I had a seminar on marxism this morning, which I enjoyed much more. This is largely because we had a fire drill half way through, so we all went outside and stood and waited to go back in. So I was in a small group talking about the subject conversationally, rather than in the seminar environment. 10% of my mark for the module is based on contributions to the seminar, so it's much more pressured and combatative. There are people who become quite irate about certain things, and then ask questions that I don't understand. Also, sometimes I think I can make a point and then the lecturer looks at me in a manner which suggests "yes, and..." and I realise my point was quite, quite basic. Better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than open your mouth and be proved one, eh? However, I'm settling in more and getting used to the reading and the thinking and realising that a lot of other people find it hard too.
We watched Capturing the Friedmans on dvd a few nights ago, which is about a family falling apart after allegations of child abuse against two members of the family. What a strange film! Nothing was really answered. Had they done it? Who could we believe? What was likely? It seemed that no-one was telling the truth. We also had an interesting discussion about porn. Obviously, there are different levels of porn. There's paedophilic porn, which is wrong. Then there's standard top-shelf stuff, which I also think is wrong. And then there's things like FHM and loaded, which I would say is soft porn, though I know some people might disagree. For women, you can get top-shelf-style porn, but our discussion centred around soft porn for women. Are women's magazines (More, Cosmo, that sort of thing) soft porn? Is there a difference between porn for men and porn for women?
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Excluding the illegal forms of porn, which are illegal for very good reasons.If the participants in the porn are willing there isn't much wrong it. In fact there is a school of thought within certain sociological schools that it actually provides a service (together with prostitution) that allows certain people an outlet that they normally would not have, and is thought in some ways to reduce the occurence of sex crimes.
drama queen!
Well, it may provide an outlet, but I think the problem is that it objectifies people. It reinforces the idea that women (and it is mainly women) are there for men's pleasure. It supports and encourages male fantasies and reinforces the stereotype of women as passive.
But there has been a growth in the market for porn for women, so does this objectify and present men as passive beings, there only to pleasure women?
Pornography is really a cultural phenomenon. To the Euro-American culture, its the videos magazines etc that are available on the top self, in little 'odd' shops etc. But a change in that has been apparent with the expansion of shops such as Ann Summers, bring sex to the highstreet, additionally bring female sexuality to the highstreet. In some countries where social boundaries and the concept of what is 'explicit' differs, there are obvious reflections in what is considered porn there. And not all of it could be considered to portray 'passive' women.
Not all of it, but a lot of it does portray women as passive. I think pornography objectifies people, whenter it's male pornography or female pornography, and I think that's a bad thing.
I think attitudes to pornography are related to attitudes to sex - I'm not really very liberal in that sense.
Sorry, but this comment is completely nothing to do with your last blog entry. I was thrilled to see that you had love story as one of your favourite films! Oh the memories! "da da da da daaaa..."!
i've got a mate who said once that rom com is to women what porn is to men. maybe a little extreme, but i think he was referring to the fact that they both offer fantasies (physical for men, emotional for woman) that may contribute to unrealistic expectations when looking for a genuine relationship.
(hope you don't mind me commenting on your blog by the way!)
Dan, thats a really interesting point. I'd not thought of that.
Hi Dan, you are very welcome to comment on my blog!
I think that's a really interesting, though probably quite controversial, idea, which I shall go away and think about.
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