Feminism, Pornography, and a Culture of Hedonism

Recently, Prof. Rae Langton of the University of Cambridge hosted a talk on ‘Pornography and the politics of desire.’ She was hosted by the Wright Center for the Study of Computation and Just Communities at Dartmouth. She presented the feminist perspective on how pornography is damaging to society.

Rather than condemn pornography in and of itself, Prof. Langton only condemned a subset of pornography: that which is said to degrade women. She concludes that what is harmful about pornography is that it promotes a sort of “inequality” between the sexes. In principle, it can be an expression of the supposed inferiority of women. In practice, it can lead to a more generalized misogyny amongst men – particularly young men – who are exposed to pornography.

Her main idea was correct. She analyzed one aspect of how pornography can be or is a negative entity. The portrayal of the objectification of women is harmful, and it does negatively impact young men’s perception of women.