Forums → WEPR → Women being Degraded

This could be quite similar to another thread in the past, but I can make it fundamentally different for you:

A common objection to the majority of pornography (and by this I mean the commercial sort) is that it 'objectifies women'. I first heard this criticism when I was a kid and it took me several years to figure out what the heck people meant by this...now I suspect most people don't know what they're talking about!

But I do, so here you go.

The criticisms are true in the following senses:

1) Normative expectations- being a commercial world unto itself, there are just certain things that one comes to expect from pornography in general, and this applies to the behaviors of the women within. However I'd add that this also applies to just about everything else...

2) The reason why people are against the treatment of women in pornography is because, frankly, porn is a man's world. On average it relates more readily to the male way of functioning (highly visual, easily compartmentalised)- I'll explain in more detail. I reckon that those who get the most out of the common types of pornography out there pretty much look at it and pick out the elements that relate to them, and ignore the rest. It's a gateway to the most basic of on/off mechanisms available (one reason why people can get addicted to it).

3) It's therefore in this way that women are 'objectified' to, say, your average (purportedly) heterosexual male with sex on the brain: they become mere notions and their personhood is stripped away (and furthermore the male actors in these things become complete non-entities). In a more 'normal' context, one might expect that a person would like to be considered as such, but in the professional adult industry this expectation is reversed: you're supposed to mold yourself to the template of the imaginations of a billion people.

Not that this necessarily makes the adult industry in itself a bad one, but I find that people are learning less how to relate to other people and so in being immersed in such things, other areas of their education being deficient, various issues and attitudes that have been identified as problematic aren't going to change. In general, once again I'd say we need to open things up a little and away from the rigid nature of patriarchy (I think I just admitted to being some kind of feminist, haha).


In short: everybody gets 'degraded' in the adult industry, in some way or form.

At the end of the day its the womens choice if they want to do it or not. And frankly they should know what they are getting into before they become actresses in thesee films. They sacrifice their dignity for money as soon as they go in front of the camera.

In most jobs one sacrifices their dignity for the money one way or another :P

I agree with woody_7007.

Of course women are being objectified in the adult film industry, that's their whole job, and if they don't want to be objectified, then they shouldn't work as one.

In most jobs one sacrifices their dignity for the money one way or another :P

I agree with woody_7007 because he has point and he's right.

Women have the choice to enter the porn industry. Women actors also have the choice of what they want to do on screen in non-adult films. Many actresses have "no-nudity clauses" in their contracts.

In the end, it is about the choice of the woman. If she chooses to be involved in a sex scene, is it really degrading? I don't think so.

Yes but i think it is more degrading in a porn film by a long way. Sex scenes in commercial films are fake and so the actors and actresses involved have nothing at stake. In porn films they lose their dignity. It isnt degrading what happens in a fake sex scene in a romantic film but you cant compare that to sum twisted scene in hard core porno. I said before that the women have a choice in the matter about it being degrading which is true however many of the young actresses only do it as a last resort if they are in dire straits financially. Very few are careerists and porn stars who aim to become famous from it. Lots of young girls do it to pay the bills which isnt right i think.

Also, people who watch those films usually ruin their real sex lives. They live in a crazy fantasy world where women are prefect...
But guys like that don't have sex lives anyway...

I also agree with what woody has said.

While the generalisations about the film industry per se seem to be correct, one has to keep in mind related cases in the adult industry itself, in which much degrading goes on but the judgment that comes with it is inappropriate. I refer to things such as the sex-slave industry (tied to organised crime) that is particularly prevalent in places like Russia, where there is precious little room for choice at any stage of many lives.

Life isn't fair like that, sometimes.

Also, I can't help but reply to this:

Also, people who watch those films usually ruin their real sex lives. They live in a crazy fantasy world where women are prefect...
But guys like that don't have sex lives anyway...

I believe they are because they are doing things that will just please the industry and not themselves. It is complete rubbish if you ask me.

It's not because of that, its because they want to earn money and become famous that's why, and by doing that they have to perform scenes in risky situations just to earn money and fame.

Only if the woman is being forced to do it against her will and is not being paid what she is worth. If she makes a profit, it is taking advantage of what she has while she has it.

Of course, since the advent of cheap home video recording/playback equipment, most porn has been reduced to such low-quality that I don't see the point in watching it.

On the other hand, I have known women in college who graduated with their degree absolutely debt free by stripping. There are women working the legal brothels here in Nevada who are making outrageous profits for just a few years work. How is it degrading to be a woman whose debt free?