Introduction
Pornography is simply displaying sexual materials or rather sexual objects that may activate sexual desire in a person. In the past, sex was regarded as holy, and therefore, pornography was a taboo even to mention it. Today, things are not the way they used to be, and even the perception of pornography has also changed (Malamuth, Tamara and Mary 27). The technology is seen as the highest contributor of pornography and in the last twenty years, the pornographic rise has been realized even in the economic world. There are so many things that have contributed to the rise of pornography, such as policies, the internet, cultural transformation, as well as the economic boom. However, certain people and policies do not approve the pornographic world, meaning that its fall and rise has been experienced primarily within the last twenty years.
Pornography Before 1990 and Today
Before 1990, pornographic was seen as a taboo (American porn). People were not allowed to watch them, and those that did, they watched in private places where no intruder could see them. It was only viewed by married couples because the political laws in America could not allow porn in public lest people found watching or selling them were persecuted. Today, things are different and pornography is seen as the best business, not only in America but also in the whole world. So many pornographic industries have emerged, and so many porn stars have risen to make a living out of shooting pornographic videos and selling their nude photos. Again, the technology developed with the internet making it easier for many people even the unmarried and school going youngsters to watch porn anywhere they want using their laptops and smart phones.
Technological Changes on Porn
There has been a vast technological change that has seen the rise of porn throughout America. To start with, production has changed because of the new technology. There are two types of cameras that are cold and hot cameras. Hot cameras produce more explicit photos and videos than cold cameras. Therefore, people decide what kind of camera to use depending on the kind of popularity (Porn: Business of Pleasure). Again, smart phones enable people to take their nude photos and videos with their friends and share through the social media by the use of the internet (Walker, Lena and Meredith 670). They are distributed to the shopping centers, shops as well as online. There are vast stripping clubs where live porn is recorded using high cameras and distributed through projectors. Technology has also contributed to the consumption of pornographic materials. There are hard drives that can store them to be retrieved at owner’s most convenient time. High quality, magazines such as barely legal contains millions of nude girls, and they are readily available. Besides, many clubs shoot videos where people can record them using their smart phones and store in their phones. Most importantly, many people who can access the internet using their laptops and desktops have a high chance of downloading their favorite porn and storing it in their laptops.
Corporate Concentration that Contribute to Porn Growth and Mainstreaming
Corporate changes have led to the development and mainstreaming of porn. For instance, Hustler Hollywood is one of the biggest shops in America selling porn materials. It has glass windows so that people can view several erotic materials, even at a distance (Porn: Business of Pleasure). The principle reason for glass windows was to kill the stereotype that people have that sex is bad. They display things like nude magazines, sex videos, massage kits as well as vibrators which make people see and desire them and tend to buy even when they did not want to. They sell almost ten thousand videos in a month, meaning that the profit margin in this firm is very huge, making other industries selling porn to arise and capture such profits. Again, companies such as AT&T and Yahoo are making lots of money from selling porn materials, and this makes them sell even more to make more money.
Policy Decisions and Political Priorities
When George H. W. Bush was in the State House, policy decisions to do with pornography were strict and anyone found involving in porn business was prosecuted. However, things changed when Bill Clinton took over as the 42th president of United States in 1993. He appointed Janet Reno as his Attorney General, and they both had a relaxed attitude about things to do with pornography. They had no or little interests in prosecuting those involved in the porn business, and therefore, those people who were prevented by Bush’s administration found it convenient to engage in this booming business during Clinton’s administration. This made it easy for pornography to expand.
American Culture Today
After vivid exposure of porn in America, America culture has today a different say on pornography. Most of the experts in America, religious groups as well as anti-pornography crusaders have emerged to criticize what most Americans view as a lifestyle. American Psychiatric Association has also emerged to condemn mainstreaming of pornography, claiming that it has a psychological effect on the users. Most viewers become addicts, with majority engaging in sexual violence against children and women and also lead to marriage breakups. Today, most Americans believe that pornography is dehumanizing, violent and also degrading and that it is a shame for women and children. Therefore, American culture is today against mainstreaming of pornography.
Pornography and Obscenity
Pornography can be defined as any sexual material which causes sexual desires after watching or viewing. Some of the pornographic materials believed to cause sexual desires are nude pictures and sex tapes. Hustler Hollywood also sells things like vibrators which attract ladies after realizing that it can arouse them in the absence of a gentleman. On the other hand, obscenity is the act of behaving in an unwanted or offensive manner such as watching pornographic materials. In the United States, pornography is legal, but obscenity is illegal (Nead 34). Again, not all pornography qualifies to be obscene even in the eyes of the law. Therefore, pornography is illegal when it is hardcore and when it presents things to do with masturbation and displaying genitals and excretory organs, and when accessed and stored by the minors.
Forces within the Industry to Look Into
Just like any other business, the porn industry has some forces that try to bring this business down as experienced by the already established industries. Some of these forces are blemished supply chains, the piracy of content as well as abuse of labor (Brown 330). When such forces arise in other industries, they are dealt with, but this is not the case in porn industries. These forces go unnoticed, and they are not discussed simply because of the social taboos that people have. These businesses fear to keep official records of their sales and production, and still, only a few researchers are interested in looking into porn industries. When big industries produce porn materials, other small industries might steal the content through the internet and make it their own (Brown 336). Changes in Internet and Technology Affecting Porn Industry
Technology has become the most crucial thing in today’s world. Almost every homestead, food kiosks, restaurants, and pubs have embraced the new technology. Similarly, internet usage is on the rise and people have adopted a new digital life of owning smart phones, tablets, and laptops. Since the internet is easily accessible, many people view and watch pornographic materials online, and therefore, they do not need to buy DVDs or hard drives anymore. This has affected porn industries that depended on selling porn DVD or magazines because only a few people are interested in them. Again, many people prefer privacy and watching online is more private than buying a DVD, which is hard to hide from the eyes of other people.
Economic Downturn Affecting Porn Industry
In the past, the porn industry was well known as a multibillion business making around $10billion in a year (Hardy 62). Many people who were jobless before were employed by the porn industry, and this boosted the economy of United States. Many ladies had their nude photos published in a magazine that cost $35000 only to earn a profit of $10million. Females made about $1000 just for oral sex with other females, and the same business employed accounting personnel among other positions (Porn: Business of Pleasure). Many people paid to watch the porn videos, and many others bought DVD to watch at home with their families. This means that porn industry helped in the growth of the economy, but not anymore because what people found worth buying is now available for free. People would rather watch for free than using their money to buy them, and this has created unemployment, and the DVDs which were there before are laying on shelves which have obviously registered huge loses, and this has made the economy go down.
Recent Law Enforcement
When George. H. W Bush was in the office, he was determined to use law-enforcement to persecute those Americans found in possession of porn materials, either watching or selling them (Richards and Clay 233). However, the administration of Clinton was less concerned about it giving people more power to engage in the porn business. Americans thought that after Bush succeeded Clinton, law enforcement on porn would change, but Bush had many things to think about on how to combat terrorism than the porn industry. Today, things are still the same and the law enforcement seems to give people a green light to do all they wish about pornography. The only law enforcement put in place is about child pornography, which does not allow the production and/or distribution of images of child sexual abuse no matter whether the image is real or virtual (Krause 53).
Other Factors towards the Crisis of Porn Industry
The perception of people especially the Christians has affected the porn industry. Many people believe that porn is against the Biblical teachings, and those found in the porn materials are sinners and outcasts (Driscoll 26). Therefore, for people to protect their dignity they fear to act, and this affects the porn industry. Again, the emergence of killer diseases such as HIV/AIDS has made so many people to fear for their lives, hence withdrawing from participating in porn videos. This has also affected porn industry dramatically. Most importantly, the majority of porn producers fear that law enforcement may change at some time in future, and for them to be on the safe side, they withdraw from such businesses.
Conclusion
Conclusively, it is vivid that pornographic industry has registered a huge rise in the market due to a high number of people interested in watching them. Again, many industries have emerged to deliver to people what they want, and this has led to economic stability. So many have been employed by porn business, and this has reduced the rate of unemployment in the United States. However, it cannot be ignored that porn materials pollute the minds of people, brings about shame to women and children, and also, it leads to violence against women and children.
Works Cited
American Porn. Retrieved from; http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn/
Porn: Business of Pleasure. Retrieved from; http://www.cnbc.com/porn-business-of-pleasure/
Brown, Steven C. Porn piracy: An overlooked Phenomenon in Need of Academic Investigation. Porn Studies 1.3 (2014): 326-330.
Driscoll, Mark. Porn-again Christian. Рипол Классик, 2009.
Hardy, Simon. The pornography of reality. Sexualities 11.1-2 (2008): 60-64.
Krause, Jason. THE END OF THE NET PORN WARS: Despite Big Talk, Federal Efforts against Adult Obscenity Online have Withered. ABA Journal94.2 (2008): 52-56.
Malamuth, Neil M., Tamara Addison, and Mary Koss. Pornography and Sexual Aggression: Are there reliable effects and can we understand them? Annual review of sex research 11.1 (2000): 26-91.
Nead, Lynda. The Female Nude: Art, Obscenity and Sexuality. Routledge, 2002.
Richards, Robert D., and Clay Calvert. Obscenity Prosecutions and the Bush Administration: The Inside Perspective of the Adult Entertainment Industry & Defense Attorney Louis Sirkin. Vill. Sports & Ent. LJ 14 (2007): 233.
Walker, Shelley, Lena Sanci, and Meredith Temple-Smith. Sexting: Young Women's and Men's Views on its Nature and Origins. Journal of Adolescent Health 52.6 (2013): 697-701.
