Pornography and Politics

I’m not defending pornography. I’m writing because the Family Policy Council once again is attempting to exploit a very serious problem. Using simplistic solutions to a complicated problem, they only seek to advance their own social-political-religious agenda. (Election coming?) They offer nothing that furthers our understanding or resolution of the serious problem of sexual violence and rape.

The linkage between pornography and sexual violence is at best circumstantial. Millions view pornography and don’t commit rape. All rapists breathe air but that doesn’t mean breathing air causes rape. At worst, pornography is symptomatic of the much deeper problem of sexual objectification. That’s when others are seen as objects of pleasure not as unique human beings.

Sexual objectification combined with unequal gender status can confuse sex with power and domination. Throw in a negative view of sexuality and you’ve the ingredients for a rapist. Someone viewing sex as negative and dirty can easily imagine sex as a weapon for power and domination.

Interestingly, negative views of sexuality and unequal gender status can be traced to the views promoted by the Family Policy Council. People with healthy, positive attitudes toward sexuality don’t commit rape. Rape’s a crime of violence and domination not of sexual passion.