Stripping away myths about porn
There's more than meets the eye
Shannon Finn
Issue date: 10/25/07 Section: Opinion
I watch porn. Yeah, good ol' American porn in the form of Cosmopolitan Magazine, MTV, advertisements, you name it. I watch porn when I don't even want to.
Porn is not just late night Cinemax or XXX Web sites, it is already embedded deep into our culture whether we like (or know) it or not. So, condemning those who watch a particular kind of porn is a bit of a moot point.
Pornography is a personal choice. And, before I am blindly categorized as a "granola-crunching, abortion-loving, whale-saving crusader of the liberal persuasion," pornography is out there as a billion-dollar market luring in millions daily. And why not?
Sex to a majority of people is desirable and alluring.
Some students get randy when memorizing psalms or getting an "A+" on an exam. Porn is merely an alternative. And, depending on the kind of porn a person is into, women are viewed as nurses, police officers, and school teachers - noble career paths emboldening equality in the work place. If that's not putting women on a pedestal, then I don't know what is.
Anything can become obsessive, and in turn, perverse: money, food, drink, sex. For gluttons, it's food. I eat daily so that MUST categorize me as an unhealthy addict who binge-eats her problems away.
Assuming all Hillsdale men are porn-dogs is jumping the gun, just as much as it is presumptuous to say all Hillsdale men are a cut above the rest. People are people[,] and sweeping generalizations are dangerous to make.
A big reason people watch porn is because they make the distinction that porn is anything but reality. For men, a women's passions, interests and goals are much more sensual and satisfying that a bottle blonde working her magic on screen. Women, too, realize the fantasy element of sexually explicit material.
Also, rather than calling Mary Petrides' commentary "Man up about porn," it should be titled "Man AND woman up about porn." Porn is no longer a gentlemen's club like it once used to be. Women can and do watch pornographic material as well and are prone to the same habits as men. It is only fair to chastise the women of Hillsdale just as much as the men if those are the arguments we are waging.
Porn is not just late night Cinemax or XXX Web sites, it is already embedded deep into our culture whether we like (or know) it or not. So, condemning those who watch a particular kind of porn is a bit of a moot point.
Pornography is a personal choice. And, before I am blindly categorized as a "granola-crunching, abortion-loving, whale-saving crusader of the liberal persuasion," pornography is out there as a billion-dollar market luring in millions daily. And why not?
Sex to a majority of people is desirable and alluring.
Some students get randy when memorizing psalms or getting an "A+" on an exam. Porn is merely an alternative. And, depending on the kind of porn a person is into, women are viewed as nurses, police officers, and school teachers - noble career paths emboldening equality in the work place. If that's not putting women on a pedestal, then I don't know what is.
Anything can become obsessive, and in turn, perverse: money, food, drink, sex. For gluttons, it's food. I eat daily so that MUST categorize me as an unhealthy addict who binge-eats her problems away.
Assuming all Hillsdale men are porn-dogs is jumping the gun, just as much as it is presumptuous to say all Hillsdale men are a cut above the rest. People are people[,] and sweeping generalizations are dangerous to make.
A big reason people watch porn is because they make the distinction that porn is anything but reality. For men, a women's passions, interests and goals are much more sensual and satisfying that a bottle blonde working her magic on screen. Women, too, realize the fantasy element of sexually explicit material.
Also, rather than calling Mary Petrides' commentary "Man up about porn," it should be titled "Man AND woman up about porn." Porn is no longer a gentlemen's club like it once used to be. Women can and do watch pornographic material as well and are prone to the same habits as men. It is only fair to chastise the women of Hillsdale just as much as the men if those are the arguments we are waging.
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