Group items tagged

Lehman, Peter. 2006. Pornography: Film and Culture. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press. * This book is one of the most helpful for my research. Within it are 13 articles written by various scholars discussing the phenomenon of pornography. They address pornography culturally, sexually, and economically, and while they touch on religious and feminist views of pornography they attempt to remain neutral throughout their discussions. I think that when doing any research regarding pornography its important to understand it as a genre and from as many perspectives as possible. In that I find this to be one of my most valuable sources. Having sections written by various scholars that address pornography from all angles provides an enormous amount of background information without creating a bias.

Dines, Gail., Jensen, Bob. 1997. Pornography: The Production and Consumption of Inequality. New York, NY: Routledge. * This book is quite interesting because it is written by feminists that are involved in the anti-pornography movement. Because of their stance it is important to try and read what they present objectively. What the authors claim to be doing within their book is changing sex from something used to oppress women, to something used to liberate them. In order to do that they point out all of the social, and legal constructs that cause pornography to be so detrimental to women. This book does not provide and empirical evidence or research, but does provide an extensive overview of pornography's role in the cultural construction of gender and sexual identity. I think that this book will be extremely helpful in both causing me to think from a perspective I may not have before, as well as providing an extensive amount of background information.

Malamuth, Neil., Briere, John. 1986. "Sexual Violence in the Media: Indirect Effects on Aggression Against Women." Journal of Social Issues 42(3):75-92 * Research done by Malamuth and Briere has shown links between violent and sexual images of women in mass media and the development of thought patterns of aggression and antisocial behavior. Within their research they tested men exposed to violent or sexual images of women in the media, as well as pornography. On such experiment was to test images in pornography men were shown three situations a rape with positive effects for the woman, a rape with negative effects for the woman, and consensual sex. The responses of the men were recorded. I find this study particularly interesting because it doesn't just show that erotic-aggressive images in pornography can cause aggression, but that it can actually alter thought patterns. This research provides a lot of information on how a culture can be formed thinking a certain way because of what they are exposed to.

Watts, Charlotte., Zimmerman, Cathy. 2002. "Violence against women: global scope and magnitude." The Lancet 359:1232-1237 * This article does not directly deal with pornography, but merely touches upon it. I kept this article because it provides a lot of information about violence against women around the world. It provides the basis for my knowledge on violence in general and touches upon many different reasons for the violence. What helps me particular within my research is that it provides a global perspective on the violence which I hadn't been able to find in other research.

Donnerstein, Edward., Berkowitz, Leonard. 1981. "Victim Reactions in Aggressive Erotic Films as a Factor in Violence Against Women." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 41(4): 710-724 * This article addresses a follow-up study by Donnerstein and a colleague to his previous study on aggressive-erotic films. This study went further to test whether the outcomes would be the same with male vs. female confederates, and aggressive-erotic films with positive vs. negative outcomes. This article is important as it provides further evidence and controls for more outside influences. Donnerstein also provides extensive background on both the theoretical and applied aspects of erotica which is extremely helpful in my research.

Donnerstein, Edward. 1980. "Aggressive Erotica and Violence Against Women." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 39(2): 269-277 * This article was written to describe a study conducted by Edward Donnerstein on whether or not aggressive-erotic stimuli would make males more aggressive towards females. In this study males were shown either neutral, erotic, or aggressive erotic stimuli and then given an opportunity to deliver electric shock to a female confederate. Out of the 120 males subjects who participated in the study it was shown than even non-angered males showed an increase in aggression towards the female after viewing the aggressive-erotic film. I think that this article will be extremely useful in my research as it provides evidence of the effect of aggressive-erotic films on men, even when those men had in no other way been angered.

Projansky, Sarah. Autumn, 2001. "The Elusive/Ubiquitous Representation of Rape: A Historical Survey of Rape in U.S. Film, 1903 - 1972. Cinema Journal 41: 63 - 90. This article was a wonderful article for me to begin my research with because it led me into many of the topics I wish to discuss within my research paper. In fact, the article was a main instigator in my changing my research topic solely to film and its relation to rape, rather than film and pornography and their relation to rape. This article argues "that rape is a central theme in American cinema… [That] not a year has gone by since the beginning of cinema when rape, attempted rape, or other forms of sexual violence were not represented or alluded to in films" (63). Many of the topics that surface throughout this article will be key in explaining my own film selections and how they promote patriarchic ideals, the submission of women, and the desensitization of rape that film presents historically and globally to its viewers. Topics I will touch upon include Production Code regulations (from the beginning of film to present), rape in relation to women's vulnerability, independence and the family, rape in relation to economic and social class ambivalence, and finally, rape in relation to race. All these subtopics arise in differing aspects of each film I have chosen to consider in relation to my research topic. Overall, this article is the perfect push I needed to get my research started, and it will continue to be valuable as the holder of the bedrock ideas and topics I wish to present within my paper.