The
Impact of the Internet on Pornography and its History
Pornography is a probably the highest
grossing industry globally as it has a revenue of 100 billion dollars, with
$3000 being spent on it every second.1 Materials showing sexually
explicit themes are known as pornographic materials. William Haynes was known
as the father of Modern Pornography.1
The first picture of a naked woman was taken
in 1838. The 1st actress to pose nude was Adah Isaacs Menken.1 The
first pornographic video had no sex in it. It was a video of a women stripping.
Interestingly, the first video to show any form of sex was released in 1910 by
Germans and was called “Am Abend”. It showed 10 minutes of anal sex.
In the 1950s more and more risqué porn
started to surface following WWII. A similar pattern was seen during the Civil
War, where pornography became more popular. Playboy (magazine) by Hugh Hefner
was a phenomenon that started in 1953 and till date continues to be published.2
And in the 1960s and 1970s XXX theaters and big budget movies started
appearing. Then in the 1980s VHS and Beta Max led to amateur home video
pornography which resulted in the decline of big budget pornos. 1
Then in 1990s everything changed with the
introduction of the internet and DVDs. Internet further declined the big budget
pornos since explicit material was now available online for free. The 2000s was
a huge turning point for pornography as internet became efficient and fast and
free online porn websites became available. People now had access to free porn
videos and any pornographic material.
Though with the introduction of the internet
many problems started arising. People got a little too kinky and started to
upload videos that were deemed obscene. Children at a very young age would be
exposed to explicit material which they should not be viewing that may
unintentionally pop up on websites. People exchanging nude pictures with one another
in so called private chat rooms might end making the rounds of social
networking sites and cause a big problem for the person involved. There is even
cartoon porn thanks to the internet.
The phenomenon known as “sex sells” became
even more popular with the internet. With the internet everyone had been
exposed to pornography and therefore it became a viable marketing strategy.
Nowadays every other commercial has some explicit material put in for no reason
but to make it appeal to the majority of viewers.
As discussed in class the whole concept of “sex
sells” objectified women. It portrayed women as just parts – breasts or butt.
The internet played a major role in objectifying women through unrealistic
portrayals in pornos or pictures. This all ties in to what we see today in the
real world. Pornography is all around us and mostly objectifies women be it in
a commercial about food to condoms to clothes. The internet has just taken this
concept and multiplied it by 100 as every other site contains some form of
explicit material.
Reference
1.
Moore, Crystal
. "The Contemporary Crisis in Sexuality." . (accessed April 29, 2014).
2.
Moore, Crystal
. "The Sexualized Society." . (accessed April 29, 2014).
