Pornography is the objectification of females as body part(s),oe else why do males refer to females by those parts -- "c___t," "ho," "hooters"?

Should females refer to males by their body parts as terms of endearment (or would that be terms that violate human dignity)?

Objectification is the prelude to violence, as it is easy -- ask any soldier -- to do violence to that which is thought of as inferior.

Thoughts are framed by words, and words that frame females primarily as body parts, rather than as human beings with minds, spirits and bodies, prepare the foundation for acts of violence.

The same is true of terrorists who call Americans heretics deserving only of having their heads cut off. Hitler used the same technique when he compared Jews to rats as carriers of disease, the disease he perceived being that of the uncivilized, the inferior.

Pornography: porno (slave) + graphein (to depict) -- the slavemaster had the unilateral right to view and use the body of the slave, and the slave, as a corollary, had no rights at all. Thus the slave had no future.

Do those who are used in the "body part depictions" known as pornography have futures like the rest of us? How about the children who are used in "body part depictions" -- say under l8 years of age. Try seeing them as mind + spirit + body and then ask how each of those aspects of a whole human being is affected by being depicted as body parts.

Is that violence or not? Is that a different future than yours or not?
How does one get a child to pose for pornographic pictures in the first place? There is coercion involved a.k.a. violence -- not something in the futures of consumers of porn.

Then, are the human beings depicted in porn living lives that are different from those of the consumers of porn? Education or no education, good job prospects or no good job prospects, high self esteem or no self esteem, future or no future, violence free or violated?

How unusual a lawyer from the USA got it wrong.

Pornography (from Greek (porni) "prostitute" and ; (grafi) "writing").

I wonder if anyone has done a study on porn and blindness. :)

The bottom line is - if you have not been bashed ++++ and raped ++ as I was (by two men who dragged me off the street behind a church), I say that you do not have a clue.

Reply to Steve Madden:

Yes, that is a Websterian problem. But what of the real world? I do see the lives of prostitutes as akin to that of the enslaved, if being enslaved means what I said in my earlier comment about different futures, dictated by sexual whims of others. That means having to spend 24-7 of your time not being educated, not having a good job, not having a future like the consumers of porn....

So, is there a difference between the lives of prostitutes and those of slaves? In ancient Greece there was not. Being "on call" for the purpose of being viewed, or being used for the gratification of another, is not my idea of freedom.

What do you think of the rest of my comments about objectification of females by reducing them to body parts? And your vocabulary? How does it compare, on a scale of human dignity or the lack of it? Do you use or think the words I referred to?

In Australia, prostitutes are private entrepreneurs who make good money with far less exertion and in better work conditions than many other workers.

Male and female prostitutes do it because the pay is good, previous work experience is not required, the hours are short and flexible and with few limitations they are their own bosses. The industry is well regulated.

If prostitutes are living the lives of slaves what about the wage slaves who only have their physical labours to sell? Actually, what about the knowledge workers who are getting screwed over with ten hour shifts on eight hours pay and forget the sick leave and other conditions? (Some of us have worked for partners like that.)

Feminists have banged on about 'sex workers' for years, however the same workers have told them to butt out. There is a lesson in there somewhere.

One thing which has always puzzled me greatly:- how the hell does one collate statistics on "unreported" rape or sexual abuse?

Oh, and Hawaiilawyer: you may not be familiar with Aussie culture - or rather you cannot be - we don't use words like "ho" or "bitches" as generics for female very much over here. We do however make great use of "di**head" "tool" etc. so it would be safe to say that in the objectification stakes as illustrated by language both genders run about equal. Doesn't seem to have affected the statistics in a markedly different manner. If, that is, one is naive enough to accept that incidents of rape in both our countries have decreased by 50%.