Feminist Perspective on Pornography: Comparing Anti-pornography Feminists' Involvement in 80's Sex War to Current Day
Jordan Malzer
Author
03/26/2021
Added
192
Plays
Description
Using the time period of the Feminist Sex Wars, this project looks at how feminists debates on pornography have changed and if this “war” between feminists is still being fought today.
Searchable Transcript
Toggle between list and paragraph view.
- [00:00:00.580]Hello, my name is Jordan Malzer,
- [00:00:02.290]and this is my presentation
- [00:00:03.720]on Feminist Perspectives on Pornography:
- [00:00:05.940]Comparing Anti-pornography Feminists' Involvement
- [00:00:08.320]in 80's Sex Wars to Current Day.
- [00:00:12.620]To give a little overview,
- [00:00:13.660]using the time period of the feminist sex wars,
- [00:00:16.060]this project will address how anti-pornography feminism
- [00:00:19.160]compares to current day, given the extreme growth
- [00:00:21.950]and changes of the pornography industry since the 1970s.
- [00:00:25.860]This paper addresses the following questions.
- [00:00:28.090]How have feminist debates changed
- [00:00:29.790]on the topic of pornography?
- [00:00:31.420]And is this "war" between feminists
- [00:00:33.090]still being fought today?
- [00:00:34.750]I analyze opinions, efforts, and strategies
- [00:00:37.380]of the anti-pornography feminists
- [00:00:39.370]to see how the movement has changed since the sex wars
- [00:00:42.400]and to answer the overall question
- [00:00:43.990]of if the movement has fizzled out.
- [00:00:46.120]These findings contribute
- [00:00:47.310]to the complex history of feminism, pornography,
- [00:00:50.070]and the broader debates surrounding sexuality
- [00:00:52.490]and how it is represented in the media.
- [00:00:54.950]To start, I will give some background
- [00:00:56.470]on the sex wars and anti-pornography feminism.
- [00:00:59.340]The 70s marked a robust time for social movements
- [00:01:01.920]aimed at equal rights for women.
- [00:01:03.770]The anti-pornography movement
- [00:01:05.260]became one of the many causes
- [00:01:06.800]taken on by the larger women's movement.
- [00:01:09.250]This period of time has gone by many names,
- [00:01:11.230]including sex wars and pornography wars,
- [00:01:13.590]and was met with various levels of engagement.
- [00:01:16.300]It began out of a concern for many feminists
- [00:01:18.590]of the growing amount of violence and the negative ways
- [00:01:20.970]women were portrayed in the media.
- [00:01:23.210]Opposing pornography was seen
- [00:01:24.620]as a natural next step for many feminists,
- [00:01:27.270]as they'd just been giving much of their attention
- [00:01:29.810]to anti-sexual violence campaigns
- [00:01:31.800]and many saw pornography as an example
- [00:01:33.870]of violence against women.
- [00:01:36.050]In the early 1980s,
- [00:01:37.340]multiple organizations formed with different strategies
- [00:01:40.100]by a shared goal of protesting pornography.
- [00:01:42.770]These organizations included Women Against Pornography,
- [00:01:45.740]Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media,
- [00:01:48.260]Feminists Fighting Pornography, and others.
- [00:01:50.600]Some of the tactics these organizations used included
- [00:01:53.490]demonstrations in Times Square,
- [00:01:55.080]hosting educational conferences,
- [00:01:56.910]Take Back the Night candlelit marches
- [00:01:58.920]in porn districts, and more.
- [00:02:00.910]While anti-pornography efforts
- [00:02:02.300]were at a level never seen before,
- [00:02:04.110]not everyone agreed with the movement,
- [00:02:05.810]including fellow feminists.
- [00:02:08.580]The use of the word "war" in sex wars
- [00:02:10.930]refers to the strenuous divide
- [00:02:12.480]between feminists on the topic.
- [00:02:14.420]In short, anti-pornography feminists
- [00:02:16.410]saw pornography as harmful to women,
- [00:02:18.417]and sex-positive feminists disagreed
- [00:02:20.560]with their opinions and tactics.
- [00:02:22.490]Some of the reasons sex-positive feminists
- [00:02:24.270]disagreed with anti-pornography feminists
- [00:02:26.520]was because of the victimization
- [00:02:28.060]they felt was put onto women,
- [00:02:29.900]the effect of the moral crusade could have on sexuality,
- [00:02:33.390]and overall threats to freedom of expression for women.
- [00:02:37.460]Though a brief time in women's history,
- [00:02:40.270]the sex wars represents one
- [00:02:41.600]of the most divisive issues between feminists
- [00:02:44.180]and a period of ingroup hostility
- [00:02:46.210]that was damaging to the overall movement.
- [00:02:49.350]Using qualitative content analysis,
- [00:02:51.390]I analyzed documents from the timeframe
- [00:02:53.550]of the sex wars to present day.
- [00:02:55.640]These documents include feminist magazines
- [00:02:57.647]"Off Our Backs," "New York Time" articles,
- [00:03:00.017]"Sex Wars: Sexual Dissent and Political Culture"
- [00:03:02.560]by Lisa Duggan and Hunter Nan,
- [00:03:04.907]"Pornography & Civil Rights:
- [00:03:06.287]"A New Day for Feminist Equality"
- [00:03:08.360]by anti-pornography feminists Andrea Dworkin
- [00:03:10.630]and Catharine A. MacKinnon,
- [00:03:11.820]and "Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality"
- [00:03:15.230]by current anti-pornography feminist Gail Dines.
- [00:03:18.810]For the articles read from "Off Our Backs,"
- [00:03:21.120]12 articles were further analyzed
- [00:03:23.100]to specifically look at what anti-pornography feminists
- [00:03:26.290]believed was the harm women were facing due to pornography.
- [00:03:30.170]These harms were described in multiple ways,
- [00:03:32.340]but a common one was for the depiction of violence
- [00:03:34.870]that they feared would continue
- [00:03:36.290]the pattern of sexual violence
- [00:03:37.680]for women in their everyday lives.
- [00:03:40.020]When diving deeper into why anti-pornography feminists
- [00:03:42.650]believed pornography was harmful to women,
- [00:03:44.850]three main ideas appeared,
- [00:03:46.840]violence against women, women-hating,
- [00:03:49.080]and objectification, exploitation, or dehumanization.
- [00:03:52.700]From the 12 articles, 11 of them
- [00:03:54.640]mentioned violence against women.
- [00:03:56.400]Five explicitly use the phrase "women-hating"
- [00:03:59.070]or showing hatred towards women.
- [00:04:01.400]And eight of them highlighted objectification, exploitation,
- [00:04:04.730]or dehumanization women face because of porn.
- [00:04:08.620]A smaller but still present undertone seen in the magazines
- [00:04:11.960]was the harm that pornography inflicts
- [00:04:13.930]in the altering of sexuality.
- [00:04:15.950]This altercation can be perceived in multiple ways.
- [00:04:18.750]One example of this is how porn changes men's sexuality
- [00:04:22.300]to get pleasure out of seeing violence against women.
- [00:04:25.070]This goes along with the popular notion
- [00:04:26.790]believed by many anti-pornography feminists
- [00:04:29.200]that porn does not cause rape,
- [00:04:30.870]but it does contribute to the normalization of it.
- [00:04:34.370]In this comparative analysis,
- [00:04:35.830]I use three key figures,
- [00:04:37.720]Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon
- [00:04:39.440]from the time of the sex wars,
- [00:04:41.000]and Gail Dines, who will represent a modern example.
- [00:04:44.620]By looking in-depth into their writings
- [00:04:46.390]and efforts for the movement, I'm able to compare
- [00:04:49.140]the origins of the movement to present day
- [00:04:51.400]and look for where modifications have occurred.
- [00:04:53.880]I acknowledge that there were multiple different actors
- [00:04:55.890]with a vast array of opinions,
- [00:04:57.490]especially during the sex wars.
- [00:04:59.200]And by focusing on these three,
- [00:05:00.500]I could create a limited understanding of the movement.
- [00:05:03.290]However, these three women
- [00:05:04.560]have dedicated their lives to fighting pornography
- [00:05:06.900]and have been credited as major figures
- [00:05:08.960]who have helped shape and advance the movement.
- [00:05:11.600]By looking at some of the most key figures,
- [00:05:13.830]I hope to outline the general practices, opinions,
- [00:05:16.530]and changes to the overall movement.
- [00:05:20.060]A common idea that was seen throughout the sex wars
- [00:05:22.550]was that pornography promotes women-hating.
- [00:05:25.030]We see this phrase many times from Dworkin and MacKinnon,
- [00:05:28.080]including in their jointly published book
- [00:05:30.080]where they expressed the idea
- [00:05:31.320]that pornography is not only a symptom of misogyny,
- [00:05:34.350]but an active agent in generating women-hating acts
- [00:05:37.130]and second-class status for women.
- [00:05:39.370]Years later, we will see Dines make a similar claim,
- [00:05:42.740]in that pornography is really what men think of women,
- [00:05:45.560]they hate women.
- [00:05:46.820]Though there was nearly 20 years between these two quotes,
- [00:05:49.670]the idea that pornography not only harms women
- [00:05:52.420]but shows the societal hatred of women
- [00:05:54.420]is still a dominant view of anti-pornography feminists.
- [00:05:58.410]Another viewpoint with similarities
- [00:06:00.050]focuses on the topic of sexuality.
- [00:06:02.420]Both have mentioned the ways porn affects
- [00:06:04.440]how individuals view sex, especially how men view women.
- [00:06:08.880]Though Dines have spent more time dedicated
- [00:06:11.370]to exposing the societal implications of porn
- [00:06:14.360]and the harms it does to the sexuality of men and women,
- [00:06:17.370]it is a topic of concern that both groups were aware of.
- [00:06:20.780]One of the few differences between the three figures
- [00:06:23.300]is that Dines has advanced her opinions
- [00:06:25.570]to include topics of mainstream culture and education.
- [00:06:28.870]This advanced opinion is likely due
- [00:06:30.580]to the growth of information
- [00:06:31.930]available because of the internet.
- [00:06:33.810]Dines has not only taken on many of the concerns
- [00:06:36.220]and viewpoints of Dworkin and MacKinnon,
- [00:06:38.730]but she's also progressed her efforts
- [00:06:40.600]to include subtopics that were not largely addressed
- [00:06:43.220]during the sex wars.
- [00:06:44.720]While there are many intersections onto their opinion,
- [00:06:47.170]the difference between the three figures
- [00:06:48.710]can be seen in the actions they take against pornography.
- [00:06:52.360]While the sex wars is seen as a battle
- [00:06:54.120]between opposing feminist groups,
- [00:06:55.960]there are many additional actors that contribute
- [00:06:58.170]to the conversation surrounding pornography.
- [00:07:00.640]A criticism that anti-pornography feminists faced
- [00:07:03.120]during the 70s and 80s was a question
- [00:07:05.360]over their alleged collaboration with the political right.
- [00:07:08.600]This suspected collaboration centers around an ordinance
- [00:07:11.350]in Indianapolis that would declare pornography
- [00:07:13.840]a form of sex discrimination.
- [00:07:15.910]The original ordinance was drafted by Dworkin and MacKinnon.
- [00:07:18.770]And while they were the writers, a majority of the support
- [00:07:21.480]for the ordinance came from non-feminist groups,
- [00:07:23.790]including neighborhood associations
- [00:07:25.700]and conservative-leaning politicians and organizations.
- [00:07:29.390]Dworkin and MacKinnon began collaborating
- [00:07:31.320]with the Republican Indianapolis City Council member.
- [00:07:34.490]Many right-wing politicians were already involved
- [00:07:36.800]in the fight against pornography,
- [00:07:38.490]as they viewed it as a representation of social disorder.
- [00:07:41.950]Dworkin and MacKinnon received a lot of backlash
- [00:07:44.100]from the feminist community for engaging with politicians
- [00:07:47.250]who, quote, "agenda is explicitly anti-feminist
- [00:07:50.250]and misogynistic," unquote.
- [00:07:52.690]They have defended their actions,
- [00:07:53.930]claiming that they only worked with one city council woman.
- [00:07:58.670]Author Nancy Whittier has backed Dworkin's claim
- [00:08:01.420]that they were not allies,
- [00:08:02.520]and compares their involvement more as frenemies,
- [00:08:05.190]given that they had interaction towards a shared goal
- [00:08:07.920]but were all ideologically opposed.
- [00:08:10.250]However, many in the feminist community
- [00:08:11.960]still say Dworkin and MacKinnon
- [00:08:14.370]are getting into bed with the enemy.
- [00:08:16.620]This interaction, however small, would have lasting effects
- [00:08:19.280]on the pornography debates
- [00:08:20.820]and the women's movement at large.
- [00:08:23.670]When looking at anti-pornography work being done today,
- [00:08:26.530]members of the political right
- [00:08:27.830]are some of the most vocal opponents of pornography.
- [00:08:30.810]This can be seen in the adoption of language
- [00:08:32.700]to refer to pornography as a public health crisis.
- [00:08:36.110]We see similar language coming from Gail Dines,
- [00:08:38.440]as she has referred to pornography as a public health issue
- [00:08:41.610]and criticized the way it has hijacked sexuality.
- [00:08:44.740]Despite potential overlap,
- [00:08:46.120]it seems that there is little attempt
- [00:08:47.710]for feminists to engage in political intervention
- [00:08:50.180]like the conservative has.
- [00:08:52.250]The divide in the feminist movement
- [00:08:53.680]has likely influenced current feminists
- [00:08:55.870]and their willingness to work with conservatives,
- [00:08:58.060]given the repercussions they faced.
- [00:09:00.280]Despite overlap in opinion, the relationships today
- [00:09:03.740]between anti-pornography feminists
- [00:09:05.540]and conservatives who oppose pornography
- [00:09:08.110]seems to be nearly non-existent.
- [00:09:10.290]This is likely intentional on the anti-pornography feminists
- [00:09:13.230]and can be further example
- [00:09:15.270]of their changes in tactics to contest pornography.
- [00:09:18.680]When looking at approaches made by the movement,
- [00:09:20.750]it is clear that action taken during the sex wars
- [00:09:23.560]were much more tangible
- [00:09:24.610]in what they're trying to accomplish.
- [00:09:26.620]Dworkin and MacKinnon are known for directing an ordinance
- [00:09:28.980]that would allow anyone to sue based on damages
- [00:09:31.480]they've experienced from pornography.
- [00:09:33.840]On the other hand, Gail Dines has given much of her efforts
- [00:09:36.370]to her nonprofit, Culture Reframed,
- [00:09:38.480]where their goal is aimed at providing educational tools
- [00:09:41.570]for parents to teach their children.
- [00:09:43.600]Looking at these two different approaches,
- [00:09:45.400]there is a clear difference in the target audience.
- [00:09:48.040]The civil ordinance impacts and is applied to everyone,
- [00:09:51.530]while the nonprofit only affects those who partake.
- [00:09:54.400]This suggests a move from collective approach
- [00:09:57.310]to a more individual one.
- [00:09:59.220]Instead of enacting politics
- [00:10:00.680]that in the past have failed
- [00:10:01.910]due First Amendment complications,
- [00:10:04.100]there has been more of a focus on educating
- [00:10:05.970]about the harms of porn and providing resources
- [00:10:08.460]for individuals who wish to abstain
- [00:10:10.720]rather than taking down the industry as a whole.
- [00:10:13.430]The ordinance of Dworkin and MacKinnon
- [00:10:15.300]show the large amount of focus given to collective work.
- [00:10:18.390]Today, there seems to be no attempt at universal change
- [00:10:20.960]from anti-pornography feminists,
- [00:10:22.690]and the focus has seemed to shift
- [00:10:24.180]to more individual response.
- [00:10:26.920]While Gail Dines offers a strong presence
- [00:10:29.000]of current anti-pornography feminist viewpoint,
- [00:10:31.650]the movement is not nearly as large
- [00:10:33.440]or societaly impactful as it was during the 80s
- [00:10:36.420]and does not follow the same strategies.
- [00:10:38.800]Due to these reasons,
- [00:10:40.020]whatever opposition to pornography
- [00:10:41.800]through a feminist perspective happening today,
- [00:10:44.070]it can not be compared
- [00:10:45.170]to the movement happening during the sex wars.
- [00:10:48.120]The origin of the movement was engulfed
- [00:10:49.950]in the politically active time
- [00:10:51.440]of the second wave of feminism.
- [00:10:53.290]The goal of the movements were a lot more tangible
- [00:10:55.620]and politically minded than actions taking place today.
- [00:10:59.650]As comparisons were being made
- [00:11:01.020]based on the examples set during the sex wars,
- [00:11:03.430]and I argue that the movement has fizzled out.
- [00:11:06.150]While there are a few players still trying
- [00:11:07.740]to keep the message of the movement alive today,
- [00:11:10.240]the actions taken today do not meet the standard
- [00:11:12.710]of what the movement was aiming to accomplish.
The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!
You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.
Log in to post comments
Embed
Copy the following code into your page
HTML
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%; overflow: hidden; position:relative; -webkit-box-flex: 1; flex-grow: 1;">
<iframe
style="bottom: 0; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; border: 0; height: 100%; width: 100%;"
src="https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/16074?format=iframe&autoplay=0"
title="Video Player: Feminist Perspective on Pornography: Comparing Anti-pornography Feminists' Involvement in 80's Sex War to Current Day"
allowfullscreen
></iframe>
</div>
Comments
0 Comments