There are many reasons why DSTV should not have a porn channel, none of which have to do with morals. The debate about morals lands up with sex being a sin or at least frowned upon, and the idea of watching other people having sex is almost outlandish if not only a bit rude. But there are real reasons why porn should not be shown on DSTV, whether you have to pay for it or not. And here they are:
1. Porn displays both men and women in a way that creates a limited understanding of sex which is harmful to both men and women. Why? Because if the only sex I ever see or hear about is where a woman is face down in a pillow or a man has a member the size of the Eiffel Tower I’m going to a) as either a woman or a man have a warped understanding of equal and mutually fulfilling sexual relations. If I understand sex as a male-dominated arena, but I don’t desire that sexual space then it may lead me to think of my own sexuality as flawed/be angered when my partner doesn’t want sex like that. Furthermore b) I’m going to be very disappointed with the average man’s member if I’m a woman, or think my own member is teeny-tiny as a man. All round disappointment really.
2. Porn portrays unequal sexual relations as ‘sexy’ and thus puts men in a position of power and women in a position of sexual submission. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes people want their partner to be in charge the sexual situation. Not all sexual encounters are equal and this is not always experienced as dis-empowering, especially when the sex is in a safe relationship. Porn is not about these relationships. It is about ‘women wanting it but not knowing that they want it’ and men ‘taking what they want’. This is a dangerous sexual situation to support in a country with extremely high levels of sexual violence and rape.
3. Porn creates an idea of women as hyper-sexual or ‘gagging for it’. I like sex as much as the next woman. But like most women (and I’m going to say men here too for balance) I’m not simply walking around hoping some man is going to tackle me in a lift and do me up against the mirror while the security company watches. I’m not likely to accept a gang bang in a club, or to suddenly have a stripper pole descend from my ceiling so men can watch. But porn says that I do want these things, and what’s worse, when you show it all day every day on TV, it tells women that they should want these things. As soon as something starts telling me what my sexuality should be like, it shouldn’t be on TV.
4. Porn casts some groups as more sexual than others. Porn constructs black sexuality as ravenous, rough and it constructs white sexuality as timid and lacklustre. Perpetuating racial sexual stereotypes is harmful to all parties, particularly in a country where there are already myths and misconceptions about the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
5. The women in porn (and perhaps the men too) are often coerced into performing. The porn industry is notoriously linked to pimps, and the sex trade. Sex workers across South Africa face physical and sexual abuse daily and are frequently exposed to STIs. The reality is that selling sex is not a safe business for women, and unless we’re going to make our own porn here and ensure that it is filmed in a manner that is both safe and economically empowering for women, then we are allowing DSTV to perpetuate relations of economic dependence and sexual slavery for women.
If 5 reasons aren’t enough, then I’m not sure how many will be.
My interest is in what type of porn the company would like to show, because perhaps this indicates more about their own understanding of personal politics in South Africa. Will DSTV show gay porn alongside heterosexual porn? Will there be SnM? Will there be rape-porn (because this disgusting form of pornography exists)?
I hope that this channel does not go forward. South African’s already have a warped sexual culture that doesn’t need further confusion.
@Jen why is it that yours is comment, but a rebutal from Grant is a rant?
It is the presumption that we need to be boxed into a padded safe world by people who decide the content of our experience that is at issue here.
Porn is here and always will be. It is up to us as a society how we process it. Ban it and make it a dirty evil like the church has done for centuries and it will go underground. Open up to it, watch it, debate it and choose what you like and we will dictate what is made and what ethics are displayed.
By having the attitude that all people should prescribe to your moral code, you are basically claiming to know better for all. Thats bullshit. Sorry but it is. I will not have you or any other human being telling me what I must watch or how I must think. The only boundary I recognise is the hurt of others by my actions. If my watching porn truly hurt other human beings then I would refrain. It does not.
If anything, it is the prudish, outdated behaviour that is displayed by many on the topic that hurts others, supresses thought and feelings and causes the harm you seek to avoid.
Again, you seem to have watched porn and yet are happy to try hard to prevent others from having the opportunity to watch it and make up their own minds. That is sensorship worthy of the NAT’s and the Soviets. It has no place in our new world.
John Kalala – I can barely understand the point you are making because you are quite unable to express yourself on sexual matters. I suppose you are trying to say that you have never masturbated to porn and that you value real human contact far more than porn fantasy. I feel there is room for both in this world. If you don’t, jolly good for you. Where you lose me, though, is where you seem to think that everybody must feel the same as you do. Please don’t presume to tell others what we should be doing. Who are you exactly to decide for us?
Jenny – If porn was mainstream, great directors would make it. It would be much less stereotypical and crass than some of it is and could overcome all of your objections. Only our attitude as a society prevents that. We force it underground and allow the seedy element to control it.
If we can agree that sex itself is not dirty then anybody anti-porn has no argument at all. Porn will evolve to our expectation and attitude as it always has done. Gustav Corbet’s “Origin of the World” hangs in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris alongside Picasso and Miro.
Porn or art?
If you decide art, then you have no case for porn for it is simply the reviled modern version. Film or photo is the medium Corbet would probably have chosen had it existed in his time.
Free choice is paramount here.
I don’t watch rugby, cricket, cooking, travel, blah, blah. I only switch on to what I really enjoy – soccer, nature [I mean REAL nature], gospel, music. So even if DsTV WENT OUT OF THEIR WAY to put a porn channel, I wouldn’t bother raising a finger on the remote control. But then that’s me. My boys? Umm, these are teenagers and I don’t even know what they watch on INTERNET, bt would certainly get concerned if i SAW them logged onto DsTV’s porn channel. Child lock? Maybe. Moral guardian? Me? No! Got better things to do. But probably their mother would STRANGLE them!
Jen
Great article! I’m glad to see that some men have come on this board and agreed that pornography is damaging. It’s revealing to me that those on this board in favour of porn are overwhelmingly men and that those against porn are overwhelmingly women. Just this observation alone should make us think seriously about its damaging effects!
I haven’t subscribed to DSTV yet. Most channels of the “prescribed” bouquet, especially the religious ones, don’t interest me. If I could subscribe ten or so channels individually I would consider. Porn then simply would not be my choice, like Mickey Mouse and Rap. Let others have the “Wank-o-Rama” in their bouquet. So far religion has caused more damage than the weirdest blue movies.
Simply:
Porn is tasteless and tacky and reduces one of our drives to a mindless comedy.
Might as well watch people chew gum with an open mouth and say – ‘this is eating’; it’s just a parody and a joke.
I’m NOT a prude but I’m in favour of taste (yeah, and romance)
Porn has its place, but not on SA TV.
If you want to watch it go buy a DVD or magazine.
@ R
Interesting to hear that Scandinavia has become so prude. This is a huge change in their mindset from the ’60s to the ’90s.
Jen Dear, I understand your points. However I would like you to focus on the most widely accessible porn which is on mobile. Why dont you petition the government to block all cellphones from searching & accessing porn. DSTV is a premium means where I would think ppl who can afford can be responsible as well.
Moral prudery in general is a bad idea, as is unhealthy view points towards sexuality.
I am not going to bother to pick apart the absurdity of this post as its been done already.
I do think these kinds of zealous and badly adjusted view points belong in a southern baptist fringe church or some ultra right wing feminist movement or some other unhealthy forum for the mentally or emotionally handicapped.
Moral Sensorship is a sign of of mental insanity.
‘The problem with morals is that they are so relative…’
have you any idea how dangerous that statement and thought is? i presume you have an inkling, since you say morality can be used to justify anything. and indeed it is. but not because morality is relative, but because people are self-serving bastards a lot of the time.
morality is context related, sure. however, it is not relative. that is post-modern garbage, and for a self-proclaimed feminist i would expect you to think harder about matters of morality.
seriously, jennifer, that is a profoundly disturbing comment.
The commercial value in porn is the same as the commercial value in street drugs. Both are addictive and serve as a money-spinner for the low-life of this world.
Giving pornography a platform alongside other forms of entertainment is the same as adding a stripper bar next to the kiddies play area of a Spur steakhouse. Dont forget to bring the kids.
Do we really need it, and does Multichoice really need to profit from sleaze. That is the question we, and Multichoice need to ask of ourselves.
I strongly disagree. Being COMPLETELY open about all aspects of sexuality is what will liberate women, not avoiding the subject. Men will find porn whether it’s provided by multichoice or not.
Is your name a pornographic anagram? damn pornography, I see it everywhere. Everywhere!
@R – thanks for the update on the S’navian countries. I have been impressed by those countries’ long records of true equality for women. So a better argument is that despite porn being readily available in those countries, it has not resulted in a socially-accepted value of degradation and oppression of women, which is one of the many facile arguments used to preach against porn.
The ‘moral’ comments generally seem to stem from a 2,000 year history of control and oppression by men and religion over sex and procreation, thus legitimising control and oppression of women.
Best answer to everyone? – don’t watch it if you don’t want to and stop thinking you ‘know best’ for others.
And if you are a Christian and use a religious argument as your excuse to control and judge other people, then remember your own religious credo – don’t judge others.
An interesting take on the effects of an oversexed media on young girls
http://bit.ly/prositots
“?Studies of men who had seen X-rated movies found that they were significantly more tolerant and accepting of women than those men who didn’t see those movies, and studies by other investigators—female as well as male—essentially found similarly that there was no detectable relationship between the amount of exposure to pornography and any measure of misogynist attitudes.”
From article whose thesis is: “…as the use of porn increases, the rate of sex crimes goes down”
References, etc: http://www.the-scientist.com/2010/3/1/29/1/
99.9% use pornography to have a sexual relationship with ones hand. What a lonely existence. Shame.
You can barely understand the point I am making – which is, to repeat: “To think we can be really sexually satisfied without embracing another human being is so dumb.”
That is your problem, Grant. Your understanding is so limited. If you don’t get that then you really don’t get it at all. It is time for you to re-examine what a human being is, and why there is the African saying:”It takes a village to raise a child.” Sexual fulfilment without engaging with another human being , is not really real. It may be lust or it may be titillation; but is very incomplete.
Vicarious behaviour is never to be encouraged. Porn, in my experience, is for those who are too lazy, too dumb or too cowardly to attempt a real relationship, which, in my considerable experience, is much more fulfilling.
But then you may enjoy communing with a flat screen.
Our sexuality is an intrinsic part of being a human. It is sadly in the nature of individual, and groups of, humans to misuse intrinsic parts of our nature. However the correct response to that misuse is not to put a general clamp on the misused aspect. Historically a general clamping down on sexual expression has been the approach that has been followed by society. This does not solve the problem of misuse, as we know, it just creates an income stream for criminals. Charles Wesley the founder of Methodism said,why should good tunes be reserved for bawdy drinking songs and he used those very same tunes for truly uplifting hymns. Similarly why should our sexual expression become the preserve of criminals and pornographers?
Society should reclaim sexual expression from the rubbish dump we have tried to consign it to. Would it not be great to see the best and most creative amongst us, who feel so inclined, turning to the creation of what is now known as porn but which they will be able turn into works of art which will uplift us all. This will not prevent the misuse of sexual expression but it will not leave it just to the low lifes of this world.
Jen
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1255856/Teenage-boys-watching-hours-internet-pornography-week-treating-girlfriends-like-sex-objects.html.
‘Teenage boys watching hours of internet pornography every week are treating their girlfriends like sex objects’
Among today’s teenage girls, the chaperone has made a comeback and is not being forced on girls by controlling adults worried about honour.
The ‘third wheel’ has been re-invented by the girls themselves because they want protection from the sexual demands of their boyfriends.
When I spoke to many teenage girls, they told me these demands are both ‘disturbing and upsetting’, and they are certain they’re being fuelled by what their boyfriends are watching online: hard-core, explicit porn.
‘Boys just want us to do all the stuff they see the porn stars do,’ one 16-year-old girl told me. ‘It’s as if we have to pretend we are in a movie.
This deeply worrying trend is finally starting to be noticed by those in authority.
Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos has just published a government report into the sexualisation of children, and is certain that exposure to porn is having an adverse affect on the lives of today’s teenagers.
‘My research has left me extremely concerned,’ she says. ‘A recent survey showed that 54 per cent of boys found porn “really inspiring” in terms of sexual performance. This worries me, because of the nature of the material they are now watching’.
Seems a good argument to me!
The five reasons you cite sound rather familiar to anyone following Jacob Zuma’s personal life.
1) Zuma’s sex life displays both men and women in a way that creates a limited understanding of sex which is harmful to both men and women. Showers anyone?
2)Zuma’s sex life portrays unequal sexual relations as ’sexy’ and thus puts men in a position of power and women in a position of sexual submission. Is your daughter free?
3) Zuma’s sex life creates an idea of women as hyper-sexual or ‘gagging for it’. Was this not raised during the rape trial where he couldn’t walk away from a woman.
4) Zuma’s sex life casts some groups as more sexual than others. Any Zulu men feeling slandered or otherwise by Zumas cultural claims?
5) The women in Zuma’s sex life are often coerced into performing? Sure he was acquitted, but there sure are some power issues involved in his sex life and sex with friends daughters.
Maybe porn on TV is better than the pornographic president.
Jennifer: you don’t think it’s immensely condescending to tell people what’s good or bad for them to watch?
What none of the imbeciles debating this topic has brought up is that MultiChoice decoders have (and have always had)parental lockout codes. If you’re too stupid to lock your device to prevent your children seeing content you deem inappropriate for them, then you’re probably too stupid to have children.
Not happening and I’m happy as I’m sure you are.
All adults acn look after themselves equally, children need protecting and fighting for (male and female) against men and woman.
Well, this article has certainly prompted a lot of comment, which I have not had the time or inclination to read. In case anyone is interested in my opinion, however, I have one point that needs making: The arguments that Jennifer makes are all valid arguments against porn (whether or not you agree with them). Hopwever, that is not really the issue. Our government, under the auspices of the freedoms guaranteed by the constitution, has already decided that porn should be allowed, subject to certain exceptios (child porn, violent porn etc). The question at hand is that, given that this has been decided, is their any reason why DSTV should not be allowed to broadcast it? That is the question that she has not addressed.
@Ladyfingers
Jen has her own opinion and she shared it with us. She also motivated her opinion. She is not ‘telling’ anyone what they may or may not do, and is definately not ‘immensely condecending’ by expressing her beliefs.
It is rather immensely condecending of you to deny her her opinion on the matter.
Ladyfingers…no.
But thanks for asking.
I think that it’s bad to watch the abuse of women. And I’m not ashamed to say that.
IF (and all you band waggon jumpers just hold yourselves back) porn displays the abuse of women and IF porn is mimicing sexual relations that are harmful to women, then I’m happy to say DON’T WATCH IT.
If you want to watch it and can live with yourself, that’s your choice.
But, Thanks Rod of Sydney, I am happy. No porn on DSTV. YAY!
There has been some really active debate online since DStv announced they had sent out a survey to find out people’s reaction to starting a subscription based porn channel. Bear in mind that this isn’t the first survey they have sent out as they are constantly engaging with their subscribers to find out what they would like to see on DStv.
With regards to the porn channel, here is a link to the official press release from Multichoice and their decision of not going forward with the porn channel. http://www.free-kick.tv/what-bafana-bafana-should-be-doing-in-brazil/
One thing is for sure, it’s great to see so many people engaging and talking about DStv. It shows they have a number of really loyal customers!
There has been some really active debate online since DStv announced they had sent out a survey to find out people’s reaction to starting a subscription based porn channel. Bear in mind that this isn’t the first survey they have sent out as they are constantly engaging with their subscribers to find out what they would like to see on DStv.
With regards to the porn channel, here is a link to the official press release from Multichoice and their decision of not going forward with the porn channel. http://forum.dstv.com/showpost.php?p=43654&postcount=233
One thing is for sure, it’s great to see so many people engaging and talking about DStv. It shows they have a number of really loyal customers!
I WILL DECIDE
Sorry – forgot to add “FFS”
@ladyfinger…ever so respectfully, aren’t you being condescending calling us all imbeciles and people who cannot lock up electronic devices too stupid to have children…. knowing how to press buttons is not an indication of intelligence but exposure to technology. Can you tile a house, design an amazing garden, fix a car, direct a blockbuster, invent penicillin? and one for the ladies, bake an unflopped souffle? those all require intelligence that has nothing to do with learning how to press buttons. by your view players of video games must be the brightest contributors to humanity.
Here’s an interesting article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1257210/Porn-film-director-Anna-Arrowsmith-selected-Lib-Dem-Parliamentary-candidate.html
Why ban the DSTV channel? Surely the intenet is the worst offender in distributing porn? Shouldn’t we be trying to shut down the internet then before we all become damaged goods?
I don’t get it.
@jean-Michel. You can do your best to block sites on the internet – the challenge however is global. The choice was, do we add a local challenge with another media to this? One has to do what one can for kids.
Rod,
Yet here you sit typing in an internet forum, using a computer with a keyboard and mouse setup with over 100 buttons.
This luddite excuse of “well, normal people…” is hogwash. If you can operate your MultiChoice decoder (press “on” , change channel, look at menu, etc.) then operating the parental controls is hardly rocket science. You just enter the menu and set them, where they are clearly marked. You might as well make excuses for bad drivers (“not his fault he ran over a child, driving is hard!”). If you bring a gun into your home, you should know how to secure it, yes? Come on.
I also resent the hackneyed, Dworkin-esque idea that porn is always abusive, entirely filled with junkies and desperate victims of trafficking. It’s extremely patronising to women, in my opinion, to insist that anyone who chooses to make money doing something that’s distasteful to tertiary-educated, bourgeois sensibilites is automatically some variety of pitiful wretch.