Pornography and inequality focus of professor’s lecture

On Wednesday in the Women’s Resource Center, visiting professor Dr. Robert Jensen spoke on topics such as oral sex, “money shots,” double penetration and how it all relates to the perpetuation of patriarchy and white supremacy in American society.

The lecture was titled “Pornography and the Perfect Storm of Inequality: Sexism, Racism, and Economic Exploitation” and saw the University of Texas at Austin professor lecture for a half-hour on the pornography industry and describe–in explicit detail–the intensifying role of male dominance over women in many pornographic films.

The event was presented by the PSU President’s Commission on the Status of Women and organized by the Office of Diversity and Equity.

“One of the main changes is the increase in intensity of the domination over women [within pornography films], but overall, gender roles have not changed,” Jensen said.

Jensen spoke on what he said is the role that pornography plays in perpetuating the patriarchy, white supremacy, nationalism and corporate capitalism already present in American society. As a self-described “radical feminist,” Jensen believes most American institutions support these inequalities and said the media plays a role in furthering them.

“For people with progressive politics … a critique of pornography is central to media criticism in the context of sexism, racism and capitalism,” he said.

One style of contemporary pornography, called “Gonzo,” is becoming popular and shows an increased cruelty toward women than other pornography films.

According to an article found on Jensen’s Web site, Gonzo focuses strictly on the filming of sexual acts as opposed to other pornography that follows a plot. The sexual acts are performed in a rougher fashion, often involve more than one man and use “extremely abusive language” toward the female participants.

The cruelty found in the Gonzo-style pornography hinges on the point that American men have been socialized to accept ruthlessness toward other human beings, and in the case of pornography, toward women, Jensen said. He cited his own experience of growing up in an America constantly engaged in war around the world.

“We are taught to except, in this culture, that hierarchy is inevitable,” he said. “Hierarchy like men over women, and the U.S. over the world.”

In 2007, Jensen wrote a book on the subject of pornography, called Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity. He also co-produced an educational slide show presentation called “Who wants to be a porn star? Sex and violence in today’s pornography industry.”

Martha Balshem, special assistant to the president for diversity, said that many issues dealing with race and sexism have made it into the national spotlight recently and that the Office of Diversity and Equity wanted to bring in someone to speak on this reality.

“This whole topic of white privilege is now part of the national debate,” she said. “We need to get used to talking about these issues together.”

Dr. Robert Jensen is a professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and a board member of the Third Coast Activist Resource Center. For more information regarding his work, or to read some of his past literature, visit http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/index.html.