Difference between pornography, erotica and moral realism
Pornography is the verbal or pictorial representation of sexual behavior that degrades and demeans the role as well as status of female. It depicts them as sexual objects to be exploited and manipulated (Longino 2006). Pornography degrades, dehumanizes and causes injury and violation to the rights of women.
It constitutes of materials that cause pain, injury both physical and psychological, deceits to other people, providing interference to others rights, exploiting other people, perversion and defamation that are characteristics of decadent behavior (Longino 2006).
It places women in a position where their role is reduced to that of fulfilling men desires without taking into concern their own emotions. The portrayal of nude pictures that do not show the lack of self respect is not regarded as pornography although individual standards may vary. Such pictures can be called erotic.
Erotica and pornography differ on the subject of self-respect and the mutual benefit gained from a sexual encounter or an explicit display of the act. They also differ on the issue of degradation and abuse of rights pertaining to one person in the encounter. Moral realism entails presentation of explicit sexual material but that reaffirm the dignity and respect of an individual.
For example, learning materials that show rape cases in order to highlight the concerns of such an act to a victim although degrade and deny the victim her rights are understood in the context of its environment to reaffirm her dignity. Therefore, they cannot be called pornography but are classified as moral realism. Thus, pornography is the open demonstration of sexual behavior that degrades one of the participants in a style that proposes the consent of such activity (Longino 2006).
Pornographic materials mostly represent women and children on the receiving side. In fact, it supports the degrading behaviors in a way that females are represented as providing pleasure to males ignoring the interests and desires of female participants. Pornographic materials always carry texts or audial contents that signify the abuse of one of the participants.
Although the audial and written texts can be used to reaffirm participant dignity, sequential portrayal makes the material pornographic whether there is a consent of the participant or not (Longino 2006). Other pornographic materials show violence actions towards women.
For instance, some of the most valued pornographic materials show women bound with ropes to display their gentialia to passersby. Advertisements in pornographic materials show the level of support and endorsement of the degrading acts in the materials (Longino 2006).
Pornography as constituting lies and violence against women
Some of the pornographic materials considered to be of high quality exhibit women bound by ropes making their genital or anal areas vulnerable to passersby. Others show rape and physical torture for the purpose of sexual stimulation to male participants. The notion articulated for in movies that women sexual life is to be subordinate to the service of men, pleasures of women lie in pleasing of men and that they ought to be raped, bounded, tortured and murdered for the sake of men pleasure is deceiving.
This perception fosters more lies about women sexuality, self-esteem and their human character (Longino 2006). The existence of allegations that justify the immoral treatment of women except from being women fosters lies about them. The continued production of pornographic materials due to their increasing consumption continues to promote the lies about the actions that are meted to female participants.
The explicit and public display of sexist materials and the internalization of the actions in the minds of the females foster more lies about them. The entrenchment of pornography in the society endures to reaffirm women’s role in society as mediocre to that of men. The vested attentiveness in men to continue upholding the belief of subordination of women renders women efforts to abolish pornographic materials useless.
Pornographic materials that portray women as inferior serve those interests and are therefore deeply rooted in the society (Longino 2006). The nature of pornographic materials through their inherent portrayal of sexuality and their effects on society shields it from overt communal debate.
The increase in production and consumption of pornographic materials is correlated to the increasing actual cases of rape and actions of violence against women all over the world. Various researches are being conducted to provide proof of these correlations in a manner that will lead to the abolition of such materials from the society (Longino 2006).
The place occupied by the pornographic materials entity and the continued reception by the communications and performing media shows the level of entrenchment of the ideology in the lives and minds societal members. This conception also portrays the cultural endorsement and support of the messages and actions presented in the materials.
The continued social tolerance of these explicit, degrading and deceitful images of women in such huge quantities indicates a general willingness to view women as people lacking essential human privileges and justifies their treatment as displayed in the pornographic materials. The tolerance attitude to vicious shows of women in anguish, rape and repression may cause actual harm in such a manner displayed in the pornographic contents.
Society lenience to massive-scale pornographic contents strengthens the application of injurious acts to women. Lack of censorship of such materials supports the male-oriented inferiority mythos about women as subservient human beings. This notion therefore backs to the preservation of an environment lenient on emotional and bodily violence against women (Longino 2006).
Reference
Longino, E. H. (2006). Pornography, Oppression and Freedom: A closer Look. In Mappes, T., & Zembaty, J. Social Ethics: Morality and Social Policy. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Publishers.