Does porn affect society’s view of women?

It doesn’t take a feminist scholar to realize a lot of
women portrayed in the media, from sitcoms to pornography, are a
fantasy rather than a realistic representation. But with a new
trend of web communities celebrating the sexiness of the
unconventional female, like Suicide Girls, FatalBeauty.com and
BurningAngel.com, media standards for women may be expanding, if
not changing.

“We get mad at society for setting standards for
women,” fourth-year women’s studies student Alexandra
Monzon said. “We say, “˜Why do you have to get botox and
fake boobs and implants to be pretty?’ Now Suicide Girls is
being like “˜I’m going to dress the way I want to, and
I’m going to act the way I want to, and I’m going to do
the same things that those (traditional models) are
doing.'”

With its promotion of the blond, busty and passive model as the
trademark female, and its sometimes questionable management
practices, the pornography industry is often accused of demeaning
and exploiting women for profit. But by giving models and other
females control of the process of creating the photos or videos,
and encouraging diversity of body types and styles represented,
Suicide Girls may be proving that pornography may be a positive
environment for females to assert their sexuality.

“I could certainly see of all the options regarding
pornography that (Suicide Girls) is more empowered,”
women’s studies lecturer Barrie Levy said. “As long as
what they depict is a more empowered vision of women.”

How women are represented in pornography is almost more
controversial than the industry itself. Some studies have indicated
that violent pornography may lead to sexual abuse and battery. By
visually portraying females as in charge of their environment,
pornography like Suicide Girls may have the reverse effect.

But at the same time, even students working to combat sexual
violence, such as Gelareh Nikpour who was involved in the UCLA
Clothesline Project that displayed T-shirts painted by sexual abuse
victims in Schoenberg Courtyard last week, deny that pornography is
responsible for these sorts of crimes.

“It’s inaccurate to say that sexual violence is
something that arises from porn,” said third-year
women’s studies and international development studies student
Nikpour, who is also co-chair of the Take Back the Night Committee
under the Clothesline Project. “Sexual violence exists
regardless of porn. Porn is just an imitation of what exists in
society.”

Even if pornography could be pinpointed as a definite cause of
abuse, matters get increasingly complicated when discussing
possible solutions. With the current efforts of the Justice
Department under the Bush administration to criminalize and censor
Internet pornography, the enforcement of obscenity laws subject to
wide interpretation quickly become worrisome for civil rights
activists.

This can be a difficult spot to be in for many feminists who
acknowledge the possible negative impacts of certain types of
pornography, but fear censoring it would only open doors for
potentially more dangerous forms of censorship.

“If I’m going to be anti-censorship then
that’s how it has to be,” Monzon said. “If
I’m going to let one thing go, then I’m going to have
to let a lot of things go. I also think the way breasts are not
seen on television and how everything is so hidden makes the female
body this crazy, secret thing. If it was more out in the open, it
wouldn’t be such a big deal.”

As women’s studies lecturer Alice Echols said,
“it’s impossible to assign a good or bad designation to
pornography.” The debate regarding the industry brings a
wealth of religious, feminist, social and political aspects to it.
But perhaps what the debate best illustrates is the importance of
individuals being able to decide their take on the issue for
themselves.

“I’m a firm believer in choice, that’s what
it’s all about ““ a woman’s choice and a
woman’s right to do whatever she wants to do,” Monzon
said. “It’s her body. Whether or not the person is
capable of making that decision, and whether or not it’s bad
for them, that’s not my place to decide.”