Read Online Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry by Melinda Tankard Reist, Abigail Bray - Free Book Online
Authors: Melinda Tankard Reist, Abigail Bray
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emerged in the form of the capitalist commercialisation of sex. The ‘sexual freedom’ that people aspired to in the 1960s was exploited by big business in the 70s and 80s with the production of pornography en masse (Jong et al., 2003). Any notion of ‘Make love not war’ quickly became ‘Make money not love’.
Renowned political theorist and philosopher on the sexual revolution, Herbert Marcuse, argued that the notion of ‘sexual freedom’ was almost oxymoronic. Despite being an advocate for sexual expression in art and literature in its true form, he challenged the Freudian-style thinking of the day that suggested the commercialisation of sexual liberty would only result in social enslavement. Indeed, contrary to the myth that pornography could somehow enhance intimacy, free the libido, or grant a liberating outlet for sexual expression, sexualised media has ultimately became a source of addiction and bondage (US Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography, 1986). In his classic One-Dimensional Man (1964/1994) Marcuse describes this as a process of Repressive Desublimation: when the best sellers of oppression defile authentic sexuality by replacing relational intimacy with a commodity to be consumed. The sexual revolution was supposed to throw off outdated constrictions. However, in an endeavour to cheapen and profane what so many consider sacred, ‘sexual freedom’ has been hijacked by industrialised, mass-produced, stereotyped pornography which only represses authentic sexual expression and intimacy. Marcuse contends that hope and truth preserved in the sublimations of higher culture are both betrayed and destroyed (1994/1994, p. 60).
Paradoxically, with the relaxation of laws relating to the commercial availability of sexually explicit material and the increasing demand to satisfy newly cultivated sexual appetites, greater liberality has been taken in the production of hardcore and violent content. In a recent investigation of pornographic subject matter (Bridges et al., 2010), almost 90% of scenes in the most popular adult films incorporated verbal aggression (48%: name calling/insults; threatening physical harm; and/or using coercive language) and physical aggression (88.2%: pushing/shoving; biting; pinching; pulling hair; spanking; open-hand slapping; gagging; choking; threatening with weapon; kicking; closed-fist punching; bondage/confining; using weapons; torturing, mutilating and attempting murder). Such aggression (averaging 11.52 acts per scene) was mostly perpetrated against women, by both men (72.7% of offences) and women (27.0% of offences).
While not everyone who views pornography goes on to develop sexual behaviour problems, for many pornography seems to both create and exacerbate pathology. Similar to other mental health professionals, I’ve observed a disturbing trend among pornography consumers towards both compulsive behaviours and the development of abnormal interests, over which clients report having little control. According to Dr William Struthers, Associate Professor in Biopsychology, pornography creates significant confusion for the human brain. As pornography consumption increases, autonomy (freedom over what a person thinks and pursues) decreases, leaving one’s sexual drive screaming for an outlet. “Sexually acting out in response to pornography creates sexual associations that are stored as hormonal and neurological habits. These associations are seared into the fabric of the brain” (2009, p. 59).
As the brain’s limbic system becomes dependent on the neurological rewards 1 of viewing pornography, many consumers need to employ cognitive defence strategies to deal with the resulting dissonance and identity confusion. Over time, defence mechanisms mutate to justify more extreme sexual interests and behaviours. According to Dr Struthers, pornography consumers start with denial (avoiding disclosure due to cultural stigma), and progress to minimisation (asserting control over
Renowned political theorist and philosopher on the sexual revolution, Herbert Marcuse, argued that the notion of ‘sexual freedom’ was almost oxymoronic. Despite being an advocate for sexual expression in art and literature in its true form, he challenged the Freudian-style thinking of the day that suggested the commercialisation of sexual liberty would only result in social enslavement. Indeed, contrary to the myth that pornography could somehow enhance intimacy, free the libido, or grant a liberating outlet for sexual expression, sexualised media has ultimately became a source of addiction and bondage (US Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography, 1986). In his classic One-Dimensional Man (1964/1994) Marcuse describes this as a process of Repressive Desublimation: when the best sellers of oppression defile authentic sexuality by replacing relational intimacy with a commodity to be consumed. The sexual revolution was supposed to throw off outdated constrictions. However, in an endeavour to cheapen and profane what so many consider sacred, ‘sexual freedom’ has been hijacked by industrialised, mass-produced, stereotyped pornography which only represses authentic sexual expression and intimacy. Marcuse contends that hope and truth preserved in the sublimations of higher culture are both betrayed and destroyed (1994/1994, p. 60).
Paradoxically, with the relaxation of laws relating to the commercial availability of sexually explicit material and the increasing demand to satisfy newly cultivated sexual appetites, greater liberality has been taken in the production of hardcore and violent content. In a recent investigation of pornographic subject matter (Bridges et al., 2010), almost 90% of scenes in the most popular adult films incorporated verbal aggression (48%: name calling/insults; threatening physical harm; and/or using coercive language) and physical aggression (88.2%: pushing/shoving; biting; pinching; pulling hair; spanking; open-hand slapping; gagging; choking; threatening with weapon; kicking; closed-fist punching; bondage/confining; using weapons; torturing, mutilating and attempting murder). Such aggression (averaging 11.52 acts per scene) was mostly perpetrated against women, by both men (72.7% of offences) and women (27.0% of offences).
While not everyone who views pornography goes on to develop sexual behaviour problems, for many pornography seems to both create and exacerbate pathology. Similar to other mental health professionals, I’ve observed a disturbing trend among pornography consumers towards both compulsive behaviours and the development of abnormal interests, over which clients report having little control. According to Dr William Struthers, Associate Professor in Biopsychology, pornography creates significant confusion for the human brain. As pornography consumption increases, autonomy (freedom over what a person thinks and pursues) decreases, leaving one’s sexual drive screaming for an outlet. “Sexually acting out in response to pornography creates sexual associations that are stored as hormonal and neurological habits. These associations are seared into the fabric of the brain” (2009, p. 59).
As the brain’s limbic system becomes dependent on the neurological rewards 1 of viewing pornography, many consumers need to employ cognitive defence strategies to deal with the resulting dissonance and identity confusion. Over time, defence mechanisms mutate to justify more extreme sexual interests and behaviours. According to Dr Struthers, pornography consumers start with denial (avoiding disclosure due to cultural stigma), and progress to minimisation (asserting control over
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