Pornography, women, and the digital revolution

Pornography, Women, And the Digital Revolution

Digital technologies have gone through a revolutionary period of development over the past twenty or so years. Some say that the digital revolution is helping to facilitate participatory democracy; some say it will "sweep aside the gatekeepers, allowing free expression and broad access to information"; but on the other hand this revolution has the potential to corrupt innocent children by exposing them to "video game violence, pornography and cybersex" (Jenkins). Which outcome is more likely and where do women fit into this digital picture when it comes to online users' interest in and access to provocative (often naked or near-naked) images of their bodies? More to the point: a) How has technology changed the way society thinks about pornography; b) how does pornography impact the sexual identity of women; and c) why do some women consume pornography and swear by it? This paper delves into these questions and makes evidence-based arguments vis-a-vis the growing presence of online pornography.

How is pornography defined?

First of all, before tackling that question, there is a need to define pornography, which in itself is not an easy task. The Oxford Dictionaries offers this definition: "Printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate the erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings." Does that describe provocative images used in advertising by American Apparel? That question will be addressed in this paper. Moreover, when the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Potter Stewart, was faced with a decision on pornography (or "obscenity," as it was referred to in 1973), he said that "…perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly…" defining it. "But I know it when I see it," he added (www.nap.edu).

What is depicted in the content of online pornography?

An article in the Journal of Sex Research points out that the results of a national survey show that 25% of men, and 4% of women nationwide had visited a "sexually explicit Web site in the previous month" (Vannier, et al., 2014). And the majority of males in college (72%) and a sizable minority of college females (23%) had gone into online sex sites to view pornographic videos, the research showed (Vannier, 253). Also, interviews conducted using qualitative strategies (similar to what Attwood alluded to earlier in this paper) reflect the following: people use pornography as a "source of new ideas, a means to increase arousal, or a way to open up communication with a partner" (Vannier, 254).

But what is the content of those videos that college students and others are viewing? On page 254 the results of a survey of what is depicted in 45 videos in 15 popular adult Web sites is published. The results show that: a) 76% of actors are Caucasian; b) 61% of the videos were professionally produced; c) 56% of the videos featured two actors and 16% had a lone female actor; d) in 90% of the 45 videos there was "genital stimulation"; e) in 79% of the videos there was fellatio; and f) there was vaginal intercourse in 68% of the videos (Vannier, 254).

As to kissing (50%), female masturbation (38%), cunnilingus (37%), male masturbation (13%) and anal intercourse (32%), there was far less of these sexual activities than those mentioned in the previous paragraph (Vannier, 254).

Since these pornographic Web sites are so easy to access and so often visited by teens and adults as well, it is interesting to note how males and females are depicted. One of the points of this paper is that women enjoy pornographic materials -- albeit on a different level than men -- and that there is a great misunderstanding (and myth) that pornographic sites cause men to become violent and to look down on women.

Previous research into the actual content of pornographic videos online (videos produced between 1979 and 1988) shows that males have "greater access to power than female actors," and that women are shown as "sexually naive…and are victims of sexual coercion or seduction" and women have "more attractive bodies than men" (Vannier, 255). As time went on there were more videos of men being seduced by women, and of men engaging in sexual acts with women of "higher social status" (Vannier, 255).

That having been pointed out, the authors point out that in almost every case of the more recent research into pornographic content, in every case where there was persuasion, one actor displayed reluctance but in the end was convinced to participate and "appeared to enjoy the sexual activity they had originally resisted" (Vannier, 262).

As porn creeps into mainstream advertising, is it wrong to label pornography as harmful and degrading?

Meanwhile Professor Feona Attwood, a well-respected and widely-quoted researcher into contemporary sexual themes, new technologies and online sexually-motivated cultures, points out that images that once were considered pornographic are today uses as substantial parts of advertising campaigns. This paper delves into the use of pornography in mainstream advertising and links those images to what scholars are saying about online pornography. For example, Attwood isn't the only scholar that links fashion advertising campaigns with today's more liberated online user; Terri Schauer writes in the journal Sexuality & Culture that some of today's fashion photography "…sexualizes and objectifies women" (Schauer, 2005, p. 45).

Women were certainly sexualized and objectified in a number of very provocative ads promoted by American Apparel, a company that has been banned from advertising in the United Kingdom due to the use of a model who looked to be no more than 16 years of age. A photo in AdWeek shows a model topless (with her left hand covering her breasts) which is not so terribly provocative, but her pants are unzipped and her right hand looks like it is about to dip into to her panties for some self-stimulation (Nudd).

An article in the Australian publication Mamamia.com, depicts some model dummies in American Apparel boutiques that are exploitative and actually nasty, or as Patty Huntington writes, one "squatting store mannequin who was flashing rather a lot of va-jay-jay" (Freedman, 2010). A person walking past this boutique in Australia would see a mannequin's legs spread far enough apart to view the panties. Another photo presented in the Freedman article shows a fashion model with legs spread far apart with the words, "Now Open"; this is clearly evidence that pornography has hit the mainstream, and advertisers are taking risks by using women in very controversial scenes.

However, not all readers of mamamia.com were offended by the pictures of female mannequins with legs spread wide open. "Jeremy Harding" writes that it seems all right for woman to wear very "slutty" or "expository" clothing (and presumably to show panties), but to criticize the advertisements of clothing in that same slutty format is "hypocritical" (Freedman, p. 5).

"Helen" asserts that on any Saturday night "girls crotches" are on display "left, right, and center. Gen Y can't leave the house without their 6-inch heels and 6-inch skirt. Having your fanny on display is mandatory, if you're a Gen Y" (Freedman, p. 5).

Meanwhile what we do know about pornography, Attwood explains, is that online pornographies are exploding on the Web and they offer a "…key site for moral, political and legal debates about sex and regulation." That said, since the 1990s much of the focus has been on "the child victims of porn" and the pedophiles that are believed to be "lurking online" waiting for a chance to somehow interact with young online users (Attwood, 2010, 172).

[One reason that many citizens link pornography with child victims is the publicity that surrounds cases where purveyors of child pornographic materials are arrested. For example, the Associated Press reported on May 21 that seventy people were arrested in New York City on May 20 for "trading of child porn over the Internet" (Hays, 2014). Among those arrested on the 20th were a police officer, a paramedic, a rabbi, a Boy Scout leader and a registered nurse, Hays reports. The five-week investigation led to the arrests, and of the 70 suspects, just one was a female.]

However, there is a far bigger story to be told when it comes to today's online pornography than the sometimes exaggerated fears that online predators are out to molest, rape and otherwise harm children. A scholarly piece by Attwood in the journal Sexuality & Culture posits that the "disquiet" and "social anxieties" experienced by some media scholars are over the top and in most cases inappropriate. She quotes journalist Edward Marriott who concludes that online pornography is "…addictive, deadening…a sources of bondage" (2003: 89) (Attwood, 2005, p. 66). And while she admits that there has been a "vast" amount of quantitative research on pornography (online porn and other sources), she adds that there has been "relatively little qualitative empirical work" on the subject (66).

Previous research has tended to focus on "effects" that pornography has supposedly had on audiences, Attwood writes; for example, does pornography cause men to be "violent"; or do men adopt callous attitudes towards women because of pornography? (67). She views this form of "effects" research as "inadequate" because the methods used include experiments that "bear little relation to the actual conditions in which pornography is consumed" (67).

However, Attwood goes on to present -- through qualitative research -- a scenario that does relate to the actual conditions in which pornography is consumed. To wit, a qualitative-themed interview with feminist Lisa Palac reveals that once Palac "figured out how to use porn and come," her life was "irrevocably and positively changed" (Attwood, 69). In fact Palac learned to look at an "erotic image" and use her "sexual imagination to turn desire into a self-generated orgasm"; and hence porn has allowed Palac to become "sexually autonomous" for the first time in her life (Attwood, 69).

Some women see pornography in a positive light

Attwood argues that the number of female pornography consumers is "growing" and perhaps up to 40% of females in the United States embrace some form of pornography. It is clear that Attwood is advocating the notion that pornography has been wrongly condemned by media outlets and by the previously mentioned myths that pornography leads to violence and that it causes men to have perverted views of women. Journalist Loretta Loach has previously conducted research showing that women do enjoy pornography, and she interviewed women that reject the notion that women are "victims of porn" (Attwood, 72). The adult females who were interviewed by Loach asserted that women are for the most part not "victims of porn" and the belief that they are victims of pornography is "hopelessly misplaced" (Attwood, 72).

An article in Slate magazine includes a Q&A with Jacky St. James (a screenwriter and director), who is also a publicist for New Sensations. St. James has produced what journalist Amanda Hess calls "…both steamy romantic narratives and explicit all-sex releases" (Hess, 2013). St. James dislikes the idea of "porn for women" because she insists that New Sensations is not producing video for men to "masturbate to themselves," but rather the videos are designed for men to watch with their wives (Hess, p. 2).

A large percentage of the women who watch the pornography that New Sensations produces "…don't want to see cum shots above the neck…[or] something that is gonzo or all-sex" (Hess, p. 2). What women want is "connected sex and lots of foreplay" (Hess, p. 2).

In conclusion, this paper points to the fact that indeed (as mentioned in the Introduction) technology has changed the way society thinks about pornography; and this paper also pointed out that pornography has impacted the sexual identity of women to the point that women are consistently users of pornography. Also, now that mainstream fashion companies have joined in the field of pornography, there is a whole new definition for what is pornographic, and what is simply sexy advertising using attractive females to entice shoppers.