Just a John? Pornography and Men's Choices.

I came across this book in the library a few weeks ago and couldn't resist.  It's a collection of essays written by various pro-feminist men.  I really recommend this--and don't just put it on your "to-read" list--get it now :)  The essays are short enough so that you can pick one up and read it in 10-15 minutes; I've been using them as quick breaks from homework.  Tonight I read "Just a John? Pornography and Men's Choices" by Robert Jensen.  While I don't agree with everything Jensen wrote, this is an excellent essay with many important points. Here's a preview until you can grab a copy for yourself:

  

"Take a system that values profit over everything, and combine it with a system of male supremacy, and you get a situation where pornography is increasingly mainstream and normalized; it is made into everyday experience.  Pornography is profitable when men take it as their right to consume women’s sexuality.  When women join in the patterns of producing and consuming pornography, they join in a practice of exploitation and objectification…I’m going to say nothing in regard to what women should do…I do, however, take it as my place to talk to men.  I take it as a political and ethical responsibility to engage in critical self-reflection and to be accountable for my behavior…Do you want to participate in a system in which women are sold for sexual pleasure, whether in prostitution, pornography, strip clubs, or in any other aspect of the sex industry?  Do you want to live in a world in which some people are bought and sold for the sexual pleasure of others?"

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"When we ask such questions, one of the first things we will hear is: These are important issues, but we shouldn’t make men feel guilty about buying sexual pleasure.  Why not?  …Johns should feel guilty when they buy women.  Guilt is an appropriate response to an act that is unjust.  Guilt can be a sign that we have violated our own ethical norms.  It can be part of a process of ending the injustice..." 

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"When you create a sex-class that can be bought and sold, the people in that group—in this instance, women—will inevitably be treated as lesser, as available to be controlled and abused."

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"We can see that pornography not only raises issues about the buying and selling of

women, but -- if we can remain ruthless and not shrink from our own discoveries -- about

sex in general, about the way in which men and women in this culture are commonly

trained to be sexual. It’s not just about pimps and johns and the women prostituted. It’s

about men and women, and sex and power. If throughout this discussion you have been

thinking, “Well, that’s not me -- I never pay for it,” don’t be so sure. It’s not just about

who pays for it and who doesn’t. It’s about the fundamental nature of the relationship between men and women, and how that plays out in sex and intimacy.  And if you think this doesn’t affect you because you are one of the “good men,” don’t be so sure. I’m told that I am one of those good men. I work in a feminist movement. I have been part of groups that critique men’s violence and the sex industry. And I struggle with these issues all the time. I was trained to be a man in this culture, and that training doesn’t evaporate overnight. None of us is off the hook."

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Jensen's point is that we should take responsibility for our choices.  He takes "it as a political and ethical responsibility to engage in critical self-reflection and to be accountable for my behavior" and he expects other men to do the same.

If you're gonna be a john, acknowledge the implications of your actions. If you buy and sell women, be a man and take responsibility for that.  There are no excuses.