On “Guilty Pleasures” by Jackson Katz

In Jackson Katz’s essay “Guilty Pleasures: Pornography, Prostitution, and Stripping” (Chapter 10 of the linked book) from 2006, the title explains it all. Well, sort of. Katz goes in detail to explain the view of pornography from the feminist perspective, including both the view of the feminists that are for or adamantly against the porn industry and its representation of women. Part of the problem with this conversation, is that it has “largely taken place among women” (185). There is much less male representation in the argument about the ethics of porn. Katz weighs in on the way that porn only adds to the normalization of sexual violence. Among the most famous pornographic films are those that actively show images of women, not only in submission to dominant and violent men, but in physical pain and discomfort at what is happening to them. The fact that these videos are popularized give men the notion that it’s okay and that they should want to put women in this kind of position. 

Unfortunately for Katz, I am just another woman adding to this conversation, but I understand what he’s saying. Rather than discuss how I see it in the world (because, in truth, that makes me vaguely uncomfortable to throw in my own experience), I’ll discuss the ways in which I hear it. I am a 21 year old woman in a sorority. On the regular, I’m in a position where I am around men, particularly ones who are in a fraternity. Having become friends with many of them, even dating one, it’s rather appalling to hear the way that men talk about women. I was put into a position where I was around this group of guys on the regular. There isn’t much that they just didn’t  discuss in front of me, or group chat conversations that I didn’t read. The way that they talk about women is quite appalling. Reading Katz’s article makes that make a bit more sense. That’s not to say that it’s okay or that I assume all men are like this. It just means that, from my experience, there seems to be this culture around sex where men appear like they have to be dominant, and that to do this, sex becomes relatively violent.