Opening Remarks: Nat'l Conf on Pornography & Pop Culture

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Opening remarks to the National Feminist Conference on Pornography & Pop Culture by Dr. Gail Dines, Wheelock College in Boston

Channel: News & Politics
Uploaded: April 14, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Author: bobbywos

Length: 00:07:36
Rating: 3.82
Views: 6763

Tags: Feminism Dines Wheelock Pornography Anti-porn

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Video Comments:
Geekella (July 31, 2008 at 7:29 am)
this is AWESOME!!! where was this??? I WANNA GO! omg people like me! we're hard to come by
chewedblackpen (August 14, 2008 at 8:18 pm)
Don't worry... there are women like us around. :)
kjhgl1 (July 11, 2008 at 2:38 pm)
Do you want to have a debate or do you just want to throw around personal attacks and insults? Weak.
lilprince585 (July 11, 2008 at 3:31 pm)
No it is weak to say that just because people enjoy pornography and get off on the routine humiliation and degradation of other human beings, that it is ok. If you care to debate, then I would like to hear your opinion on the fact that most women who work in the pornography industry have been sexually abused in thier young lives. Not to mention the fact that 85% of women in prostitution meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, and women in the sexual exploitation industries are most prone to rape
lilprince585 (July 11, 2008 at 2:38 pm)
Just because some people get off on degrading things, it doesn't mean that it is healthy sexual behavior. For your information, most women who participate in pornography have been sexually abused in their lives. So it is no wonder that they are ok with people getting off to their degradation. If you cannot see that then you are beyond my concern.
kjhgl1 (July 11, 2008 at 6:29 pm)
I do want a debate, so I'll ask you nicely to refrain from the personal attacks.

So on to your points: On your assertion that most women in pornography have been sexually abused. Can you provide a primary source for that (i.e. a peer-reviewed paper where the statistics were actually gathered, not just someone saying it)? If it's out there I haven't been able to find it.

Regarding the notion that sexual behavior involving degradation is unhealthy...
kjhgl1 (July 11, 2008 at 6:36 pm)
...can you find any consensus or even majority opinion among psychiatrists that consensual degrading sexual behavior is unhealthy? My estimation is that you find quite the opposite: within reasonable limits (such as personal safety, the use of safe words etc.) the majority would tell you that in and of itself it is not unhealthy (although it can become a problem, much like gambling, shopping and a wide array of other things).

Sadomasochism, which can involve elements of degradation...
kjhgl1 (July 11, 2008 at 6:54 pm)
...is only defined as a psychiatric disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders if it "cause[s] clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning". So if the person is comfortable with it and it doesn't stop them from functioning, then it is not considered a disorder.

If there is a significant amount of rape in the pornography industry, then I agree that it must be stopped...
kjhgl1 (July 11, 2008 at 7:01 pm)
...but that's not a problem with pornography itself, its a problem with abuses within the industry. The more the industry is out in the open, the less it will be able to happen - and any woman in a porn film who believes she was raped should of course report it.

Finally, the thrust of your argument seems to be that women in porn are only doing it because they have mental disorders. It's probably true that some people in porn are doing it for the wrong reasons, but...
kjhgl1 (July 11, 2008 at 7:06 pm)
is it the government's place to ban anything that might be a bad decision for some people? What about the women who are of sound mind and have made the reasoned decision to be in pornography? Do they own their bodies (and therefore can do what they want with them) or does the state?