The views of men and women differ regarding the appropriateness, acceptability, and effects on society of soft pornography. Men tend to believe it is harmless, while women have expressed the belief that it is degrading and contributes to the general societal sexism that diminishes a woman's value to society.
An examination of this thesis is one fraught with emotional and political minefields. The debate over pornography often takes place in a charged atmosphere; thus, it becomes difficult to separate issues clearly and see them for what they really are. At the base of any discussion about pornography, however, one must recognize that the issue strikes at the very heart of male dominance. Hence, it is not surprising that a male-dominated power structure and society are reluctant to deal with the issue.
A clear definition of pornography is not an easy one to reach. The terms pornography, erotica, obscenity, and explicit sex are often confused and lumped together. One of the reasons for this is that, in our society, sex and violence are dangerously linked.
The word pornography comes from the Greek root porne (harlot, prostitute, or female captive), and graphos (writing about, or description of). The word, then, means a description of either the purchase of sex, which implies an imbalance of power in itself, or sexual slavery. All pornography is, in fact, an imitation of the male-female conqueror-victim, and almost all of it actually portrays or implies enslaved woman and master. The invention of the words "soft porn" is merely an attempt to avoid the true definition of pornography.
The majority report of the President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography (1970) made it clear that 90 percent of all pornographic material is geared to the male heterosexual market. The report went on to state that the "graphic depictions, the meat and potatoes of porn, are of the naked female body and of the multiplicity of ac...