Author: Sharanya Iyer
Country: India
“EVERY SECOND $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography, 28,258 Internet users are viewing pornography, 372 Internet users are typing adult search terms into search engines and every 39 minutes a new pornographic video is being created……”
Pornography is a word that is synonymous with sin in our society. To begin with its origin, Pornography stems from a Greek word meaning ‘writing about prostitutes’. It originated in Europe in the early 17th century when science was rapidly growing and gaining importance over religion, ideas of contraception and conception were coming in and revolutionary literature was surfacing. In Pagan culture, the beauty of sex was depicted via carvings and paintings. Erotic literature had a place in the mainstream. But, erotica is quite different from pornography. Erotica has an artistic purity, while pornography is purely commercial and totally meaningless. The bare truth about pornography is that far from being a liberating influence - as Rushdie and others claim - it is an instrument of abuse and imprisonment!!It brings out the poverty of our sexual imagination. So before moving on to look into its various aspects, it is important that it isn’t confused with erotica.
Today, globalization and the fast paced existence of people have shaken the very foundations of the wall separating erotica and pornography, making it very thin. According to the 2006 worldwide pornography revenues, around $97.04 billion is its transaction, with China dominating. Though India does not figure at the top, it is one of the major illegal importers of DVDs, VCDs, etc. The porn industry has penetrated all levels of society. Today, we can hardly find a movie without some form of porn in it.
India still being a developing country, with a majority of the village people living under the poverty line, there lives a class which is exploited and violated due to its ignorance or helplessness. If there is one thing India is famous for, it is the dignity and integrity with which it upholds its traditions and culture. So, taking advantage of such scenario, isn’t it a basic violation of human rights?
The roots of the whole issue of Pornography can safely be attributed to the lack of Sex Education in schools. Who says it is not in our Indian culture to talk about sex? Ancient Indian culture was very open about sex. But the misinformation that talking and learning about sex is against our Indian culture is being spread by prudish parents and teachers opposing the teaching of sex education in schools.
A quote from a news report reads,
“Most parents and teachers do not want sex education to be part of the curriculum because of ethical and academic reasons….they feel that there are chances of the children misinterpreting the information given…unlike other countries where sex education is openly taught in schools, we cannot do so as the structure of our society is different. Our culture and ethos do not permit us to discuss sex openly…we could end up corrupting our students…”
These people have to understand that children don’t become immoral because they learn about sex. If they do start sex activities earlier than they should, then it is more because of the influence of movies, television, pornography, etc. Not sex education! In fact sex education can explain to them the moral aspects of sex and also counter the ill effects of pornography, as it is a known fact that Indian parents neglect to do their duty when it comes to teaching their children about sex, as they feel it is ‘unnecessary’ or ‘embarrassing’ or ‘too early’…and the consequence is that kids turn to pornography.
Its time that we realized that the only way to fight online pornography is to arm our children with knowledge. We know that the knowledge will never be given in Indian homes because of extreme prudishness. So the education system has to take care of it. It is the only way to a mentally and physically healthy society.
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3 comments:
I have a very weak viewpoint about pornography, but I do agree that sex education is necessary and not something immoral. It is not a topic they we only have to deal with after our teenage years; it is even present since childhood.
So great article! :) Quite eye-opening!
Brilliant one, sharan! U got there ahead of me.. ;)
Anyway, porn is something young people need to be talking about, so kudos on bring out the subject.
I'd like add my thoughts here :
There is a whole other angle to porn, apart from its effects on the watcher. Who are models used in all these porn flicks? Do those young men(and should i daresay, women) who watch porn movies care whether the gals stripping out there are of age or not? What about all those girls - girls like you and me - who are tricked into this with drugs?
People want to watch porn, have fun(?) and get the wrong idea about sex - its their choice really. What really gets to my nerves is hearing about little girls being used as sex objects - for all to see!
I'd like to hear the thoughts of the men of a2i! here as well :)
Cheers,
aska
P.S.: Feels good to be back!
If you ask me, ultimately the moral uprightness of a field depends on the people in it. It is a known fact that the second best destination for forced human trafficking victims is the pornography industry. Behind the porn movies which people watch and enjoy, lies exploitation, bonded labour and abuse. It is as good as buying a blood diamond while fuelling civil war in Sierra Leone. You encourage pornography in its unregulated form, you are encouraging the forces of exploitation behind it. It all boils down to whether you can sleep knowing what you know.
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