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Post: 95464615_1 created on Wed, 07 Jan 2015 04:03:56 +0000
Posted: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 04:03:56 +0000

What's the difference between saying "porn objectifies people" & "sex objectifies people" if one is just an image of the other?

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Post: 95464615_2 created on Wed, 07 Jan 2015 04:14:40 +0000
Posted: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 04:14:40 +0000

Where is this question coming from? Why do you assume these statements to be true, or that someone holds either statement to be true?

Is this is in reference to someone, or response?

I mean, we could take this bit-by-bit... porn objectifies, because it glamorizes sex. Sex doesn't necessarily do such a thing, therefore doesn't necessarily objectify, unless one or both parties are objectifying the individual they're having sex with. It really depends upon the relationship between the two, doesn't it?

I'm going to need more context than this.

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Post: 95464615_3 created on Wed, 07 Jan 2015 07:52:32 +0000
Posted: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 07:52:32 +0000

Porn objectifies because it removes the question of the performer's agency. The person engaged in sexual activities is merely there, in most cases, to provide sexual pleasure to the viewer. As a person, within the context of viewing porn, those within the image aren't there as people. They are just a object of sexy image for the audience's consumption.

Even when a work of porn has something else in mind, such as celebrating sex acts and the participates decision to be involved in such an experience (which are somewhat rare), this objectification still tends to be there, as it usually comes from the viewer. No matter a creator's artistic goals or intention, those with an interest in watching porn are, most often, in it for the sexual images rather than anything else.

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Post: 95464615_4 created on Wed, 07 Jan 2015 16:07:29 +0000
Posted: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 16:07:29 +0000

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What's the difference between saying "porn objectifies people" & "sex objectifies people" if one is just an image of the other?

There is basically zero difference. Both porn and sex objectify people the same way.

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Post: 95464615_5 created on Wed, 07 Jan 2015 17:15:40 +0000
Posted: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 17:15:40 +0000

The whole concept of objectification is a boiling pot of semantics and inflated opinions. Typically porn is seen as objectifying because you're reducing the people involved into an object for consumption. They're no longer a person in the context of the porno, but a product that is now being consumed by people. Sort of like when you have attractive models posing for a new clothing line. You don't care for them as a person, they're just there to look pretty and people feel this is being treated as an object, like a hyper-realistic mannequin. Whether sex is the same is something I'd rather not ache my fingers over.

Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with objectification.

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Post: 95464615_6 created on Thu, 08 Jan 2015 06:06:23 +0000
Posted: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 06:06:23 +0000

The Willow Of Darkness

Porn objectifies because it removes the question of the performer's agency. The person engaged in sexual activities is merely there, in most cases, to provide sexual pleasure to the viewer. As a person, within the context of viewing porn, those within the image aren't there as people. They are just a object of sexy image for the audience's consumption.

Even when a work of porn has something else in mind, such as celebrating sex acts and the participates decision to be involved in such an experience (which are somewhat rare), this objectification still tends to be there, as it usually comes from the viewer. No matter a creator's artistic goals or intention, those with an interest in watching porn are, most often, in it for the sexual images rather than anything else.

What's the difference between & image & the real thing if the real thing also looks sexy?

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Post: 95464615_7 created on Thu, 08 Jan 2015 06:34:35 +0000
Posted: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 06:34:35 +0000

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The Willow Of Darkness

Porn objectifies because it removes the question of the performer's agency. The person engaged in sexual activities is merely there, in most cases, to provide sexual pleasure to the viewer. As a person, within the context of viewing porn, those within the image aren't there as people. They are just a object of sexy image for the audience's consumption.

Even when a work of porn has something else in mind, such as celebrating sex acts and the participates decision to be involved in such an experience (which are somewhat rare), this objectification still tends to be there, as it usually comes from the viewer. No matter a creator's artistic goals or intention, those with an interest in watching porn are, most often, in it for the sexual images rather than anything else.

What's the difference between & image & the real thing if the real thing also looks sexy?

Porn is a commodity that can be bought once and experienced ad nauseum. It is cheap, easy to access, requires no social skills or emotional attachment, carries little baggage in a relative sense, and most importantly, is impersonal.

The viewing of porn is not the same as the interaction between two bodies. There is no choice, no consciousness, no consequence. It is not sex, but the idea of sex- a suggestion sold as an object in bright lights and sounds.

They are very different.

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Post: 95464615_8 created on Thu, 08 Jan 2015 07:27:35 +0000
Posted: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 07:27:35 +0000

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The Willow Of Darkness

Porn objectifies because it removes the question of the performer's agency. The person engaged in sexual activities is merely there, in most cases, to provide sexual pleasure to the viewer. As a person, within the context of viewing porn, those within the image aren't there as people. They are just a object of sexy image for the audience's consumption.

Even when a work of porn has something else in mind, such as celebrating sex acts and the participates decision to be involved in such an experience (which are somewhat rare), this objectification still tends to be there, as it usually comes from the viewer. No matter a creator's artistic goals or intention, those with an interest in watching porn are, most often, in it for the sexual images rather than anything else.

What's the difference between & image & the real thing if the real thing also looks sexy?

That's the wrong question. The issue not whether a sexually explicit image is present, but rather how people involved sexual activity are thought of and treated (i.e. as nothing more than a means to someone's sexual satisfaction, rather than people, who are engaged in an activity for that activity in-its-itself).

Similar issues of objectification occur in certain contexts of real sex too (e.g. prostitution, rape, dishonesty to "get in someone pants," etc., etc. ).

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Post: 95464615_9 created on Thu, 08 Jan 2015 07:53:53 +0000
Posted: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 07:53:53 +0000

I just don't see how seeing someone in porn is the same as saying "that's all they can do or are good for".

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Post: 95464615_10 created on Thu, 08 Jan 2015 10:15:05 +0000
Posted: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 10:15:05 +0000

-Soul in this universe-

What's the difference between saying "porn objectifies people" & "sex objectifies people" if one is just an image of the other?

How does sex objectify people?

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Post: 95464615_11 created on Thu, 08 Jan 2015 10:52:03 +0000
Posted: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 10:52:03 +0000

Porn objectifies people in much the same way as any media does. This includes any media that glorifies mundane acts or fantasizes situations. Harry Potter or Star Wars, maybe even Seinfeld are prime examples of "objectification-centric media".

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Post: 95464615_12 created on Thu, 08 Jan 2015 11:10:43 +0000
Posted: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 11:10:43 +0000

-Soul in this universe-

I just don't see how seeing someone in porn is the same as saying "that's all they can do or are good for".

But that is not what is happening. The objectification is not coming from the mere fact someone has seen people performing sex acts.

It is from the viewer's attitude, that the viewer (in almost all instances), doesn't see the people in the film, and their sex acts, as anything more than a means to fulfil their sexual desire.

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Post: 95464615_13 created on Thu, 08 Jan 2015 22:11:12 +0000
Posted: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 22:11:12 +0000

That's why I think it's an exaggeration to say that all porn implies the performer has no emotions or other abilities.

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Post: 95464615_14 created on Wed, 14 Jan 2015 04:42:11 +0000
Posted: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 04:42:11 +0000

Sex itself isn't objectifying but the people who take part in it can be. (someone could desire to be objectified while someone could be objectifying a subject)

Porn on the other hand can be considered objectifying since it is likely that the viewer watching it is more focused on the person being an object rather than understanding their emotions on an empathetic level.

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Post: 95464615_15 created on Thu, 15 Jan 2015 01:29:15 +0000
Posted: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 01:29:15 +0000

SweetDaisyTea

Sex itself isn't objectifying but the people who take part in it can be. (someone could desire to be objectified while someone could be objectifying a subject)

Porn on the other hand can be considered objectifying since it is likely that the viewer watching it is more focused on the person being an object rather than understanding their emotions on an empathetic level.

The thing is, that's not the same as outright denying that they have emotions or rights.

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