Porn IV - Playboy vs. US Weekly
*ATTENTION*
A half baked thought follows this sentence, please read with grace and caution.
In thinking about the topic of pornography I find it difficult to see a correlating -pick your word- (affliction, temptation, stimulant) for women. Recently I ran across this correlation, and while it is problematic for sure, I wanted to throw it out there to see how it sits with people.
1. Distraction and escape from reality. However it is not something intended to REPLACE reality.In these ways, the argument goes, porn is not so devastating as we tend to treat it. However what is problematic with pornography and gossip mags is the way they misrepresent who we are and what we are about. If our attention is on just the sexual or just the celebrity then we live life through what we see and read, not by what is before us in our reality.
2. As a source of pleasure and as a way to fulfill a bit of desire. Everyone is hard-wired for visual consumption and some sort of imagined fantasy.
3. Out of laziness and availability. Working in the created reality of your mind cancels out the need to work at being with other people. Both pornography and celebrity culture are also so ubiquitous that it's really difficult to avoid either at times.
Of course any sort of sexual addiction (porn included) is devastating, but probably in a similar way to an addiction of consumption (shopping, eating, money).
This is by no means the only way, or my way for that matter, to fully understand pornography. The spiritual component of our sexuality isn't really taken into account. Except perhaps in the idea that we aren't being who we are intended to be in indulging these kinds of desires. But what keeps me from just dismissing this as pure rubbish is a feeling of kernel truth in similarities of these two things that seem to have very lopsided consequences associated with them.
Thoughts? Is there a better correlation for pornography that women might better understand because it is more inherent to their gender? Of course it could very well be that pornography is becoming an equally problematic thing for woman as it is for men. Check out these stats (scroll to bottom).
Previous Porn Posts:
Porn I
Porn II
Porn III
2 comments:
I actually agree with the porn/gossip correlation. I think some of it has to do with how the genders are hard-wired. Just as men (in general) are more tempted by pornography because of how the male mind and body work, women are tempted by gossip for the same reasons. Women (in general) are more social and relational than men so it would make sense for gossip to be more of a temptation.
These comments are amazing. Thanks for taking the time and effort to put down your thoughts.
Kate, first of all I want you to come preach to my teens. I think your thoughts are very coherent and are so packed with powerful insights it would take many posts to dissect them all. I have some thoughts, but I would like to include them in a new post.
Thanks again
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