The creation and consumption of Pornography objectifies women Research Paper

The creation and consumption of Pornography objectifies women - Research Paper Example To objectify means to present or regard as an object. While the pornographic industry has presented women as objects, it is equally guilty of degrading women and belittling their status in the eyes of men, especially those who are subscribers to pornographic magazines. Back in the days before pornography was so rampant, social attitudes towards sex were that it was a deeply personal subject and public displays and discussions about it were strictly taboo. Then came the Golden Age of Porn, a period lasting from the 1960s to the 1980s, in which there was a movement for sexual liberation following the Flower Power revolution. ‘Make Love, Not War’ was a popular message on T-Shirts from the Woodstock era. It opened the way to live-ins and the love-child. Opportunists like Hugh Hefner and Larry Flynt saw a quick and easy way to make big bucks out of the changing scenario. Playboy was launched in 1953 and Hustler in 1974, making both of them millionaires in the process. Although there have been efforts to suppress pornography and the victimization of women from many quarters, the foremost objections coming from religious leaders, feminists and moralists, the evolution of the Internet, the profusion of media types and the effects of pornography’s rich contribution to the media industry have been some of the reasons even the Government is reluctant to take steps to stop this billion dollar industry (Schlosser, ‘Reefer Madness’, 32). It has been estimated that on the average, 70 percent of men between the ages of 18 and 34 years visit a pornographic website, a store or a brothel in a typical month. The sad thing is that the profusion of pornographic sites on the Internet has brought this evil right into our homes without much public outcry at all. Try as we might, pornography will prevail. The outrage is that not only do pornographic magazines demean women, they also help create sex offenders and weirdos by