Pictures and the "thousand words"

Portrait of Mademoiselle Charlotte du Val D'Ognes (c.1801) Jacques-Loius David, attributed to Constance Marie Charpentier.

There are arguments that people use to defend pornography. There's the oft-repeated phrase that "it's only natural" for men to look at pornography; that's why it's such a huge market. Some say it's even "art" and people who look at those pictures are simply "admiring the beauty of womanhood." Confused feminists (who are not aware that they are confused) say it's a woman's right to pose in the nude for men's magazines ("If you have it, flaunt it!"), and besides, they get paid so much.

But there's only one thing to be said in answer to all those, and it should prove that no matter how "natural" the "need" is, or how "artsy" the final result is, or how willingly the women posing did it, the culture of porn brings no real benefit to individuals, men and women alike.

If people would only recognize that the models (no matter how airbrushed/photoshopped) are real persons with a mother, a father, a sibling, friends and relatives, then it makes sense. Imagine that the person on the cover page of a famous men's magazine is your sister. You're at a magazine stand and a bunch of guys are staring at her picture. Wouldn't you feel protective, ashamed or offended?

Obviously, every time people are shamed that way, everyone close to them is shamed to some degree as well. That's why fan clubs go up in arms when their favorite artista is slighted--what more if it's someone really close to you, someone you've known since you were little? Methinks if guys can't give up porn to respect women in general, they should give it up to respect all mothers, fathers, siblings, and friends of those women.

Pornography serves no need. It is not art, and no matter how "game" the models are, no matter if they say it's their lifelong dream to pose naked for this or that cover, deep inside they are denying themselves something special, and they are hurting those closest to them in the process, too.

"Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners." -Othello, William Shakespeare