Reply #71: or all nuance ignored?

[iverglas]

Seems so Dworkin...

Seems so ... dismissive.



I found this one quite interesting.

http://critcrim.org/newsletter2/13_1_files/Page331.htm
(my emphasis, of course; lengthy article of which this is a short excerpt, the final paragraphs)

... We favor an interpretation that suggests that rape supportive attitudes and patriarchal attitudes are, to some extent, measuring the same latent construct that we label misogyny. Misogynistic men are more likely to view pornography. This hypothesis is consistent with the observation that much, perhaps most, pornography contains depictions and themes consistent with misogynistic attitudes (Cowan and Dunn 1994).

A critical approach requires us to question this type of causal modeling, however, and critically examine the nature of these attitude variables and what they represent. Connell’s (1987) concept of hegemonic masculinity provides a useful device for making theoretical sense of these data. We suggest that the correlations between these attitudinal and behavioral variables reflect a cluster of social practices through which some men express and reproduce the roles and identities Connell terms hegemonic masculinity. Readiness to commit violence, for example, is one way to demonstrate one’s masculinity (Kimmel 1999). Objectification and domination of women is another, hence the attraction of pornography, which in turn reproduces those views of women and sexuality.

The data set analyzed here includes other variables that appear to be correlated with pornography and rape support, and also lend themselves to the hegemonic masculinity hypothesis. For example, homophobia and excessive alcohol consumption are associated with the variables reported here. We intend to explore these relationships more fully in subsequent analyses.

In summary, these preliminary analyses do not support the hypothesis that pornography causes attitudes supportive of and perhaps conducive to rape. However, it appears that at least some pornography viewing is part of a cluster of attitudes and social practices that reproduce hegemonic masculinity via misogyny and direct or media produced sexual exploitation. In other words, rather than pornography causing men to want to rape or to believe that rape is acceptable, it appears that men who are committed to patriarchal ideology tend to be more accepting of rape and also tend to watch more pornography. Our rejection of the “pornography causes sexual violence” hypothesis is thus not an endorsement of pornography, nor is it a setback to the feminist critique of pornography. For example, the present study does not address the assertion that pornography per se is exploitative and harmful, not just because it causes violence (see, e.g., Dines, Jensen and Russo 1998).

... Such a multi-dimensional circle, isn't it?