Term paper on Does The Mass Media Cause Undesireable Social
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Does the mass media cause undesireable social
consequences with specific reference to
pornography
It started by way of messengers and scribes, evolved through the presentation of
newspapers and radio, brought us together with television, and now serves us
world-wide via the ever-popular Internet. It is the mass media, and even from the
earliest days of its existence, it has contributed greatly in ways that both enlighten
and enrich society, and ways that deteriorate and perplex it. It is not a surprise to
learn, then, that the mass media is the most powerful source of information we
have, and nothing else in today’s world influences public perception quite as
heavily.
Unfortunately, however, most of what is broadcast or transmitted in the news
today is with reference to the chaotic condition of our planet, or something else
that society as a whole sees as detrimental or damaging. But the news on television
is not the only type of media taking the criticism of society. Other forms of mass
media, specifically movies and television programs containing pornography and
violence have been heavily criticized. The underlining concept to be debated here
is that society is negatively influenced, specifically, by these images of pornography
and the result is increased violence against women. This assumption, and it is
indeed only an assumption, is completely fallacious, however, as no concrete and
completely conclusive evidence has ever been formulated in support of the theory.
The key premise here is that the mass media does not cause undesirable social
behaviour and in actuality, the media people should not be dubbed as the “bad
guys”. They simply use their power in the most constructive ways possible in order
to promote their ratings and popularity. One way to do that is to concentrate on
what sells: sex, violence and disaster.
Having said this, why is it then, that many in society still believe otherwise; why do
they continue to believe that pornography is “evil” and is a major cause for
violence against women, specifically rape? There are many reasons for this
misinterpretation and through the following few points, an attempt will be made to
show that pornography has very little to almost no correlation with violence against
women (of course nothing is “absolute” in society). In order to demonstrate this, it
must be made evident that pornography is not “evil” and does not cause
undesirable social behaviour by displaying nude women in sexually explicit
circumstances. Thus, it is important to indicate that women are not treated only as
sexual objects through the media. This is done in an attempt to quash any traces of
“evil” in pornography. Subsequently, a second point, that some may consider to be
completely bizarre, can be addressed; that pornography actually reduces the
amount of violence against women.
For thousands of years, sex itself has been considered “evil” and revolting. This is
exactly why the concealment of the sex organs and teaching feelings of shame
toward human sexuality is so common worldwide (Christensen 1990:4). These
same feelings of shame are the chief reasons that sex is considered a personal and
private matter. Contrary to the beliefs of many, the mass media did not create
these settings; society creates this image. In some societies, women have no
reservations with regard to living their entire lives completely naked, while in other
societies, females cover themselves from head to toe, only revealing their eyes. The
media has been bombarded with criticism, overwhelmingly from the female
community, relative to the amount of sexually explicit material that is published in
magazines and that appears on television and in the cinemas. A common argument
against pornography is that the media portrays women as being nothing more than
sexual playthings and objects to satisfy male sexual desires. As before, the media
once again, is not to be held responsible for creating this image; these views are
products of society.
It would be downright absurd to assume that women in this society are treated as
sexual objects only because the media releases or broadcasts pornographic
material. A magazine associated with make-up and skin care, for example, will
quite obviously not be concentrating on much else. Such a magazine would not
display pictures of women who mountain-climb or women who water-ski; only
images of make-up and text referring to skin care would be relevant. Clearly,
society does not consider women to be beings who’s only purpose in life is to
worry about make-up and skin care; but why are the complaints only directed
towards pornographic media then? The answer to this question may be more
complicated, however, what remains obvious is that the media does not portray
women as only being able to fill male sexual desires. To say that pictures featuring
nudity, etc, are making objects out of women is foolish. One should consider
females who pin-up posters of male rock stars or children who collect hockey or
baseball cards. Society, however, does not say that objects are being made out of
these rock stars and sports heroes; pictures of clothed people are no less objects
than pictures of naked people.
Many complaints are also made to the effect that pornography only offers a one-
dimensional view to life; that women are seen as nymphomaniacs who are
hysterically addicted to sex. It should be pointed out that events such as hockey
games, boxing matches, horse races and operas all offer a one-dimensional view of
life. One does not attend an opera hoping to see a horse race. The underling
problem here is that the above mentioned events are socially acceptable; media
displaying pornography is not. It is also said that the media reduces women to a
collection of body parts through pornography (Christensen 1990:74). But why
then are their no complaints of advertisements in magazines displaying only ears,
for example, or a nose, or feet? The reason is a simple one; society considers
certain body parts to be “shameful” or disgusting and once again, the media can be
“let off the hook”.
Realistically, the only way to prevent women from being seen as sex objects is for
them to be seen as other things as well; but to say that women are not sexual
beings would be misleading because both men and women are very much sexual
(Christensen 1990:42). Similarly, to say that women are singled out in the media is
fallacious due to the many examples of media where men are seen catering to the
needs of women; something known as chivralic sexism (Christensen 1990:42).
Take, for instance, a recent television ad portraying young men groveling at the feet
of supermodel Cindy Crawford, almost begging to be the “one” to cater to her
needs. There were no lineups of men aching to announce their displeasure with the
sexist ad; and this is precisely why male stereotyping in the media often goes
unnoticed. Similarly, it is pornography in the media that is noticed and shunned by
anti-pornographic and censorship organizations because it seemingly singles out
females for their bodies. It should be well noted, however, that paperback
romance novels, which make up an incredible 40% of total paperback sales
(Gerbner 1988:15), depicts males as sexual objects, performing what is called
“Sweet Savagery” (rape), just as pornography depicts females as sexual objects.
But once again, this goes unnoticed.
It is fundamentally important to realize that the media does not deliberately create
images of hate or disagreement (Howitt, Cumberbatch 1975:80). They just
influence the more appealing things in society (thus directly increasing their ratings).
Although it is obvious that pornography is largely a male interest, a noted increase
in female interest would certainly cause an increase in the amount of pornographic
material geared for women; this relates to the laws of the business world
(Christensen 1990:50).
Having discussed the untruthfulness of the claims against pornography and showing
that pornography is not “evil”, it is now possible to consider the violence issue. Are
men who are exposed to pornography likely to commit violent acts, such as rape
against women, more so than men who are not exposed to pornography? It is
tempting to believe that media influences males and overstimulates them through
pornography to the point that they become aggressive towards females. But this is
completely baseless; just as pornography arouses or stimulates, it also...
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