Society Influenced by the Media

Samantha Linder
Professor Battershell
English 102: Reading and Writing Connections
March 15, 2007

Pornographic pictures and clips tend to position the man in dominate positions and the women are portrayed as vulnerable, having no power. In order to do this, the women are usually put into positions such as being on their knees or being pinned down. In addition, the woman portrayed is tall, skinny, and has almost unnatural beauty. This is one example of how the pornographic magazines shape the ideals of the male and female. In the American culture, pornography has an overall negative effect on society, demonstrated through the harmful gender roles and ideals repeatedly supported by the magazines. The viewer must wonder who benefits from these cultural myths and what can be done to change these harmful ideals.

The negative effect of pornography shapes the role of the female by choosing passive, unrealistically portrayed women as a subject matter. The covers of magazines, such as Playboy, portray girls that are not only very tall and thin with little to no clothes on, but also digitally edited to cover up any imperfections. In order to be considered attractive to the majority of people in today’s society, a female must have a perfect, slim body. Women hardly ever have the slim, tall body type shown in the media because it is not very common and sometimes even impossible if the woman is digitally enhanced or she has had plastic surgery to enhance her sexual appearance. A woman’s self-confidence can be ruined by trying to compare oneself to the perfect bodies in media. This lack of self-confidence can eventually cause a woman to take drastic measures such as starving or overworking herself.

Another negative effect that pornography has on women is that it supports the ideal that women are supposed to know their place; based on this idea, females should be less dominant than males. Women are pictured as less than human and of less value than men are by placing them into vulnerable, dangerous, and degrading positions. Some women take this concept to an extreme and have no freedom because they let the man completely control every aspect of their lives. Women believe that the female should be less dominant and important because they are mimicking the message portrayed in the pictures they see in pornographic magazines. Porn is dangerous for women because it shows woman as sex objects and in turn, men try to take advantage of the female. Men could claim that women are “asking for it” because they accept the pictures that send out these negative messages and even pose in them, which give men an excuse to act disrespectful towards women.

When a woman is not in control of herself, a woman loses her sense of self-worth. Although, it benefits men because it allows them to feel masculine, strong, and prove that males are more important than the female gender. In addition, the view that women are objects benefits the man because it allows them to have pleasures without any strings attached. Males can use the female for pleasure and then throw her away like trash when he is done treating her poorly. Lastly, the idea that women are “asking for it” benefits the men because it gives them an excuse for the reason they are treating women badly. They take the blame off themselves and put it on the women’s shoulders. Men are saying that this is the women’s fault because they are taking part in pornography and men cannot help but to treat women like objects for pleasure. When women are considered objects in pornographic movies and magazines, men tend to show violence toward the women.

Pornography can also affect a male’s sense of masculinity by looking down on males that are not experienced. This could pressure a male into having sex and taking advantage of a woman because it is supposedly the masculine ultimate goal to achieve. Eventually, this will result in casual sex, instead of a covenant between a married man and women. Therefore, sex will become something that a male craves and he will start to believe he can never get enough. Sexual addiction starts to develop from wanting sex every moment and is a psychologically problem that can affect a man’s lifestyle dramatically. As a result of this casual sex addiction, men runs the risk of developing sexually transmitted diseases or causing a woman to become impregnated.

Along with the affects on men and women, pornography also has an affect on children because pornography is easily accessible. Sometimes, fathers even encourage their children, especially boys, to view pornographic magazines. When children are exposed to the images of pornography, they are curious and want to try things that are going on in the videos or magazines. Porn leads to children wanting to have sex at younger and younger ages and their parents have no idea they are taking part in these things because they are so young. In addition, the children are taught that sex is something with little weight and consequences from porn. They start to believe that it is right to have sex out of marriage, with multiple partners, and sometimes with partners of the same sex. Children have little defense against pornography because they are so young and their parents do not teach them any differently until a more mature age. In addition, many children are forced into child pornography by sexual predators that are addicted to sex. The United Nations Children's Fund researched how many children are exposed to pornography and prostitution today. Because of the demand for child pornography,
“UNICEF estimates that one million children are forced into prostitution or used to produce pornography each year. Many are handed over (or sold) by their families driven by the extremes of poverty....The Internet also has given dealers in child pornography a far bigger audience--and anonymity” (Erols Internet: internet safety information site, 1).

Pornography is very dangerous for children because they are innocent victims for sexual predators and if pornography were illegal for all ages, there would be no mistakes of child falling into the hands of a predator to be passed off as an adult.
Without pornography, American society would be a better place to live and grow. It corrupts the minds of all who view and take part in pornography, especially the minds of those who do not know any better. Making pornography illegal will lead to a decrease in the spread of sexually transmitted disease and unwanted pregnancies. It will also help women respect their bodies and have more self-confidence. What we can do to prevent child pornography is to educate our children earlier about sex, and to make pornography illegal.

Works Cited
"Fact: Pornography Is Harmful." Erols Internet: internet safety information site. 03 March 2007. Enough is Enough. 15 Mar 2007 <http://www.levelbest.com/design/sites/enough/pornisharmful.htm>.