Pornography 4 Essay, Research Paper

Pornography

Based on the evidence Cline presents about non aggressive pornography I would say that viewing non aggressive pornography alone does not make men more callous towards women. I do think that other circumstances such as the influence of the media and of the adolescent male peer group can cause young men to become insensitive towards women.

I agree with Cline that pornography degrades women in many ways. It is very hostile towards women and also portrays women hatred. Pornography does not have any form of love or romance. Its main purpose is to humiliate and degrade the female body for male pleasure. Also pornography is made mostly by men and for men. Cline sites a study done at Indiana University to investigate the effects of a non aggressive pornography on 160 male and female undergraduates. They were divided into three groups. The first group was exposed to massive amounts of pornography over a period of six weeks. The second group viewed a moderate amount of pornography over the same period of time. The third group had absolutely no exposure to pornography over the same period of time. Results indicated was that the men who viewed massive amounts of pornography were more desensitized towards women. The more they pornography saw the less objectionable it became. Men lost a lot of the compassion they had for women as rape victims. Although this study seems to indicate that viewing pornography leads men to become more callous towards women, the Indiana study results clearly show that only the men who watched massive amounts became more callous towards women.

I believe that in addition to pornography that the media also has a major influence on how men can become more callous towards women. Front page newspaper, headlines are often about rape, sexual harassment, and violence. Not only are the headlines, shocking but the articles are descriptive and gruesome as well. For example, the Bill Clinton and Monica Luenski scandal it certainly made the front page of the paper daily for a very long time. Everything was described in complete detail. Initially people were shocked by the story but after many stories about it, it became less shocking. In addition, frequent stories of rape are also described in complete detail in the news. Often they are accompanied by graphic pictures. TV news also often covers stories about a rape, violence, or a sexual assault. This constant exposure of images of violence against women in the media leads to men becoming desensitized.

Another that can contribute to men becoming insensitive towards women is the influence of the peer groups they had when they were younger. In this culture when men are adolescents they talk with their friends about who they scored with. American popular culture teaches young men to score to be real men. This shows that peer groups can influence men as well, which can cause men to be callous towards women.

I would say that pornography is not the soul cause of men becoming callous towards women. The Indiana study shows that if men watch massive amount of pornography they can become insensitive towards women. There are many other circumstances that cause men to be callous towards women such as the media or young male adolescent peer groups. But we cannot blame pornography by itself for men being callous towards women.