A provocative article at BNET.com suggests that falling revenues at the world's most recognizable p*rnographic brand are leading it to move away from s*x entertainment and more toward merely licensing its brand. This restructuring at Playb*y may lead many to cheer, but as Mark Twain once quipped, "Reports of my death are exaggerated."
If anything, the changing face of Playb*y provides a window into how clever and persistent the p*rnography industry is. Playb*y is not going away. Instead, it is positioning itself to become even more visible. Example one is this fall's new TV show, The Playb*y Club, airing on NBC. Now, in addition warping young boys' minds in the back of a closet (which is bad enough), Playb*y will be mainstreaming its lies to potentially millions of children on primetime television. With the show airing at 10/9c on Mondays, you can bet Al Michaels and Chris Collingsworth will be promoting the show on NBC's Sunday Night Football. It's the ultimate endorsement of "women as s*xual sport."
Even if mainstream p*rnography companies can no longer compete with a glut of free p*rnography, the overall p*rnofication of society continues unabated. One new study finds that women have become increasingly sexualized in mainstream media over the past forty years. After studying 43 years of Rolling Stone, University of Buffalo sociology professors Erin Hatton and Mary Nell Trautner concluded that 89 percent of women appearing on covers in the 2000s were s*xualized, more than ten times as often as men. Hatton wrote:
"S*xualized portrayals of women have been found to legitimize or exacerbate violence against women and girls, as well as s*xual harassment and anti-women attitudes among men and boys. Such images also have been shown to increase rates of body dissatisfaction and/or eating disorders among men, women and girls; and they have even been shown to decrease s*xual satisfaction among both men and women. For these reasons, we find the frequency of s*xualized images of women in popular media, combined with the extreme intensity of their s*xualization, to be cause for concern."
It's not enough to shut down one business or one website. Concerned citizens need to stand up to p*rnographic s*xuality where ever it is found. It may seem difficult to win large battles against the p*rnography juggernaut, but small, steady efforts send a message that crass objectification and degrading depictions of women are not acceptable. One NBC affiliate has already announced it will not carry the show. Feminist icon Gloria Steinem has called for a boycott based on her investigation of the club in the early 1960s. Our friends at Morality in Media have set up an online petition to allow average folks to voice their concerns directly to NBC.
Standing up and voicing your concern may not always be easy, but it is one way to set those "brushfires" in people's minds that can lead to lasting change.
Daniel Weiss
Director of Research and National Outreach
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