Feminism and Pornography
Certainly is it is a fact that both male and female gender roles are largely defined by norms within our societies. The disparity then lies on the fact that both gender roles are defined by the males, and women may either chose to endorse or contest these norms. Feminism as a whole has historically both attempted to equate the societal value of women to that of men and empower women to self-authorize this very equality. The unarguable fact that women with in this society are oppressed dude to there sex is not at issue. What is of concern however, are both what norms contribute to this devaluing as well as how women themselves endorse these norms in turn proliferating the ideals of this patriarchic society. As a result one must question whether the decisions made by women within this society are rational and autonomous in their nature since arguably much of the oppression women suffer is the result of their adherence to these same male designed norms. Women with in this society endorse norms that palace them in various traditional roles, like that of a housewife or a mother. However one of the most unconventional of all female roles is that of a sex object. Prostitution as one of the oldest professions has for centuries
In the article "Should Feminist Reject Rational Choice Theory" Elizabeth Anderson addresses various important issues, some of which address the notion that due to the nature of the female character women cannot make rational decisions independent of emotions and nurture. This theory envisions rationality in terms of "cold, instrumental, selfish, quantitative calculation and relies on a gender polarized conceptual scheme which counter poses these stereotypically masculine with stereotypically feminine qualities of emotionality, expressiveness, caring for others and sensitivity to qualitative differences." Therefore it is correct for Anderson to argue that with such notions on the issues of rationality feminist ideology should be suspicious of what on the surface is a definition which states that female personality is neither favorable nor conducive to rational decision making. This theory then only reinforces the notions of patriarchy and further diminishes the status of women. If such a notion were to be accepted then one could say that a woman's decision to engage herself in pornographic entertainment is one that does don't come as a result of rational thinking. However it is undeniable that women taking into consideration both the fame and the financial gain that will come as a result of their choice of involvement in this sort of sexually explicit activity. As a result one could argue that under more than one of the dimensions of the rational choice theory discussed in Anderson's article a woman choosing to engage in pornography could do so rationally. More specifically a woman's consideration of fame and financial gain falls both under the definition of instrumental and deliberative theories of rational choice both of which state that a person will select means that effectively achieve their ends and perform a cost-benefit analysis of their options and chose the option that has the greatest net expected benefit. The notion that a woman's choice to do this work comes from self-interest whether it be those mentioned above or other results, her decision to perform pornographic acts also would fall under the substantive theory of rational choice. This dimension of the theory asserts that people place options on a degree of how these options will promote their self-interest. It is also arguable that a woman may chose to enter pornography due to her enjoyment of sex and her correlation with the recording of this act with being sexually free and liberal. However one can also argue that the desire for money, fame or sexual freedom is all norms within our society. That is to say that a woman's desire to become financially stable is rooted in our societies infatuation and overvaluing of material goods acquired only through financial gain. Her desire for fame may also be a function of societal norms due to the importance our society places on popularity, approval and public recognition. In relation to these wants could be a woman's decision to engage in pornography due to he pleasures of sex. However it is undeniable that one should be weary due to the norm with in our society that places women as sexual objects and creates a need within women to feel sexually desirable to men. It is then because of all these factors difficult to absolutely designate whether women in pornography chose to rationally engage in that environment, and it becomes obvious that suspicion will arise for their true motives. Nevertheless to state that these decisions are done irrationally is to include all other women who chose a career or p
Some common words found in the essay are:
Elizabeth Anderson, , American Women, Edward Johnson's, financial gain, engage pornography, societal norms, woman's decision, decision engage, rational choice, women society, endorse norms, women chose, particular woman, woman's decision engage, women sexual objects, consideration fame financial, autonomy financial gain, rational choice theory,
Approximate Word count = 2394
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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