acts inspired by the porn they consume routinely.
It
found that girls are tired of being pressured for images they don’t want to
send, but they seem resigned to send them anyways because of how normal the
practice has become. Boys then use the images as a form of currency, to swap
and share with their friends.
Girls
describe being ranked at school on their bodies, and are sometimes compared to those
of porn stars. They know they can’t compete, but that doesn’t stop them from
thinking that they have to. Girls who don’t undergo porn-inspired waxing are
often considered ugly, dirty, or gross by boys, as well as by other girls.
Some girls suffer physical injury from porn-inspired sexual acts, including
anal sex and even torture.
Requests
for genital surgery among young women aged 15-24 has increased starkly, the
report says.
Sexual
bullying and harassment are part of daily life for many girls growing up as a
part of a digital generation. However, more girls are now speaking out
about how these practices have links with pornography – because it’s directly
affecting them.
Pornography
is moulding and conditioning the sexual behaviours and attitudes of boys, and
girls are being left without the resources to deal with such porn-saturated
boys.
The
Australian Psychological Society estimates that adolescent boys are responsible
for around 20 per cent of rapes of adult women and between 30 per cent and 50 per
cent of all reported sexual assaults of children. Emeritus Professor Freda argues
that online pornography is turning children into copycat sexual predators,
acting out on other children what they are seeing in porn.
Another, earlier report found
that adolescent consumption of internet porn was linked to attitudinal changes,
including acceptance of male dominance and female submission as the primary
sexual paradigm, with women viewed as sexual playthings eager to fulfil male
sexual desires. The authors found that ‘adolescents who are intentionally exposed to violent
sexually explicit material were six times more likely to be sexually aggressive
than those who were not exposed’.
According to some experts
the new pressures are causing widespread depression, even suicidal tendencies
and a deep crises of self esteem among girls. Enormous pressure, not only from
boys but also from the girls to fit certain roles or conform to bodily
perfection demands, like the shaving of body hair. There is great pressure to
be ‘attractive’ and if you aren’t considered to belong to that group, then you
are ostracised.
The Guardian
(6 October) reported that the incidence of mental health issues among all
school students is at an all time high. In the UK, more than 50,000 young
people called Childline last year seeking help with serious mental health
issues. The helpline has seen a 36% rise over four years in young people
needing help. In the 12-15 age group girls were seven times more likely to seek
help than boys.
Although, in the UK, we are
supposed to have sex education in schools, the subject is still treated as an
‘add-on’ if dealt with at all. Teachers themselves often find sexual issues
embarrassing or difficult to talk about, and pornography is rarely mentioned.
It does little to counteract the pressures young people are facing.
So
what can be done about this disturbing trend, which is common to many countries?
It is certainly
criminal negligence to leave sexual formation in the hands of the global sex
industry. We need to do more to help young people stand up against warped
notions of sexuality as conveyed in pornography.
The
proliferation and globalisation of hypersexualised imagery and pornographic
themes makes healthy sexual exploration almost impossible. Sexual conquest and
domination take precedence over respect, intimacy and authentic inter-human relationships
Young people are not learning about intimacy, friendship and love, but about
cruelty and humiliation, the Australian report says.
We have to
establish counter-culture which can provide the basis for educating boys and
girls on these issues. We need to enlighten
not only schools students, but parents and teachers as well about healthy,
respectful relationships, and to challenge everyday sexism. Boys need to be
taught not to become offenders rather than telling girls not to go out at night
or not to wear certain clothing. Women and girls should not have to modify
their behaviour to avoid being targets of harassment and abuse. Perpetrators
must learn that aggressive and disrespectful behaviour and harassment against
women is unacceptable. It is intimacy
and tenderness that so many girls and young women say they are looking for, but
how will young women find such experiences in men indoctrinated by pornography
The over-sexualised imagery
and behaviour we are confronted with daily through the media and internet are
also abetted by some publicity-hungry celebrities. Those women who choose to
promote their careers through the misuse of their bodies are also complicit in
the creation of stereotypical gender attitudes which are so influential on
young people. When those in the public spotlight willingly allow themselves to
be used as sex symbols and ostentatiously flout their sexuality, they are
reinforcing that male view of women as sexual objects for their own
gratification.
Each of us is clearly also
faced with a mental dichotomy: the internal battle between our rational and
ethical selves and our atavistic, visceral animal instincts. While many
heterosexual women crave sensitivity and empathy from men, they are invariably
attracted by imagery of the savage he-man, the warrior, the muscle-bound hero.
Hollywood films in particular invariably glorify such men, and they clearly
appeal to many women as much as men. Parallel to this ‘man’ image is a
glorification of violence which is not unconnected with men’s treatment of and
attitude towards women. Why was there a wildfire-like infatuation with the
sight of Colin Firth’s body seen thorough a wet shirt when, in a scene in the
film of Pride and Prejudice, he strips off to swim in a lake, or the ecstasy
engendered by a naked Aidan Turner in the bath tub in the TV series Poldark, or
the incredible popularity of 50 Shades of Grey with its sado-masochism and
dominant, handsome male and submissive female. These are just three examples
that reflect a widespread preoccupation with raw physicality rather than inner
qualities such as sensitivity and empathy. Our deeper psyches are
pre-programmed from our animal heritage, on the part of women to react
instinctively to the appearance of very masculine males and, on the part of men,
to voluptuous females. But the internationalisation of such imagery, the ease
of transmission and availability makes it more potent than ever today. Such
imagery has nothing directly to do with pornography but does set up role models
and helps reinforce clichéd attitudes towards male and female roles.
According to some experts
the new sexual and conformist pressures are causing widespread depression, even
suicidal tendencies and a deep crises of self esteem among girls. Enormous
pressure, not only from boys but also from the girls to fit certain roles or
conform to bodily perfection demands, like the shaving of body hair. There is
great pressure to be ‘attractive’ and if you aren’t considered to belong to
that group, then you are ostracised.
As a society,
we need to be able to demonstrate that healthy relationships are built on
equality, honesty, respect, and love. In pornography, it is the reverse:
interactions are based on domination, disrespect, abuse, violence, and
detachment. This generation is the first having to deal with the issue of
pornography on such an intensity and scale. If parents, educationalists and the
relevant authorities don’t take a stand, the problem will
only get worse. The pornographic industry is also complemented by the
Hollywood-driven ‘hard man’ films of war and violence that often reinforce stereotyped
gender roles. Both sides are driven by the profit motive and a disdain for
social values. The profiteering from such forms of ‘entertainment’ needs to be made
increasingly difficult.
The education system needs to do much more to actively counter artificially-imposed standards by powerful advertising companies as well as pornography itself. There have been a whole number of reports and research papers written about sex education and impact of pornography but little effective action is being taken anywhere as yet.