This week we read a piece by Susan Brownmiller titled From Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape. Judging by the title one would assume this essay would be about rape and the horror it brings. Funny thing is that it is about pornography. As a reader my first turn-off to Susan’s argument was her comparing porn to rape. Rape is serious crime and a devastating violation to a person’s body, comparing that to legal, high paying recordings of people having “relations” to arouse the consumer is utterly ridiculous, and quite frankly an ignorant comparison. Through Susan’s eyes porn is no different but she forgot two crucial pieces that would disprove her argument. One, people who do porn get paid, and in some cases such as Jenna Jamison or “Pinky” make millions from being involved in the industry. Point two, which is most important, is the fact that most pornography participants are choosing and have volunteering their bodies to advertisement. Honestly her essay just aggravated me because there were so many holes in her argument and she was truly being reckless with that comparison.
I agree with your perspective. Rape and pornography are two totally different things. The authors fails to make a valid point because of the comparison. Like you said, rape is not a choice and pornography is. Therefore, porn cannot be considered rape.
ReplyDeleteI believe it depends on the type because someone can be being raped in a porn. For example they could be drugged and not know what is going on. Both are not something i agree with but i dont believe all porn is a choice i guess i watch too many lifetime movies but i just dont think all porn is voluntary.
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