Pornography: Sin or Sexual

By Jay Boehmer and Lauren Gross

por•nog•ra•phy (pôr-nôg're-fe) n. Pictures, writing, or films designed to arouse sexual excitement.

Pornography in video form has been a favorite pastime for decades. But while some may enjoy pornography for sexual and visual entertainment, others see it as useless and harmful.

"Pornography is an enormous category. There is no such thing as pornography with a capital P," said Joseph Slade, a professor in Ohio University's School of Telecommunications.

Pornography is a $4.3 billion industry that includes dozens of genres, Slade said. Nearly 11,000 "hard-core" videos were produced in the United States last year; 2,000 of them were feature films.

When pornographic films were introduced, viewers had to watch them in theaters. With the introduction of home video and the Internet, adult films today are more accessible than previously thought possible, said Brad Hirsch, director of marketing at Vivid Entertainment Group. Vivid currently is one of the leading producers of adult films in the world, producing more than 80 new titles per year.

Slade, who has been writing about pornography for years, has published two books - Pornography in America: A Reference Handbook and Pornography and Sexual Representation: a Reference Guide. The former is for advanced high school and college study, and the latter is a three-volume reference text for scholarly work.

Most of the research published about pornography is "rubbish," Slade said. His books inform readers about what already has been written.

"Most of what people know about sexuality is folklore anyway," he said.

For the past 11 to 12 years Slade has immersed himself in pornography. So far he has viewed more than seven thousand videos, seen hundreds of thousands of photos and read endless pages of text.

"Like many people, I was interested because it seemed like a painless way for sexual stimulation," Slade said. "I'm rarely stimulated by this stuff anymore."

Although child pornography is illegal in the United States, Slade said that many films with children in them exist. Most of these are made in Asian countries, and law enforcement officials in the United States use them to trap pedophiles.

One question that interests Slade is how pornography refreshes itself and continues to be popular.

"It's not an art form because it is a bunch of raw hard bodies doing something that takes absolutely no skill, exploiting our natural instincts," said Patrick Horne, a senior telecommunications major. "I've watched a lot of porn, and I've never seen one beautifully filmed."

Although many people share this opinion, pornography still commands a large audience.

Vivid's vast popularity is due much in part to its "Vivid Girls," who some say are the hottest starlets in the industry today, Hirsch said. They include such famous adult entertainers as Chasey Laine, Janine and Devon.

"Each girl has their own fan base - her own groups of fans," Hirsch said. "They're all our bestsellers."

Since its formation in 1984, Vivid has continued to expand its pornographic empire. Last year alone, the company chalked up $80 million in sales.

"Vivid markets towards the mainstream," Hirsch said. "Vivid has always tried to run itself like a mainstream movie studio."

In addition to its lucrative distribution of home videos, the company operates two pay-per-view channels - The Hot Network and The Hot Zone - and also has constructed a successful Web site.

"Like any successful business, we utilize any vehicle possible," Hirsch said. "Although you can't see full-length films, but you can watch pieces of them on the Internet."

Vivid dismisses critics by insisting its videos are made for a mature audience and the decision to watch them falls solely on the individual.

"We live in a free society. If you don't like what we do, don't watch it," Hirsch said. "You can either watch these films or not watch these films."

Pornography is a woman's occupation, Slade said.

"Women walk away with the profits. Males get paid a lot less," he said.

He said that Jenna Jameson, one of the field's most notorious actresses, makes as much as $5000 a scene, but her male counterparts are likely to make no more than $500.

"Rarely is porn set out to trash women," Slade said.

"I think that there are a multiplicity of views on this subject in feminism," said Susan Burgess, director of OU's Women's Studies Program.

Burgess said that some feminists, such as Catherine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin, have focused on the harm pornography can do to women in terms of both objectification and promoting violence against women. Some feminists have tried to pas laws in various cities that would hold pornographers responsible for harm pornography causes women.

While MacKinnon and Dworkin are well-known feminists, they worked in coalition with political conservatives. Former President Ronald Reagan's Attorney General, Ed Meese, vocally supported such legislation. Burgess said some cities considered the laws and passed them, but eventually the Federal Court of Appeals struck them down.

But some feminists were against the legislation.

"They said these laws could lead to serious restrictions on women's sexuality," Burgess said.

A similar law stating it's more important to protect women from harm was passed in Canada. As a result, a lot of pornographic mediums not considered "hard-core" were held at the border.

Another aspect of the pornography controversy is the debate over what actually is harmful.

"On one hand I can see that there would be a concern with violence against women because it is a serious problem," Burgess said. "But on the other, I'm not in favor of allowing the state to regulate sexuality. It's complicated."

With upwards of 1,900 titles in its back room, Athens Video, 600 E. State St., holds one of the city's largest selections of adult videos. Last month the store rented out 353 XXX features, including videos that cater to straight, gay, bisexual and "fetish" clientele.

"If you want plot, don't look here," joked Athens Video employee Kevin Glidden joked of the "porn" room.

Glidden said the video store rents most of its porn on Sunday mornings; the Loud Screamers series consistently is its best seller.

Apart from video rental stores, Athens has no market that specifically provides adult entertainment. But with online catalogues and Internet distributors, finding porn is not a challenge for anyone who seeks it.