Pornography and Pop Culture: Backlash and a Feminism that is Contrary to Feminism

Pornography and Pop Culture: Backlash and a Feminism that is Contrary to Feminism by Rebecca Whisnant describes different models, tenets of radical feminism, and suggestions. During the mid to late 1970s an idea emerged that pornography conveyed the ideology of male dominance. This time period was part of Whisnant's second wave model. Whisnant's wave model is divided into three parts. The first wave is during the late 19th century when women were fighting for rights in marriage and the right to vote. The second wave describes the feminists of the late 1960s and 1970s. The third wave is feminism from the 1990s and later. Throughout the three waves, the differences between liberal and radical feminism remained the same, but the generational differences were contrasting.

Whisnant also explained three central tenets of radical feminism. The first idea was that women share common conditions, and they must undertake actions not only to benefit themselves but that benefit women's position as a class. The second idea was that personal is the political. In other words, many women believe their experiences are unique however, these experiences are very common among many women. The third idea was that sex is an arena of politics-- a place where power hierarchies are enacted and reinforced. Radical feminism supports the idea that power hierarchies need to be challenged and transformed.

A "third wave" view on pornography is that women should make their own form of feminist pornography. However, this pornography does not differ in many ways from modern day porn. One difference is that the women involved may have tattoos and piercings. This "feminist porn" can have men calling a girl a slut and spitting on her as long as everyone is in control of their actions. Whisnant suggests people to "remove themselves from the pornification around and its cynical and hateful messages, in order to start thinking our own thoughts and drawing our own experiences of love and sex..." She also suggests for people to discover what sexual freedom is and to not be brainwashed by the pornification market that objectifies others' sexuality. I am very surprised by this idea of "third wave feminist pornography." It is very disgusting and alarming that women can still be spit on and called a slut and still be in control. The pornography marketplace is one that is larger than one can even imagine, and I believe it will be very difficult for some individuals to remove themselves from it.  Pornography is used daily by many people and the idea of discovering sexual freedom may be close to impossible to reach.