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pleasureact community and the Pleasure Activism Australia email list ]
We've recently had a thread on the Pleasure Activism Australia email list about the effects of porn; and further to this, i wanted to raise something that concerns me about part of the debate: the implied notion that people in general, and men in particular, are not in control of their behaviour, and that porn can 'make' them behave in a certain way.
i've watched a lot of porn, and a lot of anal porn. i really like anal sex. And yet, as any of my partners will tell you, i have never pressured them into having anal sex - because i think that would be completely inappropriate behaviour. Sure, i make my desires known, but i would never hassle someone into doing something they were uncomfortable about doing. And i am sure that i'm not the only person who watches porn who takes this approach.
Now, if i can take this approach, why can't other people? i worry that the "porn causes A, B and/or C to happen" approach takes a simplistic, 'hydraulic' view of sexuality, where men's responses are nothing more than "monkey see, monkey do", and conscious decisions are not involved. In other words, that we say "Well, porn has this effect on men; they can't help it, their buttons are being pressed, what else are they supposed to do?" It's oddly reminiscent of rapists claims that they were 'provoked' by, for example, what their victim was wearing.
At this point, it may be said that what is being argued is not such a 'hydraulic' approach, but that porn merely influences people's behaviour. Well, sure. But surely porn is not the only influence on people; we're not living in a cultural vacuum. There are a whole lot of other influences that we encounter in the course of our daily lives: the people we live and work and/or study with, the mass media, religious institutions. All these things influence what we consider to be 'appropriate' behaviour towards other people. So why should porn be singled out as The Main Cause of inappropriate behaviour in the interpersonal realm?
Finally, i am also concerned that the "blame porn" approach gives those who engage in unacceptable behaviour an 'excuse': instead of "The Devil made me do it"1 - which legitimises, for example, Christian notions of 'good' and 'evil' - we have "porn made me do it", which serves to legitimise 'hydraulic' notions of the effects of porn, whilst also reducing the culpability of the person engaging in the unacceptable behaviour: they "couldn't help it".
What do people think?
1. Here's a recent example: "Satanic music influenced church arson, court told"
pleasureact community and the Pleasure Activism Australia email list ]We've recently had a thread on the Pleasure Activism Australia email list about the effects of porn; and further to this, i wanted to raise something that concerns me about part of the debate: the implied notion that people in general, and men in particular, are not in control of their behaviour, and that porn can 'make' them behave in a certain way.
i've watched a lot of porn, and a lot of anal porn. i really like anal sex. And yet, as any of my partners will tell you, i have never pressured them into having anal sex - because i think that would be completely inappropriate behaviour. Sure, i make my desires known, but i would never hassle someone into doing something they were uncomfortable about doing. And i am sure that i'm not the only person who watches porn who takes this approach.
Now, if i can take this approach, why can't other people? i worry that the "porn causes A, B and/or C to happen" approach takes a simplistic, 'hydraulic' view of sexuality, where men's responses are nothing more than "monkey see, monkey do", and conscious decisions are not involved. In other words, that we say "Well, porn has this effect on men; they can't help it, their buttons are being pressed, what else are they supposed to do?" It's oddly reminiscent of rapists claims that they were 'provoked' by, for example, what their victim was wearing.
At this point, it may be said that what is being argued is not such a 'hydraulic' approach, but that porn merely influences people's behaviour. Well, sure. But surely porn is not the only influence on people; we're not living in a cultural vacuum. There are a whole lot of other influences that we encounter in the course of our daily lives: the people we live and work and/or study with, the mass media, religious institutions. All these things influence what we consider to be 'appropriate' behaviour towards other people. So why should porn be singled out as The Main Cause of inappropriate behaviour in the interpersonal realm?
Finally, i am also concerned that the "blame porn" approach gives those who engage in unacceptable behaviour an 'excuse': instead of "The Devil made me do it"1 - which legitimises, for example, Christian notions of 'good' and 'evil' - we have "porn made me do it", which serves to legitimise 'hydraulic' notions of the effects of porn, whilst also reducing the culpability of the person engaging in the unacceptable behaviour: they "couldn't help it".
What do people think?
1. Here's a recent example: "Satanic music influenced church arson, court told"
