Violence and PornographyPornography Sex or Subordination?In the
late Seventies, America became shocked and outragedby the rape,
mutilation, and murder of over a dozen young,beautiful girls. The man
who committed these murders, Ted Bundy, was later apprehended and
executed. During hisdetention in various penitentiaries, he was
mentallyprobed and prodded by psychologist and psychoanalystshoping
to discover the root of his violent actions andsexual frustrations. Many
theories arose in attempts toexplain the motivational factors behind his
murderousescapades. However, the strongest and most feasible ofthese
theories came not from the psychologists, but fromthe man himself, as a
teenager, my buddies and I wouldall sneak around and watch porn. As I
grew older, Ibecame more and more interested and involved in
it,[pornography] became an obsession. I got so involved init, I wanted to
incorporate [porn] into my life, but Icouldn t behave like that and maintain
the success I hadworked so hard for. I generated an alter-ego to fulfillmy
fantasies under-cover. Pornography was a means ofunlocking the evil I
had burried inside myself (Leidholdt47). Is it possible that pornography is
acting as the keyto unlocking the evil in more unstable minds?
According to Edward Donnerstein, a leading researcherin the
pornography field, the relationship betweensexually violent images in the
media and subsequentaggression and . . . callous attitudes towards
women ismuch stonger statistically than the relationship betweensmoking
and cancer (Itzin 22). After considering theincrease in rape and
molestation, sexual harassment, andother sex crimes over the last few
decades, and also thecorresponding increase of business in the
pornographyindustry, the link between violence and pornogrpahy
needsconsiderable study and examination. Once the evidence youwill
encounter in this paper is evaluated and quantified,it will be hard not
come away with the realization thathabitual use of pornographic material
promotes unrealisticand unattainable desires in men that can leac to
violentbehavior toward women. In order to properly discuss
pornography, and be ableto link it to violence, we must first come to a
basic andagreeable understanding of what the word pornographymeans.
The term pornogrpahy originates from two greekwords, porne, which
means harlot, and graphein, whichmeans to write (Websters 286). My
belief is that thecombination of the two words was originally meant
todescribe, in literature, the sexual escapades of womendeemed to be
whores. As time has passed, this definitionof pornography has grown to
include any and all obsceneliterature and pictures. At the present date,
the term isbasically a blanket which covers all types of materialsuch as
explicit literature, photography, films, and videotapes with varying
degrees of sexual content. For Catherine Itzin s research purposes
pornogrpahy has been divided into three categories: The sexually explicit
anpahy has been divided into three categories: The sexually explicit and
violent; the sexually explicit and nonviolent, but subordinating and
dehumanizing; and the sexually explicit, nonviolent, and nonsubordinating
that is based upon mutuality. The sexually explicit and violent is graphic,
showing penetration and ejaculation. Also, it shows the violent act toward
a woman. The second example shows the graphic sexual act and climax,
but not a violent act. This example shows the woman being dressed is a
costume or being talked down to in order to reduce her to something not
human; such as a body part or just something to have sex with, a body
opening or an orifice. Not only does erotica show the
. (Itzin 22 ). After considering theincrease in rape and molestation, sexual harassment, andother sex crimes over the last few decades, and also thecorresponding increase of business in the pornographyindustry,. alter-ego to fulfillmy fantasies under-cover. Pornography was a means ofunlocking the evil I had burried inside myself (Leidholdt47). Is it possible that pornography is acting as the keyto unlocking. Violence and PornographyPornography Sex or Subordination?In the late Seventies, America became shocked and outragedby