paper on pornography

I am required to write a research paper in my Women in Culture and Society class this semester. I'm really wanting to focus on women in pornography.. that whole culture in mainstream america specifically...

I'm kinda hoping for some help, maybe some suggestions. This is going to be a tasteful paper btw

I'm not sure exactly what my thesis will be yet. I'm open to any suggestions. I've seen papers on violence, inequality, bigotry, racism, etc in pornography... I will probably look at the negative a little bit, but also would like to see the positive.

I kinda want to know what drives girls into entering this business. What is it about the culture we live in that makes it desireable to be a playboy model?
I know there are a few women on these forums who are part of this industry.. whether they be models, strippers, etc. So, if any of you would like to share some experiences I would greatly greatly appreciate it. You can post them here if you like, or PM me.

Thanks so much in advance!

 

Not to be overly pragmatic, but I would suggest doing a search of what resources you have available to show a balanced view, & narrow it from there. It may be easy to find tons of papers dealing with it in relation to racism, but I'm not sure how you can find a positive side to experiencing racism... Whereas, if you look at it as economic oppression (say women go into porn because they are unable to make a living wage any other way), I suspect you will be able to find solid resources to argue that it gives those women a sort of power, that it can be a positive thing in their lives. If you focus on arguments of whether it is exploitative, you could discuss women who are manipulated into the industry due to pressure from boyfriends or who were molested as children, but then you could also look at the Jenna Jamesons, who siezed power & now owns her own production company...

I'm not sure if this is the kind of help that you were looking for...

 

thank you for your reply

i think i'm going to focus onto specifically why women go into porn, so the economic oppression factor could play into it... and also how it is so widely accepted to openly star in pornography because of its role in mainstream american pop culture. (strippers/porn stars in music videos and everybody wanting to hang out with playboy bunnies at hugh hefner's, etc.).

I also need to define pornography... the female nude in porn. vs. art. I think I will probably stick to hard-core porn so that it is undeniably considered pornography in our culture. In that case, I may not include Playboy at all, because many do not consider that to be porn (my stepdad included), but instead will stick to magazines such as Hustler, and internet websites, and videos. hmm... so much stuff to cover, hopefully I will get through it all

 

I had a friend who's family situation was really shattered. She didn't have much to look foreword to in our town and was told of a modeling job in L.A. where she could make some good easy cash and all that. Basicly she moved to LA to work for a guy that worked for Hustler. She ended up on web sites on the net and in some movies. She was able to pay her rent and then some for a while. She said she was on a payroll and had benefits ( I think) Anyways she also would go to house parties and stuff where she and others would kinda crash it out of noplace and go at it in the middle of the party..like with other girls and it would be filmed. Just totlay crazy stuff. Prety sick stuff she did in my opinion and it didn't last long...so I don't really understand it but at least it's over. I had another friand who was a stripper for a long time and made very good money. she told me quite a bit about what gose on there. crazy...

 

Desperation. Despair. Lack of self esteem. History of sexual abuse in childhood. Lack of clear, healthy female and male role models.

There is a lot of data in this field. You will find that MOST, if not all womyn in the sex industry were abused, sexually, as children.

 

I know a lot of girls want to fight that fact but I have to agree with Magie Sugar on that. All of the girls I know who have been in the sex industry have male issues, and some of them have been sexualy abused.

 

I have a slighty different view of pornography. I think that porn films and situations where women actually have sex is bad, because in most porn films the women are slapped, beaten etc. and this sends the message that it's okay to do that type of thing (especially to twelve year-old boys who don't know what real sex is like). But if it's just a photo in a magazine and no STDs are being spread, no one is getting raped or lied to, and it's all voluntary, I say more power to you. The pornography industry will never die, so we might as well make it as safe and positive as possible.

And while I'm sure many women in the industry suffer from abuse, I don't think it's fair to generalize it so much. There are also women--namely some in the dominatrix and other "high-class" areas of it--who honestly do feel empowered by what they do. Whether or not they actually are empowering themselves is impossible to determine objectively; their feeling of empowerment is real to them.

 

agreed................

 

That just brought to mind an issue that is not quite what you are interested in doing (and I doubt you have the time or resources to do it!), but I think would be interesting to see a study on... I never particularly bothered to look into it, but I heard some mention of HIV being spread around several prominent porn stars lately (probably some 15 second mention I caught as I flipped past Howard Stern or something). I guess the big deal is that these are several big name people, not just random individuals in all that "amateur porn" that is all over the internet. So how is that affecting the industry?

From another snipet of info that I can't remember the source, I've heard that condom-free porn has become increasingly popular, based on a couple of reasons... One, guys like to fantasize about being able to go without instead of being reminded of having to go thru that less than ideal ritual. Two, the perceived threat of HIV has decreased as people have become more accustomed to the risk & as treatments have allowed people to live longer & more comfortably with the virus (which I read about as a concern of AIDS prevention workers)... So, again, how does this recent news affect this aspect of the industry? What does this mean for the women involved in "amateur porn" (which tends to be far nastier & more degrading than movies by big production companies like Wicked)?

 

I wasn't really generalising, just stating what most of the research into this field has found...that most womyn in this field have been abused. As for being "high class" rich people are no less likely to sexually abuse little children than poor. Sex abuse happens everywhere, no matter what the income, or whether the victim and abuser live in a mansion or a trailer.

We will have to agree to disagree that doing this for a living can in any way be "empowering." I can't see how it could be. But that is my opinion. Seeing as most who participate are dealing with sex abuse issues, I can't see how it could be anything but destructive.

 

What sort of a rock were you living under?!

Pornography never has a positive side to it. It is degrading the whole society, it is degrading the entire 'female race' as well as 'male race' . It is destroying young minds. It is another source of addiction. It is also a source of severe abuse.

It has no positive side to it and it must be stopped, it has nothing to do with our culture. If you want to write a paper on women & culture then why don't you try writing it on something that will trigger critical thought in you rather than something that will try to fulfill your own petty desires.

 

well can i just say that i've had desires to get into nude modeling/verging on almost pornographic imagry of the suicide girls website. I went through the application process and right at the stage of "send in your photoshoot" i stoped and hesitated... im still hesitating.


What you said about women enntering into the buisness with history of sexual abse is very true but that does not mean that its not an empowering act for them.
When you are sexually abused you have no control over that person geting thrills out of being with you in some way. In this case the girl is under the other persons controll, she has no say in what she does and doesnt show, she has no say in weather or not he can touch her.
In porn (at least in the maistream, industry not the shady side of pron) there is a far more glamorous feel to it. The girl gets a xchance to turn around and say "yes im sexual and i know it and i KNOW you find me sexy but you cant touch me" ..."you can look as much as you fucking want, you can beat yourself off in your lonely room but you can touch me." "or "i get to show you what i want to show you, you dont dictate how much i show or what i do"
The woman is bound to feel like she has some empowerment. Even if its only her twisting the way she looks upon the situation.

 

heres a positive side . women porn stars are fuckin smart as hell. i mean they get paid to show off the body that god gave them and or if they love sex they get paid for that too.

the negative. your boyfriend would rather watch porn on the computer than cuddle or have sex with you. your boyfriend gets addicted to watching porn.

thats all i can think of so good luck sorry i couldnt be much help.

 

What sort of a twisted idea is that? Pornography is making you and everyone else into slaves. It is sick how people put in so much money into these things and they don't realize that half of these people are in it because of self-destructive mentalities and also another half are there in it because they are sex slaves.

Your arguments that talk about pleasure, woman- and porn are disgusting. Why are you indulging yourself in the idea that it is actually pleasing when it is more for the money than anything else...
Actually its not even the money, it is also because these people don't know what to do, having no skills, no life, no morals, depressed... they act for the money.
The people in the porn act for money. The people pay the money because they are addicted to it. They are addicted to it because of another set of depressing reasons...
your talk of supporting porn is ridiculous..

I see that these forums are degrading into something malignant day by day. Adios.

 

Firstly if you re-read my post not-once do i support porn. I was HOWEVER just stating what i think might be the mindselt of some of those sexually abused girls... talking from being in the same mindset as them.

There is a mental status that it can give a woman, it might not be one you understand but it can be there. Its a mental position which can be view in two lights, the woman can either say "i will subdude to all and stay being the type of woman who men mess around" or they think they can say "no i will stand above it and take control of who i show my body to" that either means they only show it to who they want or it means they get up there and they flaunt what they have. ALmost in a way of saying "look im not scared of it any more"
And saying that these girls have no tallents other than this .... well a) thats probably one of the attitudes that put girls in that position and b) who the hell are you to say they have no other tallents? Like i said i contemplated the idea, and i still would love to learn to pole dance, not for the perverted side of it more for the art of it (takes a HELL of a lot of tallent and strength mentally and physically) however i know full well i have other tallens and im a smart girl. I've got a national diploma and a-levels im begining university next week, im far from some thick girl who has no other choice than to sell her body.
NO im not a fan of the dirty porn industry, i am a fan of artistic nudity and i am fully supportive of any woman whos proud enough of her body to say "here look at me" esspecially in a culture such as ours where the female body is scrutinised so much.If you look at Suicidegirls.com the girls on this side are allmost the total opposite from societies typical "models" or "beauties" but still these girls have enough guts to stand up sya,"I'M BEAUTIFUL NO MATTER WHAT THE MAJORITY OF THE WORLD THINKS"

Also pornography makes you intono less of a slave than the rest of modern culture. Television, you are more a slave to media than you are a slave to porn. ..even a porn star can escape porn.. no one can escape media.
Yes it is a big money making buisness... girls are selling what htey have and what they can do naturally to make money.... a plumber charges people for him to fix their pipes... a footballer gets payed for people to watch him kick a football around... an artist gets payed to paint an image. Yes porn is a form of product but then again so if everything in this world.
Im not saying the idea of pornography is right im just saying that you cant instantly label it as wrong. Just because its wrong in your mind and maybe even in my mind.. doesnt mean everyone see's it as slavery.. a lot of peple see it as a job.

 

My, my... Aren't WE judgemental

You are entitled to your opinions, but this is a free-speech forum. Your ridiculing other people's opinions does you no good, nor them. It's this kind of closed-mindedness that causes so many fights here in the forums. We don't need it, so if you can't handle that others have opinions different from yours and discuss those differences in a civilized manner, then good riddance.

 

I wont pass judgment of Jedi however i do agree that quite often people who consider themselfs "open minded" are indeed just another form of close minded. For example lets take the feminist movement.. feminism is supposed to be equal oppotunities for both sexes, however often its taked to the extreem of being anti-men.

 

That's an awfully totalitarian & self-righteous perspective. Have you actually spoken with at least several porn stars? Do you have a degree in psychology? I'm sorry, I simply cannot agree that there are only two factors to explain something so prevalent.

Is it really so self-destructive to take something that was used against you, then turn it around to your own benefit? It's not the way I would go about dealing with such an issue, but we are not all the same and I am not about to claim to be better than anyone who makes such a choice. Wouldn't it be more self-destructive to repress your sexuality to the point of being unable to actually have a relationship with a man for 15-20 years? (No, I'm not exaggerating about 15-20 years, I have known someone who was molested as a child & at 30 was still unable to have anything more than platonic friendship with a man & had yet to ever have consensual sex.)

I really find it offensive when anyone makes such broad, judgemental statements with no real evidence to support their claims.

 

I'm sorry if this is a bit off topic, but I had to comment on this... Above is a link to an article I read in Bitch magazine about the Suicidegirls website. One of the things it mentions is that, well, if you look past the dreads, tats, & piercings, the girls really aren't much different from society's typical idea of beauty. When this first came out, I looked around the site & had to agree (maybe they've become more accepting of different body types since). Most of the people I saw there could be models if they had not gone with the body modification & creative hair styles, I didn't see any fat rolls & saggy boobs, or even pudgy bellies... At least when I looked, they weren't really almost the total opposite of our current (dreadfully unhealthy) societal standard.

 

Well for a start body modifications are as labeling against being a model as body size. and i havent got a full account so i have only seen the preview girls you get to see when you apply to join to be one yourself. You rigth i've not seen any incredibly overweight women but i have seen women whos facial shapes, general boe structure on their face, are not the typical "model" types. i'll try and find some examples.



http://suicidegirls.com/girls/Nyx/ To me she looks like an everyday normal girly.
http://suicidegirls.com/girls/Charlie/

Im not talking just about overweight girls when i talk about them. Im talking about everyday... normal girls that you would see walking down the street. None of these perfect bodies (agreed a lot of the suicide girls are slim but a perfect body in modeling does imply no scaring, no tatoos, no piercing, no imperfection) I personally know that if i wanted to become a model that i would not have a chance in a normal everyday modeling agency, im short, i have dreadlocks and piercings. This isnt about the girls beign different body shapes, this is about girls being aloud to be them selfs and STILL have beauty found in them. A lot of the photosets the girls do themselfs and send in (thats what i would have done) They choose what they want to look like and they choose what they want to show.
No i agree they could be more open to different body shapes as well (however i do think there are some large girls on there) but at least this is one step in the right direction. Thant you for the link by the way