On Pornography and the Leftist Mindset of Feminists

In today's American Spectator Nathan Harden reviews a new book titled Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality by feminist Gail Dines. First, Dines gives an eye-opening account of the disturbing nature of today's pornography...

".. if you grew up in the age prior to the Internet, the word "pornography" might evoke images of a blushing Playboy centerfold, or perhaps some flimsy-plotted film with a delivery man, a desperate housewife, and just a bit more sex and nudity than an R-rating would allow. In reality, mainstream pornography today is far more brutal, more graphic, and more violent than most could imagine if they hadn't seen it for themselves..

The material she covers is truly shocking, and, often, difficult to read. I physically gagged more than once while reading her descriptions. Every sort of bodily waste and fluid, and every conceivable method by which a woman's body can be pushed to the limit, often at the hands of two or three men at a time, is commonplace in today's porn.

Forget about Hugh Hefner and his silk pajamas. These days porn is dominated by Gonzo filmmakers. In the Gonzo genre, the emphasis is on "real" rather than scripted scenes. Such films are cheap to produce. In the Internet age anyone with a camera and a computer can sell porn to the world. In order to stand out, porn producers are coming up with ever more extreme material. If the girl is crying, vomiting, or even bleeding, that's Gonzo gold. According to Dines, it is not uncommon for pornographers to film close-ups of the injuries that have occurred to the girl's body, once a scene is over.

Dines argues persuasively that porn today is not simply about men looking at naked women, or watching sex acts. Rather, the goal of much of it seems to be to depict the maximum amount of humiliation for the girl on screen. One website proudly offers its customers the opportunity to "access total degradation.""

I admit I was suprised to learn how mainstrem such violence had become in the pornography that is so readily available today. One could assume that the widespread viewing of such violence can only have a negative impact upon society and as the above cited article states, kids that are eleven years old represent the average age in which American males are first exposed to pornography.

Harden observes that as a feminist, Dines seems torn in that despite some advances brought about by the feminist movement, which included a high-water mark of bra burnings at the 1968 Miss America pageant (pictured above), she finds herself increasingly allied with conservatives these days in the battle to warn others of the danger of pornography. Harden continues...

"It is easy to see why Dines and other anti-porn feminists have a hard time reconciling their "conservative" views on porn with their liberal views on personal choice. Feminists, after all, have been saying for a long time that a woman should be able to do whatever she wants with her own body. The question is: if a girl allows a man to urinate on her on camera in exchange for a thousand bucks, can a feminist really approve the transaction merely on the basis of the girl's consent?

Porn pits the principles of choice and equality against one another. As a liberal, Dines believes the basis of morality is the unrestrained freedom to choose any sort of lifestyle one desires. As a feminist, she also believes that gender equality is an inviolable moral standard...

Choice is the holiest word in feminism. To comprehend a moral order that originates outside the domain of personal choice, one must acknowledge a higher law -- one above human will. As a liberal, the very idea of a revealed moral standard conflicts with Dines's commitment to personal choice. Dines understands that porn is wrong; but I don't think she really understands why.

What is wrong with porn is that it debases the modesty and dignity of the human beings who make it, as well as those who consume it. In the sixties, feminists spent so much energy throwing off the strictures of religion and tradition. They never realized that chastity itself was a form of power. They never realized that the moral restraints they discarded were vital to the equality they so desperately wanted."

I think that Harden nails it when he states that feminists (and liberals in general) are resistant to the idea of a revealed, higher form of moral law. It's almost as if they think that through man's own strivings, we can all become better people if we just try a little harder, find the correct terminlogy to properly identify a moral short-coming or throw just a little more federal money in the direction of a particular the problem. Such thinking doesnt work, it hasnt worked and try as they might, they are unable to come up with a better moral code than that adopted long ago in the Christianized West.

Whether it is concerning the fight against pornography, the reemergence of the practice of sex-selective abortions, or the practice of suttee, Christianity has led the way on all of these issues and remains the strongest ally a feminist can have in bringing about dignity to women.