Well Done, Aspasia!!! (Plus, Bonus Smackdown of Bob Jensen)
Quick Hit SmackBytes, The Feminist Sex Wars, The War on Sex/Sluts/Gays/Whatever October 13th, 2008
The folks over at LaLibertine’s Salon recently went to see a screening of the antiporn “feminist” agitprop “documentary” The Price of Pleasure. The resulting review by Aspasia is here, and well worth a visit.
A small sample to nibble on:
In my opinion, most of the statements made by the anti-pornography side and the narrator, which predominated, should have been phrased differently for an “objective” look. For example, at the beginning the narrator asks, “How do these pornographic images shape our perceptions of sex and relationships?”, instead of “Can they…?” or “Should they…?” To me, this is a huge and importance difference. Pornographic images certainly can shape perceptions and for some people they do. This also begs the question of whether or not this is a negative thing. It is negative, definitely, if you take the default view that pornography is bad. The way the question is phrase does not consider the possibility that the consumption of pornography will not shape the viewers perception of sex. Should porn shape perceptions? Yes and no. I think it can be a good outlet to watch depictions of a sexual act the viewer may already have a burgeoning interest in or for people already participating in such acts, suggestions for variety but it the average porn is still not for educational purposes. But this doesn’t make it bad. For the no part to that answer, it shouldn’t be used as force to shape the perception of a person who is uninterested.
This lack of consideration is underscored by Gail Dines declaring later on that “Pornography leaks into the everyday world of your life,” and that one can’t just “zip up [their] pants then zip up [their] brains”. Why not? David Law made the comment at the DPU screening last night that the movie was a bit misanthropic at times and I think he was pretty much referring to this. The idea that people, specifically men, are just mindless automatons. You see it, you do it is Dines’ view when it comes to pornography. That statement and opinion should be insulting to every conscious human being. We’d all be suffering from multiple personality disorders if we adopted the behavior and persona of everyone we see in a film!
As I said, the full review is more than worth the visit.
Ernest Greene happened to catch a screening of TPoP, too, over the weekend; his response is forthcoming at the BPPA blog. (Considering that he’s in the film, and that he’s one that got skewered by the folks making it, I’m sure that he has a word or a thousand to say.)
Oh…and witness this righteous smackdown of Robert Jensen by a professor at UNLV. Interesting when a REAL feminist happens to call out a pretender, ehhh??
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