Professor Patricia Willis and senior Gabby Retta talk about the “Porn Wars” series, the reaction on campus and pornography's effects on society.
The 'Porn Wars'
Looking at pornography's effects
A series of events, partly organized by students, examined the effects of pornography on society, relationships and individuals. Student organizer Gabby Retta, a senior majoring in psychology and minoring in women's and gender studies, and Patricia Willis, activist-in-residence and visiting professor of women's and gender studies, talk about the effects of pornography.
Why did you choose a symposium to begin the discussion on the effects of pornography?
Willis: I conceived of the symposium as a way to start a dialogue on the effects of pornography both in our culture and on our individual lives, both within and beyond the campus community. When we were planning the symposium, we kept hearing that the situation was alarming to people, but they didn't know how to address it. The Porn Wars Symposium was just one of our efforts to educate and inform people that this is an issue of great concern.
Retta: If we don't stand against pornography with a united front — if we don't say anything and it keeps going under the radar — I'm scared of what our children and our children's children are going to face.
|
How have students been involved in the process?
Retta: Students have taken a good amount of the responsibility for promoting the events. I've been involved in other campus organizations but never promoted events of this scale. We hope the series will impact not just the University community but the Winston-Salem community as well. In order to create a dialogue, I had to consider how to encourage all different kinds of people to attend, including those who may defend pornography. I've been practicing advertising and marketing skills and learning about budget proposals as I've moved through the process of promoting the series.
Tell us about the reaction you've been receiving.
Retta: Most people don't seem to associate the word “pornography” with the Wake Forest campus. Many of my friends are surprised that the community was receptive to the idea of a discussion on pornography. People think porn is a private issue but it's not.
Willis: People have porn on their Blackberries and cell phones. It's on computers and billboards. Our whole culture is exposed to it and affected by it.
Why is this discussion so important?
Willis: The majority of porn users in the U.S. are boys between the ages of 12 and 17. The average age of introduction to porn for boys is 11. Young adolescents are starting to frame their ideas about their sexuality and the women and girls in their lives through pornography.
Retta: Porn sensationalizes violence against women and users feel that it's okay to treat females in this way. Sexualized violence is normalized and then becomes a part of the culture. That's destructive.
How do you address a topic that is so sensitive?
Retta: I don't think people understand the severity of the situation. When I tell students that I'm anti-pornography, many view me as being extremely conservative or suggest that I'm getting worked up over a small thing. Women and men need to hear from those who are researching this industry. Since women aren't the majority of users, they really don't know what the pornography industry is doing, and many men may not know that what the industry is doing is harmful to both sexes.
How have feminists spoken out against pornography?
Willis: The post-modern feminists of the '80s and '90s believed that pornography was liberating — another way for women to choose how they wanted to use their bodies and shape the perception of their sexuality. But researchers in the anti-porn group, particularly studies done by Robert Jensen, suggest that pro-porn feminists are not looking at mainstream pornography, and they don't have a good idea of what is out there today.
Retta: Beginning in the 1990s and continuing today, what was hardcore porn has become “accepted,” and so is now labeled as “soft porn” by the industry and promoters. These soft-core porn images are prolific in magazines and the Internet and are freely accessible. Today, mainstream pornography includes hitting, hurting, verbally and emotionally degrading women, and much worse. As social beings we unconsciously begin to accept what we see, and as a result of the power of the pornography industry, violence against women is being normalized.
What surprising things do you think people who attend the series will learn?
Retta: How big of an industry pornography is. It's a $57 billion industry worldwide, and the U.S. consumes 80 percent of that.
Willis: One reason for this is that in the U.S., we have the money to buy it. Another is because we have the free speech amendment. The way the First Amendment has played out in the U.S. has allowed the porn industry to use this tool as its weapon against women. I think just about everyone in the U.S. is for free speech, but when speech becomes harm or hate that is where the area of contention lies. Pornography is hate speech but women are not considered a protected category.
What can be done about pornography?
Rettta: Lots of great movements have started with one or two people, and the stop-porn movement is one way to help educate people to the harms of pornography on society, on relationships and on individuals.
Sponsors for the Porn Wars Series:
- CARE (Community Awareness through Response and Education)
- CHAMPS (Challenging Athletes Minds for Personal Success)
- Department of Communication
- Department of Psychology
- Department of Sociology
- Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
- Greek Life
- Office of the Chaplain
- Office of Multicultural Affairs
- Office of the Provost
- PREPARE (Policy Group on Rape Education, Prevention and Response)
- Student Health Services
- University Counseling Center
- Wake Forest Police Department
- Wake Forest School of Law
- Women's and Gender Studies
- School of Medicine Women's Health Center of Excellence for Research, Leadership and Education
