Reply #36: See, but that's one of those arguments that sounds good in a post-grad womens' studies class [View All]

[Warren DeMontague]

but it really doesn't jive with reality.

In reality, increased societal freedom around things like porn has happened concurrently with advancements for women in the workforce, and a nearer approximation towards pay parity, although I would say we're not there yet. Furthermore, these arguments treat 'society' as a monolithic entity as opposed to a swarming mass of currents, counter-currents, and above all individuals.

Lastly, I think that sort of argument oversimplifies women-as-a-class (who, apparently, can only EITHER be seen in a sexual context or as, as you put it, 'whole people') but it also reduces your average (male?) member of society to an on-off switch who can either deal with women as people or watch them in a porno. The reality is, we are all more than capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time, as well as appreciating the broad spectrum of each others' humanity and human experience, one aspect of which is sexual.

Witness, for instance, the gay male community. If these arguments held any water in reality, gay men (who tend to like a lot of porn and, by extension, must engage in an awful lot of 'objectification') would ONLY be able to relate to other gay men on the most basic, sexual, 'shadow' level, since their mental programming would have been hootzfardled by all the gay man smut. But even the most cursory glance at reality at life in the gay community shows this to be far from the case.