Comments on: Frequently Addressed Accusation: "Porn objectifies women as sex objects!"

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:56:06 +0000

I think the argument as I've heard it presented is not so much that porn objectifies the women involved in creating it, but that it gets the porn consumer into the habit of objectifying women, which then spills over to other women in his life outside of the context of the porn. I see it as another glimpse of the same reasoning behind the "video games make kids violent" argument. Neither are arguments I'm likely to accept, mind.

By: Porn objectifies women as sex objects? | 3ASYFUCK | THREE COLORS OF SEX

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:34:17 +0000

[...] Girl at Feminisnt Ah, “objectification”, one of those buzzwords – like “empowerment” [...]

By: John

John — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:02:14 +0000

Excellent! I would only add that we DO have some hard-wiring for "objectification" when it comes to sex--lips, breasts, nipples, and a fine ass all trigger reactions in our brains, no matter who they are attached to. Isn't that the point of porn?? A good sex worker, IMHO, is to take those reactions and build them into a powerful and erotic experience that is fully subjective. As you said, "good porn often encourages the viewer to subjectivity the people in it.." Shall I say "AMEN"!

By: Christine

Christine — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:29:07 +0000

I agree with you on this, especially in regard to your contrast with menial labour, but I think the mainstream porn world has alot to answer for.

By: dclaudekatz

dclaudekatz — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:51:24 +0000

I think even the term “objectification” is misleading. We don’t “objectify” people; we just fail to “subjectify” them. When you encounter someone for the first time, they are an object to you. All you know about them is what you perceive with your senses. You can only guess about their subjective experience, and in the beginning, your guesses are as likely as not to be wrong. If you approach someone from the beginning “without objectification”, you’re making the often unwarranted assumption that you know something about their subjective experience: otherwise, the subject is just a blank slate. If you try to subjectify someone too quickly in an attempt to avoid “objectifying” them, you’re kind of invading their personal experiential space in a way that is more harmful to them than if you had just allowed them to be the object that they initially are.

I’d also note that, at least from my experience, good porn often encourages the viewer to subjectify the people in it. When I watch someone else experiencing sexual pleasure, it’s more a case of participating vicariously in their pleasure rather than being thrilled by the outward signs of it.

By: Iamcuriousblue

Iamcuriousblue — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:26:22 +0000

This post is so full of win its not even funny! Its basically everything I've ever had to say about the "objectification" argument concerning porn, but in one neat, succinct, well-written post. I am so linking to this posting every time this subject rears its head on the Internets!

By: Furry Girl

Furry Girl — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:03:35 +0000

Well, it sure beats pouring out all my energy on adult webmaster boards.

By: Far-L

Far-L — Mon, 18 May 2009 20:48:23 +0000

Well if the porn thing doesn't work out I think you definitely have a knack for writing! ;-)