NIKK workshop on pornofication in Tallinn 2003, by Ms Ane Stø, director of the Norwegian feminist group "Kvinnegruppa Ottar" which is fighting against pornography, prostitution and violence against women.
The term pornografication is used to describe the phenomenon where other cultural media borrow expressions from the pornographic industry. Pornography and prostitution are two sides of the phenomena where women and children become market commodities. The market of the human body, the market of sexuality, has no borders. This trade is international and global and exist in a society where everything can be sold on the free market.
Society's difficult attitudes towards sexuality, especially to the sexuality of women, are also a part of the structural system, where men buy women. There is an important reason for relating this aspect to the discussion of pornography - because many are mislead into joining forces with the pornographic industry, to fight Puritanism. In my perspective the connection is the opposite; pornography and prostitution enforce the idea of Puritanism of women as "sinful" and a hatred of the female body.
The human race is a very sexual being. We become easily aroused, and if we want to and nothing restrains us, we become sexual active in a very short time. But what we find sexy and what arouses us differs from time to time and from society to society. It's dependent upon the taboos in the society, on what is accepted, and what is not accepted. And it changes, during the course of history, in different cultures. At one time we find men with large muscles very sexy, at another we find women with big bottoms desirable, and at other times we think women should have big breasts. The society, the political situation have a great influence on what we think and do in our private lives, on the stimuli that arouses us, on what we find acceptable and OK to do in our sexual lives. With whom we find it acceptable and when we find it acceptable. And...as long as the society accepts that men can buy women, more people will learn that this is acceptable and sexy. This struggle of lust is a never-ending story.
Our greatest problem may be the attitudes and prejudices, which create a basis for trafficking - the attitudes that claim that men's sexual needs are so important that they have the right to demand sex. And young boys learn that women are for sale.
As a result of more than thirty years of women's struggle, young women today are experiencing far more equality than their mothers, at work, in family life, sexuality, and so on. Throughout these years of increasing equality and freedom women's liberation has emeged in the media as well. The female role has become more complicated, women are allowed a bigger space, not only as housewife and whore but as active women with an agenda.
At the same time pornographic expressions have become increasingly common in public places. In the last decade we have experienced how the media are embracing the pornographic industry. The view on pornography that the women's movement fought so hard to be the common view, that pornography is spreading misogyny and hatred against women, the back-men as profit-seeking heartless bastards, and the "actresses" as violated victims, is long gone. Now the media' are making this industry glamorous and the actors are celebrities who are' making a lot of money. The women in pornography are successful career women which the young girls should look up to.
The pornographication is making a comment on the new liberty as if they were saying: "Don't forget your place, and remember that your gender will never have the same value as men"."
Pornographic magazines has been boys most important source for sex education for a long time. Now the whole society regards pornography as an authority on sex. Sex = pornography. In educating articles or TV-shows on sex editors of porn magazines or other actors in the porn industry are given the role as expert commentators.
Girls role in pornography
In the pornographic magazines girls never say no and there's no limit to what a man can do with a girl. In the world of porn all women are whores. They dream of being raped, think it's arousing to be harassed and abused and love to be fucked for money. They are faceless bodies with three holes to put your dick in. The worse you treat them, the more available they become.
Have the pornographic fantasies any influence on our practice in every-day life?
There is no easy way to survey the connection between the input from the media and ordinary human practice. But a Swedish survey can give us a hint: Over 90% of the boys are users of porn, 69% of the girls have been called whore, slut or bitch. A majority of the girls had experienced sexual harassment. To get a real indication on what's going on we have to look at the entity formed by girls magazines, the film industry, music-movies, commercials and the pornographic industry and mix it with the reality women experience in their environment
To hold on to your own boundaries is a difficult rehearsal. especially when it comes to boyfriends and sexuality. The existing truth about male sexuality presented through "common-sense", porn and girls magazines is that men have certain needs that their girlfriend has to fulfil. If not, he will be so miserable that he has to buy a woman who can give him what he needs.
This ideology is stronger today than only a decade ago. The fact that the porn and prostitution industry is bigger than ever and need this ideology to keep, and enlarge, the market goes hand in glove with the invisible mechanisms that maintain female subordination. As a result many girls tell stories on how they participate in sexual activity they don't like in fear of loosing a boyfriend. At the same time it's the girls responsibility to take care of her reputation. It requires a strong mind to keep the balance between being a slut and being prudish.
GIRLS MAGAZINES
The sex columns
Some examples from girl's magazines:
-Want to surprise your boyfriend? Give him a strip show!
-The hair style "down there" should always look delicious.
-Problem: My boyfriend makes me swallow his sperm and I think it's disgusting. How can I make him understand that I don't want to do this?
Answer: It's very important for boys that their sexual partners swallow their sperm. If not, he feels rejected, like you don't want all of him. You can get used to the taste by taking a little sperm on your finger and taste a few times.
Mixed signals
The girl's magazines tell you to be pleased with yourself, to love your body as it is and to have sex only on your own premises. At the same time they give advice page up and down, on how to improve your body, your personality and your sexual pretensions. Because in the end (deep down), the magazines are no more than old fashioned women's magazines that give advice on how to get a husband, how to be the perfect wife and how to succeed in social life.
Because the magazine's mission is to tell you how you can avoid doing something inappropriate they will always be reactionary.
The modern ideal for women is to be independent and self confident, with a good career plan. And the girl's magazines encourage girls to have independent and interesting lives. At the same time the ideal is to be slim and have a perfect body with great hair and skin and no extra hair on your body. To be a natural woman means a lot of hard work and there are at least twice as many articles on body improvement as articles on how to follow your own guts to get an interesting life.
Commercials
Whether it is for clothes, make-up or silverware, the Lolita-look is in. In most of the commercials the model looks very young, skinny and depressed or traumatised. Bruises and other signs of abuse is also very popular. These commercials certainly appeal to paedophiles but the really scaring thing is that they are supposed to make young girls want to buy the products.
Another type of commercial is the pornographic look-alike. The models can have more, or less clothes on, but they are lying with legs apart, open mouth and blurry eyes, the "come and get me" position.
Music
Rap artists have introduced new words to the youth vocabulary. Words like ho' and bitch as a common way to talk about girls. They view all women as whores and the macho man as a creature with self-evident sexual rights.
There is this joke about Britney Spears: Q. What's the difference between a German pornographic movie and a music video from Britney Spears? A. The porn movie has better music.
Ta2. The two young Russian girls that are giving concerts in their schoolgirl underwear, pony tails. They have to pretend to be lesbians and tell how much they like sex and that they want to have sex with older men. The idea of girls as sexual objects for men, especially young east European girls. Lilja 4ever.
Sexual pressure
Young girls today have to live up to extreme pressure on being sexually available. In this misunderstood idea of sexual liberty the word "no", no longer exists. A self confident and independent girl has to take part in sexual activities. The boy has the right to define who's hot or not based on who's giving them what they want. The price to pay if you once or twice should prefer not to have sex is to be stigmatised as up-tight and boring. Perhaps even a feminist! It's still a man's world.
This change is not random. The porn- and prostitution industry has run a successful campaign to be legitimised. It's in their interest that every man thinks he can buy women. And that the female gender is still an object in this trade. Sex-shows which you had to go to special districts to find fifteen years ago, are now found everywhere. Pornography means textural presentation of whores and this is exactly what it is. By raising the acceptance for porn, the industry also raises acceptance for prostitution.
We must fight this ideology that combines sexuality with violence and with male dominance and female subordination.