Introduction
In modern society, women’s sexuality has been exploited and commercialized into an acceptable vice that silently portrays women as sex objects. The development of the pornographic industry in its current state has been modified into a lifestyle of perceiving the female gender as sex toys to entertain men (DeKeseredy & Corsianos, 2015). For instance, the first published porn material in 1800 in a book called Memoirs of a Woman Pleasure displayed erotic pictures describing women’s sexual acts (Burr, 2015).
Another interesting material was a short video clip produced in 1896 called Le Coucher de la Marie, which was laden with the agenda of depicting women as more than willing sex toys for the entertainment of men (Marston, 2018). The explosion of depicting women’s sexuality occurred in the 1960s as movie theatres opened doors for explicit sexual content (Malamuth, 2014). The trend climaxed with the internet era, which transformed viewing of women’s sexual exploitation from public to private. At the moment, anybody can view pornography just by a click of a button (DeKeseredy & Corsianos, 2015). There is a need to reduce female sexual aggression as influenced by these pornographic materials.
Main body
Reflectively, feminists argue that the erotic display of women is immoral and generally creates a negative perception of women’s sexuality. For instance, feminists note that unending competition from producers of female sexual content materials contributes to male dominance and verbal abuse of the female gender (Pitzulo, 2014). As a result, the soaring aggression and resultant degradation make women uncomfortable (Malamuth, 2014).
For example, the Playboy has attracted heated debate on the definition of beauty of a woman on the basis of ‘sexiness’ and ability to please men (Marston, 2018). Moreover, many feminists are of the opinion that the sex life of women is affected greatly by the aggressive images in the public domain as a result of negative stereotyping (Burr, 2015). This position is supported by evidence from research carried out in the UK in 2017 on pornography and women’s sexuality (Marston, 2018).
The findings revealed that the perception of ‘sexiness’ has heaped pressure on the female gender to conform to male fantasies. I concur that the negative agenda driven by these sexual images has contributed to the increasing incidences of gender-based sexual violence and degradation of the womenfolk (Malamuth, 2014). I opine that there is a need to change the inverted view of the female gender as sexual objectors to tame the ever-increasing cases of aggressive behavior in society.
According to Malamuth (2014), “pornography is a violation of women rights since pornography is the theory, and rape the practice” (p. 31). Marston (2018) established that exploitative male culture has contributed to this trend. The findings of this research further revealed that the patriarchal society has catalyzed the male exploitative nature through gratification of women as sexual objects that can be used and bought as sex pets (DeKeseredy & Corsianos, 2015). In the ideal, women should have the choice to participate in these sexual acts willingly.
Conclusion
Although pro-sex feminists argue that women gain economically from these contents, I think that the government should roll out a series of public campaigns to empower women and change the general perception of the female gender as sexual objects (DeKeseredy & Corsianos, 2015). For instance, the government and other stakeholders might carry out deliberate efforts to empower the female gender to reject hideous sexual acts that have been proven to influence visual violence against women. Since coercion and submission are part and parcel of the pornographic industry, there is a need to stop this male-driven agenda of transforming women into sex pet receptacles.
References
Burr, T. (2015). The naked truth about Playboy and modern sexuality. Web.
DeKeseredy, W., & Corsianos, M. (2015). Violence against women in pornography. New York, NY: Routledge.
Malamuth, N. M. (2014). Pornography and sexual aggression. New York, NY: Elsevier.
Marston, C. (2018). Pornography and young people’s health: Evidence from the UK sixteen 18 project. Porn Studies, 5(2), 200-203.
Pitzulo, C. (2014). Bachelors and bunnies: The sexual politics of Playboy. Web.