Living in a Porn Culture

1. Living in a Porn Culture Alexis Coffman

2. Pornland by Gail Dines Pornland is a book written by Gail Dines. She looks at multiple aspects of pornography and how it is affecting our culture, relationships and all together our lives in general.

3. Porn Going Mainstream • Even though there was access to porn in early times, it seems that Playboy was the first pornographic material to hit mainstream. Playboy was first introduced in 1953 and accumulated a monthly circulation of one million by 1959. • Playboy was first advertised and written just for men. The first editors of Playboy made sure to state in the magazine “A couple of generations ago, this was a man’s world, nothing could be further from the truth in 1953” (Pornland Pg. 4). This was to make sure men realized this magazine was doing them a good thing and making them realize the wrongs of, single women, marriage and families.

4. Evolution of Pornography

5. Soft Core Pornography Soft core pornography is porn that is usually introduced at a young age and often contains non-graphic sexual intercourse or masturbation. Many people start using soft core porn and then start using more graphic porn as time goes on because they often need to fulfill stronger urges. Dines states that the average age for young boys first view porn is 11.5

6. Gonzo pornography is a style of hardcore pornography that gives the viewer close up shots of what is being done and often tries to make the viewer feel that they are the ones in the act. Gonzo porn is one of the most popular types of pornography. It often contains women doing acts that are very unrealistic and are more often than not “penis centered”, as Gail Dines puts it.

7. Pseudo Child Pornography Pseudo Child Pornography is a certain form of pornography that tries to give viewers the feeling that they are watching child pornography. They have female actresses that are dressed to look underage and often have the word “teen” somewhere in the title. They often sexualize subjects that are based around children. Example: School uniform and pigtails

8. “Childifying” Porn Gail Dines points out many different techniques used to make pornographic films resemble more on child pornography. • Removal of all pubic hair. • Using the words “sweetheart”, “little darling”, and other terms of endearment. • Men are portrayed as teachers, coaches and even fathers in these different videos.

9. Negative Effects of Pornography

10. Perspective on Sex Throughout this book, Gail Dines quotes many young men and how pornography has given them tainted images of what sex really is. In one chapter Dines states a quote from a colleague named Robert Jensen, he says, “If men are going to porn to learn about women’s sexuality, they will be certainly disappointed” (Pornland pg. 114). She then states “In porn a man just has to have an erection for a woman to be suddenly taken over by orgasmic responses” (Pg. 114).

11. One man that Gail Dines talked to about porn said, “I love porn and I try out the sex on my girlfriend but she isn’t interested. I dumped the last girl I was with because she wanted to keep things straight. That’s not for me. If women don’t want to try different things, then I’m not interested” (Pg.90). It should be no surprise that men are “certainly disappointed” when they do have sex after watching porn. Many men feel that it should be easy to have such gratification after sex, and their girlfriends should be having screaming orgasms just like the porn stars represent. Throughout the book Dines quotes many young women that she talks to at seminars that openly state their boyfriends try and incorporate porn into the sex, then have hope that their girlfriends will get ideas or even enjoy it just like they do.

12. Women It should be no surprise that women are greatly affected by the outcomes of porn. Women are constantly being called whores, sluts and other degrading terms in different scenes and advertisement. Women are also viewed mainly as objects. Women in porn are giving images to men that women like to be treated certain ways when in reality, the women do not.

13. Porn greatly affects our culture and how women view many aspects of sex. In porn the main focus is males satisfaction, so it should be no surprise that men are main views in some things directed at women. Take Cosmopolitan magazine for example. Many of the main headlines for this magazine are things women can do for their men, such has “How to give your man complete pleasure” or “50 different sex moves that will have your men drooling”.

14. Porn also has a large effect on what is considered attractive. Dines writes about a discussion she had with many women about the trend of waxing your pubic area. She states that many women said they do not feel “clean”, “hot” or “well groomed” if they have not waxed, and many said their boyfriends felt the same way (Pg. 99). This waxing trend originally started in Pseudo Child pornography, to make the female actresses appear younger.

15. Ending a Porn Culture

16. Porn Culture Today Unfortunately because porn is a large part of our culture today it is impossible for it to be ultimately eliminated. Gail Dines writes about all the different people she meets that refuse to watch porn, date someone that watches porn, and parents that will teach their children about the negative effects of porn. There are some different groups that try to inform people about the different outcomes of pornography and what people are experiencing while living in this porn culture. SPC (Stop Porn Culture) is an organization people can become involved with to get this trend to end.

17. Pornland Conclusion Over all this book was a very interesting and well written book. Gail Dines points out many different beliefs and thoughts in society today that are influenced by pornography, and they are right under our noses and would never think twice about. I believe this book should be read by everyone, whether you watch porn, hate it, or don’t really know anything about it.