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Pornification

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For "Porno chic" or "The Golden Age of Porn", see Golden Age of Porn.

Pornographication or pornification is the absorption by mainstream culture (i.e., music, television, movies) of styles or content of the sex industry and the sexualisation of Western culture, sometimes referred to as raunch culture.[1] Pornographication, particularly the use of sexualised images of women, is said to demonstrate "how patriarchal power operates in the field of gender representation".[2] In Women in Popular Culture, Marion Meyers argues that the portrayal of women in modern society is primarily influenced by "the mainstreaming of pornography and its resultant hypersexualization of women and girls, and the commodification of those images for a global market".[3]

The phenomenon has been discussed by authors such as Marian Meyers and Kath Woodward. Pornographication also features in discussions of post-feminism by Ariel Levy,[4] Natasha Walter,[5] Feona Attwood, and Brian McNair.[1][6]

History

Pornography and the modern sex culture have been around for many decades. In ancient Greece and Rome, there were many sexually charged images on walls. The invention of the printing press made it much easier and cheaper to distribute information to the masses. What most people think about Western pornography and the sex culture started with the Enlightenment of the 18th century. Many more people had access to pornographic material during the Enlightenment, and in England books such as Fanny Hill; or, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure[7] had commercial success as one of the earliest forms of erotica. During this time, people started thinking more freely, so pornography could challenge the norms of the time, as with Marquis de Sade's book Justine.[8] While most pornographic images before the 19th century were images or books, when the motion picture was invented, it created a whole new medium for sexual imagery. At the start of the 1920s, it became popular throughout the West.

Blue Movie, a 1969 American film written, produced, and directed by Andy Warhol,[9][10] is the first adult erotic film depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States,[9][10][11] Blue Movie, a seminal film in the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984), helped inaugurate the "porno chic"[12][13] phenomenon in modern American culture, and later, in many other countries throughout the world.[14][15] According to Warhol, Blue Movie was a major influence in the making of Last Tango in Paris, an internationally controversial erotic drama film, starring Marlon Brando, and released a few years after Blue Movie was made.[11] In 1970, Mona, the second adult erotic film, after Blue Movie, depicting explicit sex that received a wide theatrical release in the United States, was shown. Later, other adult films, such as Boys in the Sand, Deep Throat, Behind the Green Door and The Devil in Miss Jones were released, continuing the Golden Age of Porn begun with Blue Movie. In 1973, the phenomenon of porn being publicly discussed by celebrities (like Johnny Carson and Bob Hope)[13] and taken seriously by film critics (like Roger Ebert).[16][17] began, for the first time, in modern American culture.[12][13] In 1976, The Opening of Misty Beethoven, based on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (and its derivative, My Fair Lady), and directed by Radley Metzger, was released theatrically and is considered, by award-winning author Toni Bentley, the "crown jewel" of the Golden Age of Porn.[18][19]

After the start of widespread adoption of internet in the 1990s, more people could express themselves sexually online, and anyone could post pictures or videos if they chose to.[20] Pornography in the West is generally much more widely accepted, and "66% of men and 41% of women consume pornography on a monthly basis".[21]

Effects of media

Movies

Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson were cast in the lead roles in the BDSM inspired movie, Fifty Shades of Grey.

The real-life effects of watching film sex and violence have been heavily disputed. While some groups argue that media violence causes viewers to be more violent,[22][23] there is no academic consensus on this and indeed large studies suggest that there is no causative link between images of violence and violence in spectators,[24] nor between images of sex and sexual behavior. The links between films and spectator behavior are complex and while pornography undoubtedly plays a big role in how people view sex and relationships, we should always be wary of attributing a single source (e.g. pornography) to a single action (e.g. sexual violence) as human behavior is so much more complex than this. The only common correlations for violent behavior relate to dysfunctional or violent childhood environments and substance abuse, but neither of these can be seen simply as causal, only significant contributing factors to real-life violence.[25]

Television

Teens who were exposed to highly sexual content on TV were more likely to "act older" than their age. If what was being shown on TV was educational, it could yield a positive result on teenagers. For example, on one specific episode of Friends, which had nearly 2 million viewers at the time, one of the characters had gotten pregnant even after using contraception. After the episode, teens were actually more likely to engage in safer sexual activity, and as much as 65% remembered what was in that episode.[26]

Books

Literature which people read for sexual satisfaction is one of the earliest forms of media portraying sexuality. Now, there are various websites to satisfy most people's varied sexual preferences and tastes. As erotica was a form of social protest against the values of the culture at the time, as was with the famous book The Romance of Lust, written as a few volumes between 1873 and 1876. Described in the book are homosexuality, incest, and other socially unacceptable concepts. The values of the Victorian era perpetuated purity and innocence. So this book offered a new perspective.[27] In recent years, erotica has become the new norm, and is extremely popular. The most recent commercial success was Fifty Shades of Grey, describing in detail scenes of sadomasochism and other forms of kink.[28] It sold over "31 million worldwide", and has been adapted into a film starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan.[29]

Magazines

Magazines often portray sex in a very indirect way. As seen in advertisements throughout, sex is portrayed without anyone needing to say a word. However, it is alleged that in a lot of ways, this can be devastating to people's psyches, especially women. Magazines feature women barely clothed in provocative positions, which can communicate that women are not good enough. One of the more unlikely effects is it affecting dieting patterns.[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b McNair, Brian (2009), "From porno-chic to porno-fear: the return of the repressed (Abstract)", in Attwood, Feona (ed.), Mainstreaming Sex: The Sexualisation of Western Culture, London: IB Taurus, pp. 110–130, ISBN 978-1-84511-827-3.
  2. ^ Woodward, Kath (2011), "Gendered bodies: gendered representations", in Woodward, Kath (ed.), The Short Guide to Gender, The Policy Press, University of Bristol, p. 85, ISBN 978-1-84742-763-2.
  3. ^ Meyers, Marian (May 2008). Women in Popular Culture: Representation and Meaning. Hampton Press.
  4. ^ Levy, Ariel (2006). Female chauvinist pigs: women and the rise of raunch culture. New York: Free Press. ISBN 9780743284288.
  5. ^ Walter, Natasha (2010). Living dolls: the return of sexism. London: Virago. ISBN 9781844084845.
  6. ^ McNair, Brian (2013). Porno? Chic!: how pornography changed the world and made it a better place. Abingdon, Oxon New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 9780203134153.
  7. ^ Cleland, John (1985). Fanny Hill, or, Memoirs of a woman of pleasure. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England New York, N.Y., U.S.A: Penguin Books. ISBN 9780140432497.
  8. ^ de Sade, Marquis (1961) [1791]. Les Infortunes de la Vertu [Justine, or The Misfortunes of Virtue] (in French). Pieralessandro Casavini (translator). Paris: Olympia Press. OCLC 50373239.
  9. ^ a b Canby, Vincent (July 22, 1969). "Movie Review - Blue Movie (1968) Screen: Andy Warhol's 'Blue Movie' (behind paywall)". The New York Times. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Canby, Vincent (August 10, 1969). "Warhol's Red Hot and 'Blue' Movie. D1. Print. (behind paywall)". The New York Times. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Comenas, Gary (2005). "Blue Movie (1968)". WarholStars.org. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  12. ^ a b Blumenthal, Ralph (January 21, 1973). "Porno chic; 'Hard-core' grows fashionable-and very profitable". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  13. ^ a b c Corliss, Richard (March 29, 2005). "That Old Feeling: When Porno Was Chic". Time. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  14. ^ Paasonen, Susanna; Saarenmaa, Laura (July 19, 2007). The Golden Age of Porn: Nostalgia and History in Cinema (PDF). Retrieved September 15, 2017. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  15. ^ Delamater, John; Plante, Rebecca F. (June 19, 2015). DeLamater, John; Plante, Rebecca F. (eds.). Handbook of the Sociology of Sexualities. p. 416. ISBN 9783319173412. Retrieved September 15, 2017. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  16. ^ Ebert, Roger (June 13, 1973). "The Devil In Miss Jones - Film Review". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  17. ^ Ebert, Roger (November 24, 1976). "Alice in Wonderland:An X-Rated Musical Fantasy". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  18. ^ Bentley, Toni (June 2014). "The Legend of Henry Paris". Playboy. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  19. ^ Bentley, Toni (June 2014). "The Legend of Henry Paris" (PDF). Playboy. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  20. ^ Jenkins, John Philip (2006). "Pornography". britannica.com. Britannica.
  21. ^ Persaud, Raj; Häkkänen-Nyholm, Helinä (30 May 2014). "Is erotica bad for the brain?". The Huffington Post. United Kingdom.
  22. ^ "Sexual assault and the media". stopvaw.org. Stop Violence Against Women, the Advocates for Human Rights. 13 July 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  23. ^ Sapolsky, Barry; Molitor, Fred; Luque, Sarah (March 2003). "Sex and violence in slasher films: re-examining the assumptions". Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. 80 (1). Sage: 26–38. doi:10.1177/107769900308000103. S2CID 143908234.
  24. ^ Grimes, Tom, James Anderson, Lori Bergen (2008). Media violence and aggression : science and ideology. Anderson, James A. (James Arthur), 1939-, Bergen, Lori A., 1958-. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. ISBN 9781412914406. OCLC 123390925.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ Pinker, Steven, 1954- (2012). The better angels of our nature : a history of violence and humanity. London: Penguin. ISBN 9780141034645. OCLC 795847084.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ Collins, Rebecca L.; Elliott, Marc N.; Berry, Sandra H.; Kanouse, David E.; Kunkel, Dale; Hunter, Sarah B.; Miu, Angela. Does watching sex on television influence teens' sexual activity?. RAND Corporation. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  27. ^ Anonymous (1873–1876). The Romance Of Lust (1892 ed.). United Kingdom: Grove Green. OCLC 760964009.
  28. ^ James, E.L. (2012). Fifty shades of Grey. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 9780872723269.
  29. ^ Grinberg, Emanuella (13 July 2012). "Explaining Fifty Shades wild success". CNN.
  30. ^ Thomsen, Steven R.; Weber, Michelle M.; Brown, Lora Beth (Spring 2002). "The relationship between reading beauty and fashion magazines and the use of pathogenic dieting methods among adolescent females". Adolescence. 37 (145). Libra Publishers: 1–18. PMID 12003283. Access also available via The Free Library.

Further reading

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