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Sergio Laff
Professor Vanderpot
RWS 305W
January 9, y
Sex Is Not the Answer; Sex Is the Question, the Answer Is Yes
Sex and Porn are not the same thing, however some people (especially men) believe to think
that it is one in the same. For some, it may be hard to swallow the fact that pornography perpe-
trates sexual violence, degradation towards women, and possibly decrease grey matter and reten-
tion in the human brain, affecting our way of thinking and memory. The porn industry has found
a way to manipulate the act of sex into a much more materialistic, fantasy-like world which in-
cludes insidious acts towards women. Amongst the many problems associated with the porn in–
dustry, the most profound are that of sexual violence towards women, and dehumanizations of
women in the real world. However, it is not only the porn industry that objectifies women and in-
fluences men to treat women like objects. This objectification is a problem that can be found in
just about every industry that tries to sell to its consumers. In the book Empire of Illusion, au-
thor Chris Hedges documents the illusion of love and intimacy that the porn business has created.
The fantasy world that porn creates in the minds of men are often portrayed in real life, by the
same men who consistently watch porn. This becomes an even bigger issue because the likeli-
hood of men practicing such sexual violence towards women increases, along with the false
sense of love and intimacy, thus creating a a false sense of reality. By no means, does porn even
remotely capture the true emotions and compassion that is experienced between males and fe-
males during sexual intercourse. Possible solutions to these issues include repositioning the porn
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industry in a way that glorifies women as equals, and educating the public about the psychologi-
cal and neurological effects of watching porn.
In the porn industry, sex sells. However, over time we have seen that industries such as fash-
ion, consumer technology, and automobile businesses (just to name a few) have also capitalized
on the sex appeal that comes with exploiting women as objects. One study posted in an article on
Adweek, by author Tim Nudd examined the effect sexually themed print ads would have on
viewers. Among the numerous results was that “men favor sex appeals more than women do and
that recall of the brands was lower for sexual as than for non-sexual ones. Women were also
much more likely than men to say that sexual ads promote a deterioration of moral and social
values and that they are demeaning for the models used in them” (Nudd, 14). According the arti-
cle, of the men who responded that sexual ads have “higher stopping power” for them, their
