The government is engaging in yet another war against pirated VCDs, this time to protect the Malaysian sensibilities from the "evil" of pornography. So what exactly is the impact of pornography on the Malaysian public consciousness? We rarely discuss matters of sexuality, deeming it as automatically "immoral". As such, is pornography merely one rung below the normal standard of "immorality"? Or do we have cause for concern that pornography has a deeper damaging effect on our social relationships?

There are many debates surrounding the issue of pornography. The Oxford Dictionary defines pornography as "(D)escription of life, manners etc. of prostitutes and their patrons [from porne meaning "harlot" and graphein meaning "to write"]; hence the expression or suggestion of obscene or unchaste subjects in literature or arts." In other words, pornography consists of depiction, whether in written, pictorial or moving imagery format, of things which are perversely sexual in nature. The reason "perversely" is accentuated, is to draw attention to the fact that pornography is a gross misrepresentation healthy sexual relations.

If we examine the content of pornography in general (separated from the genre of erotica), it is largely created for the consumption of heterosexual men. The essence of pornography lies in the portrayal of sexual activity as fantasized (or as instructed to be fantasized) by men. The fundamental character of pornography reflects this clearly: the inevitable portrayal of women either in subdued, diminished or subjugated positions - and enjoying it - or as wanton seductresses and temptresses who wants nothing more than be satisfied sexually by men. The plots are simple, and often irrelevant. It brings to mind an episode of Friends where Joey and Chandler somehow stumbled upon free pornography on their satellite TV. They were subsequently incredulous that the pizza deliverer did not offer herself as well as the pizza, as with the bank teller who merely did her banking job and nothing "naughty" as an extra, both admitting finally that they have to "turn off the porn" as it was distorting the reality of day-to-day relationships and encounters.

But such is the nature of pornography. The typical depiction of women (and increasingly, young children) as "virgin" or "whore" in pornography reinforces tiresomely what a man expects a woman to be sexually.

It panders to the patriarchal propaganda where women are primarily objects seen as serving no further purpose than to satisfy the male "right" to sexual fulfillment. This effectively denies women the right to be held as individual, autonomous human beings, even at the most intimate levels of human experience.

As it is, women's right to sexuality has been stifled to silence using the heavy cultural notion of "shame". With the corresponding message sent by pornography which exists to continuously reassert the sexual rights of men over women, it is small wonder that sexist attitudes continue to flourish in our society, from dirty jokes to rape.

So does the proliferation of rape and other forms of sexual crimes have anything to do with the proliferation of cheap VCD pornography? Undeniably, the unequal gender relations propagated by pornography contribute to the perception of power and domination over women using sex as a weapon. Not only that, the increasing violence in pornography - or hard core pornography - endorses the message of misogyny and violence against women. It even helps to excuse the rapist as pornography continues to demonstrate women as disembodied sexual organs that actually enjoy or ask for such domination. When pornography becomes accepted, the message that violence against women also becomes normalized and excused.

The fact that images of women being violated, raped, bound, beaten and chained are seen as sexually stimulating is greatly disturbing. There have also been studies which show that convicted rapists (some of them being youths and children), marital sexual assaulters and paedophiles "borrowed" some of their "techniques" or have been influenced by pornographic materials.

Not only that, in our culture that keeps silent over open discussion of sexuality, young people often find their initiation into the adult world of sexual relations through pornographic literature, magazines or VCDs. Young men are then receiving distorted education that male sexual dominance is expected and that women want to be denigrated. Young women on the other hand are taught that their role in sexual relations is one of submission and subjugation, and that pleasure can only be derived vicariously through the pleasuring of men. This creates a perfect environment for sexual crimes against women.

So will the eradication of VCD pornography from the streets be sufficient to curb such dangerous messages? Not really. When there is outright censorship, it will only create a black market because it does not address the demand.

Pornography is merely the extreme end of negative portrayals of women in mass media. From literature to commercials to films, women's image is rarely positive or accurate, and is often placed at a lesser status with men. Our reticence over open and constructive dialogue about sexual relations does not help bring visibility to this issue. Perhaps the solution lies in sex education for both the young and old on healthy and equal relationships between men and women based on respect. Maybe then, when there is pornography offer on sale, we can trust our Malaysian public to make a voluntary informed choice to refuse because they can see the harm that it causes beyond the television screen.

Jaclyn Kee
13 July 2003

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