Readers Write: Pornography and the End of Masculinity

"Pornography and the End of Masculinity" -- the introductory essay and the excerpt of Robert Jensen's book -- produced an avalanche of interest and comments. Published on Saturday, by midday Sunday, the article was the second most read story and the first most discussed, and it has now amassed more than 500 comments. This "Readers Write" encompasses maybe 20 percent of the comments, those which came in on the first couple of days. We hope to publish more reader's comments, as well as more articles and a range of perspectives, like Riane Eisler's article, Liberal Denial: The Link Between Porno and War.

The comments covered a lot of ground; many were very smart and well thought out and ranged from skeptical to critical to supportive, including a number of writers sharing their own experiences of porn from various perspectives. While the comments are not easily categorized, they included concerns of censorship, skepticism that porn is really any different now, that it's damage on society may be minimal, and that experiences in other countries might teach us a lot.

Some writers asserted that the state of porn is symptomatic of larger themes and depressing realities that we all face in the U.S. today and in many other parts of the world. Other points were made regarding gay porn, women as porn consumers, commentary on the power of beautiful women, and even romance novels.

The big picture skeptics

PJ Tramdack gives us a very dark view that fuses the past with the present, suggesting Scandanavian countries offer hope, but then maybe not:

There are Greek vases and wall paintings in Pompeii depicting "rough sex." Sexual degredation was almost ritualized in ancient Rome...Societies today that repress sex always seem to be founded on some male-centered Stone Age myth where the women are the property of the men and the point is to keep the women for the exclusive use of their owners. My question about pornography is: when was it ever any different? Was there some golden age when women were on an equal footing with men and the men weren't exploiting women for something? There were 10,000 prostitutes in straight-laced Victorian England.

The internet and access to equipment and technology has put the tools to represent the sexual exploitation of women into the hands of every moron on the street. What makes the author think anything has changed?

Violence toward women (and the weak) is in the grain of society. I don't believe that the average human is more civilized today than the average citizen of Rome. We may not hold spectacles in arenas where people are impaled on sticks and eaten still alive by wild animals, but if we did, there would be sell-out audiences at $200 a ticket. In 15 years, I predict you WILL be able to witness any degraded, violent or sadistic spectacle you care to imagine thanks to the power of computing to create life-like simulacra of real events. As society skates toward the edge of oblivion, the psychotics and mal-adjusted will lead the way, as always.

The solution is tough. Look at the society with the MOST freedom and at the same time the LEAST violence and sadism....Is it Finland? Sweden? They have a commitment (albeit recent) toward liberal tolerance, a healthy respect for the individual, an egalitarian society that discourages excess of either poverty or wealth, respect for education and a common sense appreciation of human yearnings and suffering. It wasn't like this in Finland and Sweden 100 years ago, but it is now. It can be done, but it takes work. Is there any hope for us? I don't think so.

Big in Japan: "The book looks interesting and the article is well written. I suppose me jerking off to Bangbus videos and laughing about it afterwards should make me feel guilty. Yes, because of what I saw and enjoyed, I'm adding to the deterioration of American social values..... I live in Japan, and let me tell you, the GONZO film industry including BUKKAKE (where several men ejaculate on a girls face, etc.) was created here. There is NOBODY that gives a flying #$ck about it and I don't see Japanese society falling apart at the seams because of it. European films are as nasty as they "cum" but you don't see anybody pointing to pornography as a source for troubling social trends over there. I'd sure love, FOR ONCE, for AlterNet to just try to write an article about the horrible sexual REPRESSION that goes on in America (crap, now that I've said that, I'm sure there probably has been one too ... I'll look it up later). Maybe if people weren't all so scared of sex, or guilted into feeling that way by religion, etc, there wouldn't be a need for this guy to waste all this time and energy on a book about some dirty movies. All the points in this article are extremely interesting ... . degradation and violence towards women that aren't asking to participate in it because A) they like it or B) they desperately need the money is WRONG (pretty sure there's a lot of ACTING going on in those bangbus videos, and if not, why the hell aren't the police putting a stop to it????). But if you ask me, the fact that women are having to work for the porn industry at all, or the fact that so many American men out there have nothing but porn to run to for a sexual outlet ... . those are some big problems ... ."