Why Pornography Is Not Liberation (For Women)
From Pornified by Pamela Paul, pg. 33:
"Walking down the street, a woman has the ability to look the other way or to sneer at the man who passes by her. In the office, she can write a more effective business plan than her male coworker or outperform him in a board meeting. In a bar, she can refuse to give a guy her phone number or brush off his attempts at conversation. But in the porn world, she has none of these options."
A world where someone looks at you and your choice to reject them or accept them as according to your standards is nullified forever. You have no control; Jessica Alba, in an interview, stated that she was forced to do a soft-core pornography shoot (i.e. "pinups" and Maxim and such) by her publicist simply because it was the thing to do for ascending starlets.
Women need to rise up against (and hopefully with some) men and shout clearly: Giving Away Our Freedom to Choose is Not Liberation.
And indeed, it would be a perverse "freedom", an Atwoodian "freedom from", gladly given by the already privileged class of men. Once you give away your freedom like this, you can never, ever have it back. And this is the crux of the matter. What seems like "freedom" can soon turn into chains. Imagine -- to live in a world where you fear every man has seen you, where you walk down the street wondering if they recognise you... where you feel exposed. I know I did (even though the pictures and videos never got onto the porn sites).
From the same page: "In the porn world, men retain the power and control."
Exactly.
"Walking down the street, a woman has the ability to look the other way or to sneer at the man who passes by her. In the office, she can write a more effective business plan than her male coworker or outperform him in a board meeting. In a bar, she can refuse to give a guy her phone number or brush off his attempts at conversation. But in the porn world, she has none of these options."
A world where someone looks at you and your choice to reject them or accept them as according to your standards is nullified forever. You have no control; Jessica Alba, in an interview, stated that she was forced to do a soft-core pornography shoot (i.e. "pinups" and Maxim and such) by her publicist simply because it was the thing to do for ascending starlets.
Women need to rise up against (and hopefully with some) men and shout clearly: Giving Away Our Freedom to Choose is Not Liberation.
And indeed, it would be a perverse "freedom", an Atwoodian "freedom from", gladly given by the already privileged class of men. Once you give away your freedom like this, you can never, ever have it back. And this is the crux of the matter. What seems like "freedom" can soon turn into chains. Imagine -- to live in a world where you fear every man has seen you, where you walk down the street wondering if they recognise you... where you feel exposed. I know I did (even though the pictures and videos never got onto the porn sites).
From the same page: "In the porn world, men retain the power and control."
Exactly.
posted by Avian Mooch, or a Really Angry Cow at
11:35 PM
1 Comments:
Using blogs as a means of email... It was great to hear from you! info@animalwritings.com is a good way to reach me. I love your idea. The only other language I know is French, but not that well. I think I could ask for directions to the bus station.
I'm glad you got in touch with me. I miss some folks from VF, including you. Hope you are doing well. BTW, I don't know if you ever go there, but since it's in your area, FYI I met the co-owners of the Boulder-based Three Little Figs market (vegan foods).
Take care,
By
Gary, at 9:17 AM
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