Pornification

Main article: Sexualization

Pornification is the absorption by mainstream culture of styles or content of the sex industry and the sexualisation of Western culture, sometimes referred to as raunch culture.[1] Pornification, particularly the use of sexualised images of women, is said to demonstrate "how patriarchal power operates in the field of gender representation".[2] In Women in Popular Culture, Marion Meyers argues that the portrayal of women in modern society is primarily influenced by "the mainstreaming of pornography and its resultant hypersexualization of women and girls, and the commodification of those images for a global market".[3] Pornification also features in discussions of post-feminism by Ariel Levy,[4] Natasha Walter,[5] Feona Attwood, and Brian McNair.[1][6] Pornography began to move into mainstream culture in the second half of the 20th century, now known as the Golden Age of Porn. Several Golden Age films referred to mainstream film titles, including "Alice in Wonderland" (1976), "Flesh Gordon" (1974), "The Opening of Misty Beethoven" (1976) and "Through the Looking Glass" (1976). Pornification is a product of the widespread availability of porn on the internet.[citation needed]

  1. ^ a b McNair, Brian (2009), "From porno-chic to porno-fear: the return of the repressed (Abstract)", in Attwood, Feona (ed.), Mainstreaming Sex: The Sexualisation of Western Culture, London: IB Taurus, pp. 110–130, ISBN 978-1-84511-827-3.
  2. ^ Woodward, Kath (2011), "Gendered bodies: gendered representations", in Woodward, Kath (ed.), The Short Guide to Gender, The Policy Press, University of Bristol, p. 85, ISBN 978-1-84742-763-2.
  3. ^ Meyers, Marian (May 2008). Women in Popular Culture: Representation and Meaning. Hampton Press.
  4. ^ Levy, Ariel (2006). Female chauvinist pigs: women and the rise of raunch culture. New York: Free Press. ISBN 9780743284288.
  5. ^ Walter, Natasha (2010). Living dolls: the return of sexism. London: Virago. ISBN 9781844084845.
  6. ^ McNair, Brian (2013). Porno? Chic!: how pornography changed the world and made it a better place. Abingdon, Oxon New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 9780203134153.