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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFrom a porn critic
How Jian Ghomeshi Pulled the Feminist Wool Over Everyones Eyes
November 10, 2014 by Gail Dines
Ive lost count of the number of times Ive been interviewed by male journalists who have been clearly antagonistic to my feminist, anti-porn position. I can usually tell within the first five minutes of the interview that these guys are very upset by my argument that porn shapes male sexuality in ways that normalize sexual violence. They often become hostile and insulting, and end up accusing me of being an anti-sex prude who hates men.
Because Ive been on the receiving end of so much hostility from male interviewers, I remember well those who were particularly sympathetic to the feminist view. One who stands out in my mind as a thoughtful interviewer is Jian Ghomeshi, former host of the popular CBC radio show, Q. Ghomeshi had not only given my book Pornland a close reading, but also expressed empathy for the women in porn whose bodies are sexually used and abused for male entertainment.
So imagine my shock when news started to leak out that women were coming forward accusing Ghomeshi of sexually assaulting them in ways that mimic the violence in porn. From choking his victims to verbally abusing them during the assault, Ghomeshis behavior fits perfectly with the standard porn scenes that can be accessed within 15 seconds of typing porn into Google. //////
I wish I could say that these types of assaults are news to me, but I have seen thousands of porn scenes that map out exactly the acts these women describe, and have interviewed hundreds of women who recount the same type of violence. Of course porn isnt the only reason men assault women, but when you hear the same stories over and over again, from being choked till they almost pass out (and many of the women I interviewed have indeed passed out) to being verbally assaulted during the attack, then, as a sociologist, I have to ask: What playbook are these guys following?
http://msmagazine.com/blog/2014/11/10/how-jian-ghomeshi-pulled-the-feminist-wool-over-everyones-eyes/
bloom
(11,635 posts)I have argued with various people about porn here.
Many made the same sort of arguments that Gail has dealt with - mentioned in her article.
One of the main issues I am interested in is how porn has become educational material for some people. How much better it would be to have 'healthy relationship' porn. I remember being attacked for such notions. Like we shouldn't expect women to be happy with their sexual lives.
I wonder if there is any change in the sentiments around here.
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)the Gaile Dines article.
http://feministing.com/2011/01/08/the-feministing-five-tristan-taormino/
tkmorris
(11,138 posts)Especially with regard to your comment about porn becoming "educational material". Young men and women today can get there fill and more of "sex" as soon as they learn to use a search engine. I put "sex" in quotes here because what they are learning isn't sex as my generation knows it, but rather the sensationalized version that predominates the genre on the internet. We have not adjusted as a society to dealing with this problem; most authority figures do nothing to teach these kids that what they are seeing online is a far cry from reality. Instead, they engage in what is for now a futile attempt to prevent them from accessing it. This results in children "learning" everything they think they know about sex from the worst possible source for such an education, doing so far too soon, and spending years without any alternative voices to tell them that what they see on the internet is 90% bullshit.
It needs to change. Either we have to find EFFECTIVE methods of shielding children (at least pre-teens) from the worst of it or we need to start a LOT earlier in explaining how things really are, or at least how they should be. We already have a generation of young adults who tend to emulate the sexual experiences they see online because it is all they know.
Wella
(1,827 posts)...Fillipines...but, somehow, it's an issue of free speech when it's done by the sex industry?"
brooklynite
(94,727 posts)...because there are unskilled day laborers in the construction industry who work in unsafe conditions for low pay with no protection who also are being abused; so the fact that there are also well paid people who enjoy working in construction shouldn't matter either.
okieinpain
(9,397 posts)Wella
(1,827 posts)Hedges has done a lot of work on this. It's worth it to look him up.
Archae
(46,345 posts)Even in countries where making porn gets the death penalty, (and worse!) people still make porn.
Why?
$$$.
There always has been a market for porn, and there always will be.
Besides, who gets to decide what is porn, and what is not?
Youtube censors obvious porn, but has lots of "nudist" videos.
Anti-porn crusaders would even ban the Bible. Oh yeah, they would.
Ykcutnek
(1,305 posts)To vote us out of existence.
And I would stand in solidarity with them.
name not needed
(11,660 posts)MineralMan
(146,329 posts)It's a real issue. People will discuss it. You don't like the topic. Trash the thread. I think it's a worthwhile topic.
NickB79
(19,258 posts)Men choking, beating and verbally abusing women during sexual attacks?
This shit has been going on for probably forever, long before porn was even a thing. If porn were eradicated tomorrow, it would still keep happening.
bloom
(11,635 posts)I think most people have sex that is not violent at all.
People are not getting a reasonable understanding about sex from the violent stuff.
It's not a question that all sexual violence will be stopped. It's is reasonable to expect reasonableness, and to try to improve the narrative and expectations of people.