Stop Clicking

http://blog.ted.com/cindy_gallop_ma/

 

In a world that is so dominated by men, it is easy for women to feel pressured into doing things that make them feel uncomfortable or believing that they have to please the man. Unfortunately, much of the time a man feels like he has the right to have sex with whoever he wants and it will be solely his choice, not the female’s involved. As rape culture in universities is on the rise, it is only becoming more and more present that sometimes men do not think about a woman consenting and do not see her agreement as a necessity before having sexual intercourse.  With the internet so easily accessible and housing so many porn sites which are regularly trafficked by teenagers primarily boys, this seems to be the most prominent source of sexual “education”. Though, hardcore pornography is certainly not a reasonable or reliable source for people to educate themselves about sexual intercourse. Basing real life interactions off of hardcore pornography is not the way to foster healthy sexual relationships.

As Cindy Gallop argues in her TED talk, hardcord pornography can set up unrealistc expectations for both the men and women involved in these sexual acts. It can make the man feel like he has to do things that are not “normal” or healthy sexual behaviors. These violent behaviors and actions can translate into men feeling that they have the right to dominate women and in many cases this can turn into abusive relationships. Hardcore pornography is teaching teenagers from a young age all the wrong things about sex. In Cindy Gallop’s example, she mentions how in hardcore pornography, kinky actions such as a man cumming on a woman’s face can set up men and women believing that this is what is socially normal and acceptable. In reality, sex should be something that both people are willingly agreeing to and involve things that will make both parties comfortable. The culture that hardcore pornography has set up leaves too much grey area for men to take advantage of women and women to be placed into compromising positions because they think that it is what the men want and what is expected of them. Our society has to move to educate our youth better about healthy sexual relationships. Parents and schools need to take the initiative to try and put an end to sexual violence and gender roles of men dominating women. Today is the day that our society needs to take a stand and agree to collectively work to help prevent these issues before more tragic incidents take place.