A Word on Gender Violence
Defined as “harm evolving from the imbalance in power between people” gender violence takes on many forms including but certainly not limited to sexual and physical abuse, rape, domestic violence, and yes, even pornography. As suggested in the essay “Violence of Privacy” part of the reason why violence against women is so rampant in our society is precisely because it is kept private: silenced by men, denied by women wanting to disassociate themselves from victimhood, ignored by the state, and shut out by the general public. (Schneider 43). The term “violence of privacy” can be analyzed to mean violence as an act that is facilitated through its private setting; most specifically the home as a structure that not only physically separates women from the public sphere, but also safeguards the institution of marriage, relationships and anything that may take place behind closed doors. This “violence of privacy” can then be extended to other acts such as rape where women are silenced and socially encouraged to keep quiet out of shame and/or lack of legal institutions that will take their victimization seriously. This in turn creates a “continuum of violence” whereby women are subject to both individual and institutional violence in and outside of the private sphere.
As one of the most overt examples, violence against women is openly and socially sanctioned through pornography. The various cultural representations of women as “tits, cunt, and ass” not only “endorse, condone [and] encourage abusive sexual behavior” by men, but also present a distorted image for young women to follow as seen by music videos and advertisements (Russel 72). While reducing women to their body parts provides the “first step in justifying violence against [them]”, pornography takes it to another level by sexualizing it (Killing Us Softly).
Sex not only becomes the vehicle through which violence is physically exerted against women as they are “literally being fucked, tied up, spread-eagled, [ejaculated and urinated on]” but it is also made to appear desirable, exciting and visually stimulating (Russel 78). Common storylines that end in the killing, torturing, raping, and mutilating of female characters normalize violence and desensitize viewers so that they are more susceptible to support and possibly even engage in such acts (Russel 71).
This post is not aimed at demonizing pornography. I’m very much aware that there is ethical porn produced by both men and women for women. Rather, this entry attempts to highlight the psychological desensitization that can take place from being exposed to images that continually objectify women and their bodies, leading to the perpetration of gender violence, and erectile dysfunction in men as I will explain in another post.
WORKS CITED
Russell, Diana E. H., ed. “Introduction.” Making Violence Sexy: Feminist Views on Pornography. New York and London: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1993. 71, 72, 78
Schneider, Elizabeth. “The Violence of Privacy.” The Public Nature of Private Violence: The Discovery of Domestic Abuse. Ed. Martha A. Fineman and Roxanne Mykitiuk. New York and London: Routledge, 1994. 43
Sut Jhally, dir. Killing Us Softly 3. Media Education Foundation, 2001.
