I have just finished reading an excellent book called "Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity" by Robert Jensen. It takes a good look at the harm that pornography does to our culture. Jensen launches a powerful critique of "normal" mainstream pornography and speaks about manhood and the road to true social justice. He exposes "the pervasive mysogyny and abuse of women in today's pornography" and forces us to face "the ugliness of American masculinity". This book should be required reading for those amongst us who use and defend porn. I am already on the road to activism against this harmful industry which makes far more money than Hollywood with it's movies. We need to stop the men in our lives from using and masturbating to pornography so they can start treating women as human beings with real thoughts and feeling and not as objects to use and penetrate.
http://antipornactivist.com/
There also is a new documentary out on the subject.
http://thepriceofpleasure.com/
If you are interested in other things Jensen has written on this subject, check online at:
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/%7Erjensen/articles_gender.html
Learn how pervasive porn is in our society, from sexy lingerie for young girls to the playboy bunny necklace available for all at the mall.
We need to stop this craziness now before all the men in our lives are more interested in masturbation to "sexual abuse" than warm, loving sex with real women. How many of you have lovers, husbands, friends who use porn and see it as harmless fun? How many of you women out there pass it off as " boys will be boys" behaviour or even join in and try to feel ok about the objectification and humiliation. I am not remotely religious or even overtly femenist....I'm just a normal woman who wants to try to change this world and make it better. Ideas? Thoughts?
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Thanks for your comment, Anon. It IS surprising how many men and women see pornography as a benign manifestation when I have seen it's negative effects even on my loved ones. I have been with men who, though young, could not get excited by sex as they had porn addictions and the internet porn seemed far more exciting than "normal" sex. I have also know a very young boy who had seen "all there was to see" by the age of 11! I think that parents also need to be aware of what their kids are looking at on the internet.
August 4, 2009 - 10:08amTo me, looking at pornograpy when in a relationship IS a form of cheating as the man is imagining having sex with the women he is watching on the screen, so to the brain, because of positive association with orgasm, he may as well be.
People will say that pornography has always been available and it has been to some degree but the pervasive nature of internet porn is far more damaging to men and women alike. The fact that there is "no back cover" to the internet means that it is a never ending stream of images. It has been called the "crack cocaine of the internet"; highly addictive and negative in results.
It's too bad that the word "feminist" is almost now a dirty word and it's also too bad that women are so accepting of damaging behaviours. Women often like to be seen as "one of the boys", saying they like porn too and maybe they have convinced themselves that they do but what are they liking?? A mysognynistic, offensive, abusive industry with very questionable benefits.
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This is wonderful... I am really surprised and disappointed there is no reply except mine... This is a HUGE problem to solve... I have made a presentation for my bf pointing out that it is not women´s fault... Because this is how it works: both men and women want to have an honest, non cheating partner, but men would like to have many sexual partners, so it´s their paradox, not women´s... When a man doesn´t want to cheat, he uses porn. Men could say that also women can use it, but.... It´s enough for a man to watch nude girls in action, but certainly not enough for a woman who needs touch of an alive person (man)... So a woman is getting frustrated because she is missing something that a man can get very easily without his woman... This is really not fair. This issue should be fought against... I am definitely going to join the activists!!!!
August 4, 2009 - 9:49amThis Comment