Truth in Media Essays

It today’s society, pornography is a fast-growing epidemic that is evident in families, marriages, and teenage lifestyles. Supporters of pornography claim that it can be used as a tool to teach students about sex education. However, critics claim that pornography is unjust, influential, and dehumanizing. Pornography is unjust because it has the potential to break down intimate relationships and marriages. It can also have negative effects on children in particular young boys. More and more young boy’s minds are being influenced by pornography which is leading to misinterpretations about how to have a healthy sexual relationship. Most importantly, pornography dehumanizes women and it exploits children. Women and children are being victimized for the sheer pleasure of someone viewing pornography.

Pornography is a controversial subject all around the world. Part of its appeal is its taboo nature. It has been argued that pornography is harmful. Porn is an underground market that is more or less legal but is it harmful? An article written by Diana E.H. Russell in “Dangerous Relationships: Pornography, Misogyny, and Rape” argues that it is. Diana E.H. Russell is a sociology professor. She has researched the issue and argues that pornography is profoundly harmful. Professor Russell believes that it inclines men to want to rape women and that it encourages them to act out rape fantasies. However, Michael C. Seto disputes Professor Russell's theory that pornography is harmful. Michael Seto's article, written with

The pornification (or alternatively pornographication) of the social world has created lasting effects in the lives of people that they must deal with every day (Dines 1998, p. 164). Pornification is the process by which the social and cultural world is sexualised. This occurs through the expansion of media technology and the pornography industry, as well as changes in media regulations and restrictions which allow pornographic imagery to intrude into public spaces (Tyler 2011, p. 79). This essay will offer explanations for why the pornification of the social world is occurring, how the phenomenon differs from a freedom of expression issue and is instead considered a sociological issue, what consequences and harm arise from these explanations, and will offer social measures that can be adopted in order to deal with the issue. Pornification has occurred in almost every realm of the social world, including in its unaltered form on the Internet, social media, marketing, advertising, music, fashion, sport, and art. However, this expansion of easily accessible pornified content is a stark and confronting challenge for our social world.

Sexuality is a particularly perplexing topic for young women. Bell notes that “Their (women’s) twenties ought to be a decade of freedom and exploration. But… I have found them to be more confused than ever about not only how to get what they want, but what they want.” (Bell 26) Yes, they are young and has so many opportunities in front of them. Yes, most of them have a college degree and are highly educated. Yes, there are too many choices and they are condemned whichever way they choose.

With the first article, it gave six unrealistic expectation about a relationship that one would expect to be in one. Having expectations are good, but having them too high a standard is not good. One should not be selfish in a relationship and do not be high maintenance or expect the relationship to be like the ones shown on television (t.v.). This is base more on a female perspective, but there is also some men's perspective too.

Then, following connecting the causes and responses to teenage pregnancy and parenthood, the validity and effectiveness of the policy responses will be assessed. Successes and shortcomings will be considered, along with suggestions as to what policy and structural changes would be more advantageous. Finally, this paper will conclude that teen pregnancy is a structural issue not individual one, if it can even be considered an issue at all. Policy changes alone will not be sufficient, as social and economic disadvantage does not go away if one doesn’t get pregnant. Instead, it involves targeting societal values at their root, which is not socially or economically as simple as just introducing reports and growing a social panic largely against those who already face many obstacles.

Examining how laws may have changed or been influenced by the media's representations of sexuality is where the paper will begin. Certainly one of the side effects of the Internet is the increase of the more marginal sexualities and sexualities whose moral character is questioned or contended. The increased presence of child pornography online has changed laws in society. The penalties for purchasing, distributing, creating, and keeping child pornography are exceptional high. The penalties include public embarrassment, chemical

Pornography, also known as porn, has been around as early as 30,000 years ago back when Paleolithic people were carving large-breasted, thick-thighed figurines of pregnant women out of stone and wood. Back in the mid-1600s erotic novels were in print and jumping through the years porn has evolved through movies and now the internet. (Pappas, 2010) In 2002 Michael Kirk and Peter J. Boyer wrote and produced a film called “American Porn” by Frontline on PBS. This film takes a long hard look at the attraction to pornography and how it is intertwined with our ever evolving culture, morals, and who we are as individuals.

While the objectification of women in the media has been discussed in other classes, we watched Killing Us Softly 4 (Jhally & Kilbourne, 2010) in my diverse population’s class and my philosophy class in undergraduate discussed the morality of prostitution, the connections made in this class really gave a troubling picture about how the media is effecting our relationships. There was a balanced representation of both side of the arguments regarding prostitution and pornography, but a bleak picture was painted for women and sexual relationships in the future in some of the articles. The stories in Pornified (Paul, 2005), while selected examples to make a point, highlights how the constant accessibility of media and porn has already changed how some men view women and relationships. While the perception is that it is teenage boys and single males who consume the most porn, example after example was presented of married men ruining relationships due to the consumption of pornographic material. The statistics that were presented in those chapters were eye opening for me since I had never really thought about whether to accept or condemn porn. The statistic that “60 percent of those who viewed no pornography during the experiment endorsed marriage as “in important institution”; only 39 percent of those who viewed “massive” amounts of pornography agreed” (Paul, 2005, p.141) really highlights the effect that media consumption has on our thoughts and beliefs. It is not like the dangers of porn are not discussed, but I feel like it is described the same way that potential rapists are described, a stranger lurking in the bushes and not something that can start innocently and quickly become detrimental to an individual’s sexual identity and

Thesis – Multiple outlooks have been taken on the ethics of pornography, and the means by which it may either negatively influence power in sexuality, or actually provide some sort of social value and worth. These different ethical perspectives display the flaws in the industry and what it represents; yet they also end up proving the fact that it can be modified with positive influence and that pornography is not something to be deemed utterly unethical.

In recent years, the term pornography has been primarily associated with that which is accessed and streamed over the internet, rather than the literal definition of, “obscene writings, drawings, photographs, or the like, especially those having little or not artistic merit.” This form of visual pornography is a popular and successful business as it is viewed for fulfilling pent up sexual desires, however it promotes the act of having multiple sex partners without the need of any commitment. Although it is for this reason that this business is permitted, there are many overlooked, long – term affects that have become topics of controversy. Not only does pornography affect those who indulge in it, but it can influence those who divulge

Throughout the last 20 years the subject of porngraphy and how it’s portrayed in society has changed dramatically. I wanted to find out how society views the subject nowadays, how the material is distributed, and lastly how it has affected our younger generation.

In recent years, pornography has established itself as perhaps the most controversial topic arising out of the use of the Internet. The easy availability of this type of sexually explicit material has caused a panic among government officials, family groups, religious groups and law enforcement bodies and this panic has been perpetuated in the media.

“Never before in history of telecommunications media in the United States has so much indecent (and obscene material been so easily accessible by so many minors in so many American homes with so few restrictions” (qtd in “Pornography and Child Sexual Abuse”). The problem addressed in the quote by the U.S. Department of Justice is pornography, a 10 billion dollar industry, has made its way from discreet taboo to something that is today considered acceptable and even common. With the internet being such a common tool, it is no surprise that there is easy access to sexually explicit material. The widespread accessibility and usage of pornography has changed people’s outlook on the normality of watching such sexually explicit material, and

Have you ever had an original thought? Why do we dress the way we do, watch what we watch or even live the way we do. Through our means of entertainment, it is almost a guide in how one should live their life. With the technology we have in our world we are persuaded to believe what is right and what is wrong. Although we create our own world, our thoughts were imposed upon us since the day we are born. “What if the world is some kind of show. What if we are only talents assembled by the Great Talent Scout Up Above! The Great Show of Life! Starring Everybody! Suppose entertainment is the Purpose of Life,” says Gabler. We wake up in the morning where most of us have a daily routine we go through. Why do we put on