Pornography as a Moral Issue

Catherine Mackinnon is a feminist who argues that all pornography is a violation of women’s rights. Mackinnon says freedom of speech does not apply to women because they are silenced by pornography. I disagree with her. Mackinnon says “pornography does not cause harm, it is harm.� And she feels this “harm� outweighs its expressive value.
Mackinnon ignores the fact many women have MADE A CHOICE to be involved in pornographic films, magazines themselves…and Mackinnon patronizingly implies that these women do not know any better. Some women even watch pornography! Gasp. I think Mackinnon’s position is way too extreme. Women like her are what most people invision when they hear the term feminist. No matter feminism is thought of as a negative trait. The word is not positive, as it invokes images of jealous women, of women who hate men and sex. Of course, being a feminist is not about that. It is about equality.
On the other hand, Longino defines pornography as anything that represents sexuality and is degrading or abusive to women. Longino’s definition refers specifically to women, and excludes men. Last time I checked, men are still being degraded and abused in real life and on film. But if it happens to a man, who cares! Since, according to Longino, it isn’t porn.
Longino is another feminist. She says pornography “lies to women� and teaches them that their role is to be subservient to men, that pleasing them is more important than pleasing themselves. Pornography also perpetuates the objectification of women. Logino says “women are crippled by internalizing as self-images those that are presented to us by pornographers.� Riiiiight. I completely disagree! Perhaps if they women watching were very impressionable, and if this was their only exposure to women on television. Longino makes it sound as if pornography is some sort of pandora’s box, just waiting to spring up and use its evil influence on the poor weak people who watch it. Oh please.
Many women who do watch pornography choose to do so out of entertainment or curiosity, not because they are looking for a role model! If I thought I was supposed to act like that with a man, I would never date! I also think that the man who expects his significant other to act like a porn star would be very disappointed. Pornography is FANTASY, not reality. The people who think it is real have bigger problems.
David Ward is also a feminist. That’s right folks, men can be for equality too! Ward agrees with Longino that pornography degrades, but he disagrees with the specifics. David Ward’s definition includes men as well. Ward believes that some pornography degrades men as well. I agree! Men are degraded when they are portrayed as “brutes driven by desires to humiliate, subjugate, rape, and abuse women.� Of course, men are not ALL like this, but they are portrayed like that in a lot of pornography.
Another reason to broaden the definition to include men, is the existence of male homosexuals in pornography that are also abused and degraded. Just because they are not women, this cannot be considered pornography (according to Longino’s definition).
Longino tries to use the principle of harm to justify censorship of pornography. She cites studies that correlate violence and rape with exposure to pornography. That’s like citing studies of eating food with getting fat. It might be true that watching hard-core porn might compel some men to imitate what they see, but it is my opinion that the men who choose to watch the hard-core stuff might already have the potential to brutalize women in the first place. Like the proverbial “which came first, the chicken or the egg?� One should ask “which came first, the brutality or the porn?� Like Ward says, “Pornography doesn’t cause attitudes or behaviors�.
I agree with Ward. I feel that certain men probably already have the inclination to rape, based on their attitudes toward women. Attitudes are shaped over a lifetime, and cannot be shaped entirely by porn (unless if these men live in a bubble and watch it 24/7, and have no other contact with the outside world).
The big problem with blaming porn for harm that happens to women, is the complete and total displacement of personal responsibility. “If one is caused to perform some act, then one had no choice. No option than other to perform that act. Causes compel their effects� (Ward). In other words, if pornography literally causes harm, then the harm that men inflict on women can just be rationalized and explainted away, since “the porn made them do it�. Blaming porn makes people unaccountable for their actions. Hasn’t anyone ever heard of free will? Porn doesn’t turn a man into a mindless sex maniac with no self-control.
I think that the only harm porn causes is by acting to “reinforce already embedded harmful ideas and attitudes� (ward). It is patronizing to suggest that it be censored, as if women need to be protected them from it. Who will get to censor porn anyway? A man? I rest my case.