Porn as Misogynistic Ritual — “that keeps women in their place on the ladder of being”
Here’s a great post by our friend Panthea: All Things Are Goddess (@theanism) which describes the MISOGYNY in pornography, as referenced in the book “An Unnatural Order,” by Jim Mason:
[Post excerpts] — Jim Mason: “Misogyny is kept alive and well these days but pornography is the most obvious. Pornography is a ritual. It is one of the chief rituals of patriarchal control because it is so effective in teaching (and reaffirming) misogyny and a male-centered view of sex roles. We have touched on this before so we can brief here. Susan Griffin puts it best: “For above all, pornography is ritual. It is an enacted drama that is laden with meaning, which imparts of vision of the world. The altar for the ritual is a woman’s body. And the ritual which is carried out on this altar is the desecration of the flesh. Here, what is sacred within the body is degraded.” …
The chief purpose of pornography is to destroy the possibilities that femaleness can be seen with dignity, that femaleness can be power, that it has important status. Pornography reduces femaleness to erotic tidbits, to things for male sexual pleasure, to dismembered body parts. Pornography dismantles female wholeness, which is female being, identity, and self-esteem – the collective power of which would threaten the shape of the patriarchal order. Pornography, to put it bluntly, is the ritual that keeps women in their place on the ladder of being.”
- An Unnatural Order by Jim Mason, page 267
[Panthea commentary] — Once upon a time I would’ve bought into the whole “porn is empowering” idea. I was essentially brainwashed to try to fit in with men or be dismissed as stupid and not worth listening to. I didn’t realize it then, but I was seeing myself through a pornographic lens – that I was somehow empowering myself by being seen as merely a means to a sexual end. I had no idea that I shouldn’t be seen as just the sum of my parts. I suppose as a young girl, male attention does make you feel powerful. At first. But when you wake up and realize just how much they don’t care about you, you’re left feeling utterly worthless and used.
It’s been said that the “urges” that drive people to view pornography are naturally built into us in order to want to proliferate the species. By that rationale, porn serves some sort of natural purpose. But porn has nothing to do with procreation. And our urges are meant to do something much grander than make more people. They are meant to bring us together as individuals – to become one thing by participating in one of the most glorious things humans can experience together. We are meant to come together, bond, and love deeply. Because what’s the point of making more people if we’re not bringing them into the most complete and loving environment possible? Porn only drives a wedge between us, feeds loneliness, and keeps us from experiencing true intimacy with another human. So porn is not natural. Making love to another person is natural. So let’s stop making excuses for generations of poor social conditioning and give both genders the opportunity to become whole and happy.
READ THE FULL POST AT THE LINK BELOW: (And please don’t forget to like, comment on and share our post here and Panthea’s post at her blog to spread the word and support the cause. Thanks! 
http://www.allthingsaregoddess.com/2012/03/porn-as-misogynistic-ritual.html
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