Women and Online Pornography

Pornography, Women, And the Digital Revolution

Important questions to address with reference to the revolutionary period of development that digital technologies have gone through include: is this revolution helping to facilitate participatory democracy; does it have a corrupting influence on children by exposing them to the violence that video games promote; and does it open the doors too widely to free pornography and cybersex that tempt adults wishing for some ethically questionable excitement? Are these outcomes likely to be realized 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? Meanwhile, more to the point of this paper, how has technology changed the way society thinks about pornography? How does pornography impact the sexual identity of women? And, 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.

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" (2010, p. 4). Does that definition adequately describe the provocative images used in advertising by the American Apparel company? That question will be addressed in this paper. Moreover, when the late United States 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, showing the human side of a judge notwithstanding that he was in an august position (www.nap.edu).

Pornography and Gender

It should be noted, first of all, that, contrary to existing beliefs, online pornography and erotica is not viewed exclusively by males. In fact one in three visitors to adult websites (where pornography is free and available) are women, and 70% of those women report that they keep their online sexual activities "a secret" (Corley, et al., 2012, p. 56). Of those women who visit pornographic sites, 17% say they are "…struggling with pornography addiction" -- and 13% say they even access pornography while at work (Corley, p. 57). As to males, the great majority of men use pornography for sensual stimulation, according to Corley, who asserts that the "number one reason" men visit provocative sites "…is to aid in arousal for masturbation" (p. 57). On the other hand, women "…more commonly utilize chat rooms with sexual or erotic narratives for fantasy and to seek out a partner" (Corley, p. 57).