Pornography is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as "the depiction of erotic behavior in a sensational manner so as to cause intense sexual excitement." Pornography has traditionally been consumed from print and video technologies, but its availability online have played a revolutionary role in the social organization and distribution of pornography. The internet is a social space that offers a greater variety of images to a larger audience at typically lower cost. Research suggests that over 40 million Americans have at least once in their lifetime consumed pornography and that approximately 35% of all internets download are related to pornography. Pornography as an industry has annual profits, although contested, in the billions. Similarly to sex work, however, "pornography continues by most definitions to be considered deviant (non-normative behavior and tends to be met with negative social reactions. Negative reactions has manifested mostly by the implementations of state controls within the limitations of the law." Sexuality tends to be one of the most problematic areas of people's lives because it is subject to strong social controls and to endless conflict and negotiation with others. Within this context, you are to respond to the following questions regarding the status of pornography as deviant. All responses are to be supported.
(a). Drawing from class materials as to the relationship between sex and deviance, develop an argument as to why pornography is viewed as deviant.
(b). What is, if any, the impact of gender on your analysis, for instance does your analysis change if a woman or a man consumes the pornography? Is the subject of the pornographic presentation?
(c). Compare and contrast how opposing feminists' arguments highlighted in the discussion on prostitution would perceive the relationship between pornography and deviance.
(d). Finally, considering pornography is a profitable business, explain whether or not informal (spending money on a gold toilet for one's office) or formal (insider trading) acts of elite deviance perpetrated by those in a publicly traded company (e.g. Apple) would be as stigmatized as acts perpetrated by those involved in pornography.