Explain the nature of pornography and give your reasons to why we should/should not exercise any form of censorship in this area.

Pornography refers to explicit sexual content which comes in many different forms of media with only one objective – to sexually arouse the viewer. Pornography has evolved throughout the past decades mainly from print to non-print. It has also become a huge profitable business and has been also called “recession proof”. According to the 2006 statistics, 89% of internet pornography was made by the US, with 4% made by Germany and 3% by Britain. Also, the average age of which a person first saw internet pornography is 11, an awful and obscene number. It is definitely not hard at all to accidentally “stumble” upon a pornographic website unknowingly, and others, out of curiousity, when they first view such materials, it would be very likely to be addicted to it, very much alike gambling. In the same statistics, the worldwide pornography revenues is at a staggering $100 billion, an amount no technology companies, even combined, could make. Much of the income generated is being given to the subjects of the content, mainly the female characters.

While most of us does not realize or experience how pornography have affected the lives of the individuals who perform in them, pornography actually bring about the most serious problems to their lives as well as to their relatives. A woman who decides to enter the adult industry would have to put their families, relations with friends, and more importantly, their future at risk. Many of a time we look down upon such actors, and would refer them as “dirty” and see no difference in them when compared to a prostitute, yet many people are active consumers of pornography. One might argue that it is the women’s fault for entering the adult industry in the very first place. Yet with the super high demand of pornographic materials, despite the hundreds of millions of websites available already, more and more innocent young women are being lured into this horrifying industry – because of the fantastic pay being offered to them, especially when no skill is required at all. It would result in a life-lasting effect since most of these actors have no other skills and thus would not be able to find another job when their youth is used up. I believe that almost no single parent would want to see their children ending up in the adult industry. Family relations are severely damaged when their children decides to enter the industry. And even if they regret joining the industry, many of them does not leave simply because they could hardly find a job that pays equally as well. Hence, I strongly believe that pornography should be censored to prevent harm caused to the actors and actresses. However, pornographic materials have been used to a small extent in the medical industry. Pornography is used when a couple decides to have children without the need to engage in sexual intercourse, to collect sperm from the male’s sexual organs.

Women in mainstream pornography are commonly being treated as “sex slaves”, and convey deceiving messages that all women want to be raped. In actual fact the actors are only told to do so, possibly to be paid more. This however may be very misleading to consumers. Statistics have shown that cases of rape have been increasing at a terrifying rate across the globe for the past few decades, where pornography was first introduced. Hence, pornography not only brings harm to the actors, but also to several other innocent victims who are not involved at all to this industry. Does pornography actually degrades women? I believe to a large extent yes. In most pornographic content women are treated as sex objects to satisfy man’s pleasure. Elements of hostilities are often present to appeal to the male viewers and the women are depicted as though they are lifeless creatures craving for the men, hence degrading them.

Therefore, I strongly believe that censorship of pornography should be firmly imposed such that it could prevent problems, emotionally and physically, to almost all women across the world, despite all other problems that might surface.