Porn – how sex is sold back to us
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Children are being exposed to pornography at a younger age than ever before. Isabel Ringrose explains that porn is a symptom of commodification, sexism and violence in a capitalist society
Pornography is now increasingly common, increasingly available and increasingly normalised. Once, porn was denounced as a product of degraded liberalism. Now some celebrate it as an example of freedom and sexual openness. Neither of those reflect pornography’s roots in the commodification and sexualisation of women’s bodies.
It is this process that means porn portrays the worst of society’s stereotypes. Women’s bodies are there for the taking – to be commented on, bought, used or abused – while they have little agency over their own sex lives.
But the problem goes much deeper than porn itself. Even if we – or some state ban – removed porn from society, sexism wouldn’t melt away. If only it were that easy. Everything under capitalism becomes distorted as something to be sold and bought, including...
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