Pornography's Influence on the War on Women

I've been wondering lately about why the Virginia legislators thought it was acceptable to legislate transvaginal ultrasounds for women seeking abortions (or, in other words, demand the state sanctioned rape of a woman with a foreign object in response to her asserting her right to reproductive freedom) and why women expressed so little outrage about this. Maybe you think we've expressed lots of outrage. I don't think we've come close to expressing enough.


Today, my thoughts are on how pornography has both become part of the war on women and affected our response to it. 


About a month ago, I was at a fundraiser for a local sexual health organization. They were showing the documentary Miss Representation. It describes the portrayal of women in popular culture. It's a good film. I recommend seeing it. It doesn't go as far in its analysis as an earlier documentary (actually a series of four documentaries) by Jean Kilbourne called Killing us Softly. I recommend seeing these films too. Kilbourne, who is also interviewed in Miss Representation, has a much better take on pornography and makes the links between the portrayal of women in advertising and popular culture and the portrayal of women in pornography much clearer. Miss Representation soft pedals this a bit. I thought a lot about why as I was watching.


At the end of the film, there was a Q&A session in which a young woman announced herself as a "pro-pornography feminist." Ahhh, I thought. That's why. The creator of Miss Representation knows her audience, knows what young women today are thinking. She knows that there is this creature out there who calls herself a pro-pornography feminist. Pornography has gone mainstream, much moreso than in the pre-internet days when Kilbourne was making Killing Us Softly.


I'm generally not absolutist about much, but seriously, anyone who calls herself feminist and pro-pornography is confused about the basic ideas of feminism, or possibly about the meaning of pornography. Perhaps they are confusing pornography with erotica or with the notion of being "sex-positive."  Definitions are important here.  The word "erotica" is rooted in “eros” or “passionate love." It inlcudes positive choice, free will and the yearning for a particular person. It leaves open the question of gender.  There is no power imbalance in erotica – not even in the power of the gaze. In erotica, sexuality is celebrated. There is power with, not power over. There is mutuality, desire, respect.


Pornography lacks this. The word pornography is rooted in prostitution or female slavery. There is always a power imbalance, either explicitly depicted or in the gaze of the viewer/consumer. The word ends with the root meaning of “writing about” or “description of” which puts still more distance between the subject and object and replaces a spontaneous yearning for closeness with objectification and voyeurism. Pornography takes power away from women in sexual expression and asserts male supremacy. It is the outward expression of patriarchy and misogyny and turns women into objects to be fucked, existing only to enable sexual gratification. To be clear, in pornography, other men can also exist for men's sexual gratification. Anyone can be objectified and dominated. (And women can objectify others too.) But this is the key: pornography makes people into objects. It creates "the other" and the other's needs, wants and feelings are of no concern. Neither is their safety, psychologically or physically. In pornography, someone is always being exploited. That's what makes it pornography. Pornography is patriarchy and misogyny in action.


Feminism, as I've always understood it, is broadly about women's empowerment. So how can anyone call themselves a pro-pornography feminist? Similarly,  how can anyone be anti-choice and feminist? You can't claim feminism and at the same time claim that it is acceptable to impose your will over another woman.


As I was thinking about this, I read a timely post from "I Blame The Patriarchy" about pornography. I could direct you to the works of Andrea Dworkin and other feminist theorists, but if you want the short version, read this post. And I do urge you to read it. To quote the Spinster Aunt:

"Pornography is the graphic representation, not just of violence against women, but of male supremacy. It degrades all women. It erodes the humanity of all women. Porn use fetishizes violence and supports male supremacy. Porn is the expression of patriarchy. Porn use is the practice of patriarchy."

Spinster Aunt describes how we've been sold a terrible bill of goods. She writes:

"Convincing women that they are being unreasonable, that dudely porn use is natural, normal, and even necessary-for-his-health behavior, and therefore you should support his porn use, and by the way you’ll never even find a dude who doesn’t use porn — this is one of the most successful misogynist campaigns of the modern megatheocorporatocracy."

Our misogynist abusers have succeeded in convincing a generation of women, even women who call themselves feminist, that pornography is okay, it's natural, every man uses it, it's unreasonable to expect them not to, that women are empowered by using it too, and if we do expect something better, that is our problem, not theirs.

I'm wondering how thirty years of the pornification of our culture has aided and abetted the war on women and brought women onside in a war against our own selves. It's like the Stockholm Syndrome. Are we so accustomed now to being pornified, so coopted into believing that we must go along with our abusers, that we can no longer speak up against state sanctioned rape? Pornography is a tool of the oppressor. It is used to beat us into submission. Now we have elected officials saying it's okay for the state to rape women who don't behave as they think women should. These things have to be related. To quote Robin Morgan, "Pornography is the theory, rape is the practice."

More on Virginia and the War on Women

You probably already know, the Virginia legislature is backing down. This is a good op ed piece on what has transpired.

The responses to the state sanctioned rape bill have been interesting and frankly, not outraged enough in my opinion. Much of the blowback has been only about contraception. Proposing vasectomy limits for men makes a point, but alas, it is women who would suffer most as a result of this, as women always do when contraception is scarce. The women of Second City did a good job illustrating the stupidity of having all male panels make these decisions. I particularly liked the Daily Show's take on recent events, especially because Stewart focussed on the rape aspect of the forced transvaginal ultrasound and used the "wand" in their graphic (see Feb 21 episode).

Best yet though: Another march on Washington is in the works.  The We Are Woman March will take place April 28. Let's hope it gets as big as the March for Women's Lives did in 2004. Hmmm. Maybe it's time to visit Washington again.

(Added February 25) And just because they're not legislating rape anymore, doesn't mean they're better people. See this recent article from NPR.

Virginia women are mobilizing

Happily, the women of Virginia and their allies are mobilizing. Having posted the horror story about new legislation, I thought I would also post this story about action being taken against it.

In 2004, I went down to Washington for the March for Women's Lives. That's where I took many of the pictures on this website. There were over a million women marching, although media often reported less. A few of us from Alberta who were associated with Planned Parenthood went to support our sisters to the south. It was an incredible experience. I've never felt safer in a crowd. The women were true allies, sisters in spirit. I think this is when I first thought of writing the play, The Abortion Monologues, although I hadn't given it a title yet. Young women were wearing t-shirts that read, "I had an abortion." I thought they were incredibly brave. There were senior women with canes and walkers and in wheelchairs with their daughters and grand daughters, women carrying babies and pushing strollers, women laughing, women crying, women protecting their right to control their own bodies. Everyone helped each other, held each other's babies, shared food and supplies and bandaids. I remember hearing a woman sneeze behind me and I reached into my purse to hand her a kleenex and when I turend around, five other women were already holding one out.

Solidarity is important. If you are in the Virginia area and can participate in actions against these new laws, I urge you to do so. I have no doubt you will find yourself inspired, enlighted, frustrated and empowered when you join forces with other pro-choice allies and reproductive justice groups. If you're American, go to the NARAL and Planned Parenthood websites and surf around. Find out what's going on. If you're Canadian, go to Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC-CDAC) and keep informed on what's happening here, or "like" the ARCC facebook page to keep updates coming. Pay attention to those awful anti-choice MPs that are trying to take your rights away.

Sometimes I'm afraid that young women in Canada take their right to choice for granted.  At the same time, it has always been my goal that young women can live in a world where their rights are so secure that losing them is unthinkable. But we're not there yet. What these men (and they are mostly men) want to do to you is serious. Keep an eye on them. They are not just a punch line, although I dearly wish they were. They mean you harm.

Virginia is Punishing Women

If you want to know why anti-choicers must be stopped, read this. Make sure you look at all the links, especially the Rachel Maddow show. If you read this blog, you are probably already aware that Virginia has decided a fertilized egg is a person. The new law jeopardizes most common forms of contraception.

Now they have another law forcing women seeking an abortion to have a transvaginal ultrasound without their consent. The doctor has no option and there is no medical reason for the ultrasound. The government, the government they say they want to be small, is now dictating medical practice and forcing a probe into women's vaginas. The only possible reason can be to punish them. I don't know about you, but it sounds a lot like they just said it's okay to rape a woman with an object because she wants an abortion.

The slippery slope has slipped here now. I cannot fathom what I would do if I lived in Virginia right now, if I lived in the United States. Don't let it happen here. I feel like I am writing about a fictional story right now, but it is all too real. I am beyond horrified. The anti-choicers here, the Trosts and Woodworths and the perveyors of fetus porn and the pregnancy care centres must be stopped. It has to stop. Because this is where it goes. I can't even say this is where it ends. I don't know what happens after legislating the penetration of women seeking abortions. I'll leave that to Margaret Atwood. But this is not the end.