Trust a feminist lesbian from the 60’s to vouch to have Porn in school. Imagine- “Today kids we will be discussing ‘dirty pictures and for your homework you can either make a video of your housemate jerking off or write a 1500 word essay examining whether females can connect with their ‘inner male’…oh and also please read chapter four of ‘The writings for prostitutes”
You might cringe at this point or stop reading in fear of what will follow, but like it or lump it, although living in ignorance of the $8 billion dollar porn industry has worked out so far for you, you better get used to talking about it. The fact is that Porn, Smut, dirty movies, etc, well folks, it isn’t going anywhere, nope, contrary to popular maxim the adult film industry is large enough to potentially be the deciding factor in the battle for format dominance between Blue Ray and High definition DVD- throw in a bunch of cable shows, satellite television, Internet sites, magazines, strip clubs and other novelties, then you’ve got one, brimming, over-grown, fully erect, in a manner of speaking, global conglomerate literally bursting with job opportunities- but ‘shh’ no sex please, we’re British.
We’ll ignore the fact that we English have the highest rates of teenage sexual activity in the industrialised world.
Britain is the country that produced the original vibrator in 1883, only we called it a ‘Peculeur’ and prescribed as a treatment for women with hysteria, ‘Nerve- Vibration and Excitation as Agents in the Treatment of functional Disorder and Organic Disease’. It took the British Public till the 1920’s to make the connection between the ‘Peculeur’ and sexual pleasure, by which point it became shameful and virtually disappeared until the second half the 20th Century. I might go as far as to say that the vibrator only entirely became an acceptable conversation topic in Britain after the now infamous ‘Rammat Rabbit’ was featured in an episode of the popular American sit-com Sex and the City.
The mention of sex in the UK automatically triggers a humour reflex; think a lot of ‘Carry on’ style ‘ooo ers’ and face pulling – a psychological quip so that we don’t all turn into awkward, tongue tied public school boys or over zealous giggling adolescent females.
You can imagine then, our shock and dismay at those ‘crazy’ Americans out there in La La Land suggested that ‘Porn Studies’ deserves a place in Academia. We wouldn’t be alone either.
Since the introduction of these academic studies into Pornography, University employees have been inundated by calls from lawmakers after disgusted citizens ordered an investigation into how the tax dollars are being spent, surely not to allow students to watch Porn in the classroom.
‘Pornography, regardless of what people may think of it is an important part of the artistic media, film, video and the internet, It’s omnipresent’, argues Peter Coham, a lecturer at Arizona state University, who teaches the class ‘Sexuality in the Media’. Not convinced? How about Politics of Sexual Representation? no? Maybe, Sexual Literacy and Society?
‘I could put together a syllabus in Porn Studies no problem’, says Mike Gornall, senior lecturer in Film and Media at the University of Central Lancashire, ‘It’s just the question of what we would be hoping to achieve from such a class. In fact contrary to what students might think they would find it very dull and boring. There’s no problem justifying its existence- Porn has always been present throughout history, from Advent Garde to San Fernando Valley in the 70’s to the Porn Industry today’
Lisa Cullen, writing for time magazine argues that porn has become so unambiguous in society, ‘its almost irresponsible not to teach young people how to deal with it’
As human beings, explains Paul Martin, writer of ‘Sex, Drugs and Chocolate: The Science of Pleasure’, we belong to a very sexual species, capable of being more lustful and inventive than the Bonobo. (the ‘Bonobo’ for the many of you wondering is our closest biological relatives who possess an extensive sexual repertoire, in addition to conventional male and female intercourse, bonobos....I’ll let the curious do there own research here)
‘The lure of sexual pleasure is so powerful that people will find ways of obtaining it even in difficult situations’, continues Martin. We are the only big brained mammals, excluding the dolphins, whose sexual behaviour isn’t shackled to reproduction. According to Martin, ‘most human sexual activity takes place when reproduction is impossible and in that sense it’s largely recreational’
‘The bottom line’, remarks Mike Gornall of UCLAN, ‘I don’t see anything wrong with Uclan offering such a course in Porn studies, but put it this way, I wouldn’t want to be the one to introduce that sort of course’. Why? ‘Because I imagine the backlash of offering such a course would be huge. It would be bad for the university’.
Ah so there you have it folks, shut the curtains, dim the lights, take your clothes off – and we’ll all pretend its not happening.
If Freud was around today I wonder what he’d make of all this. An average of $89 a second is estimated to be generated from porn, the statistics speak for their selves really, just don’t expect it in a classroom near you anytime soon.
You might cringe at this point or stop reading in fear of what will follow, but like it or lump it, although living in ignorance of the $8 billion dollar porn industry has worked out so far for you, you better get used to talking about it. The fact is that Porn, Smut, dirty movies, etc, well folks, it isn’t going anywhere, nope, contrary to popular maxim the adult film industry is large enough to potentially be the deciding factor in the battle for format dominance between Blue Ray and High definition DVD- throw in a bunch of cable shows, satellite television, Internet sites, magazines, strip clubs and other novelties, then you’ve got one, brimming, over-grown, fully erect, in a manner of speaking, global conglomerate literally bursting with job opportunities- but ‘shh’ no sex please, we’re British.
We’ll ignore the fact that we English have the highest rates of teenage sexual activity in the industrialised world.
Britain is the country that produced the original vibrator in 1883, only we called it a ‘Peculeur’ and prescribed as a treatment for women with hysteria, ‘Nerve- Vibration and Excitation as Agents in the Treatment of functional Disorder and Organic Disease’. It took the British Public till the 1920’s to make the connection between the ‘Peculeur’ and sexual pleasure, by which point it became shameful and virtually disappeared until the second half the 20th Century. I might go as far as to say that the vibrator only entirely became an acceptable conversation topic in Britain after the now infamous ‘Rammat Rabbit’ was featured in an episode of the popular American sit-com Sex and the City.
The mention of sex in the UK automatically triggers a humour reflex; think a lot of ‘Carry on’ style ‘ooo ers’ and face pulling – a psychological quip so that we don’t all turn into awkward, tongue tied public school boys or over zealous giggling adolescent females.
You can imagine then, our shock and dismay at those ‘crazy’ Americans out there in La La Land suggested that ‘Porn Studies’ deserves a place in Academia. We wouldn’t be alone either.
Since the introduction of these academic studies into Pornography, University employees have been inundated by calls from lawmakers after disgusted citizens ordered an investigation into how the tax dollars are being spent, surely not to allow students to watch Porn in the classroom.
‘Pornography, regardless of what people may think of it is an important part of the artistic media, film, video and the internet, It’s omnipresent’, argues Peter Coham, a lecturer at Arizona state University, who teaches the class ‘Sexuality in the Media’. Not convinced? How about Politics of Sexual Representation? no? Maybe, Sexual Literacy and Society?
‘I could put together a syllabus in Porn Studies no problem’, says Mike Gornall, senior lecturer in Film and Media at the University of Central Lancashire, ‘It’s just the question of what we would be hoping to achieve from such a class. In fact contrary to what students might think they would find it very dull and boring. There’s no problem justifying its existence- Porn has always been present throughout history, from Advent Garde to San Fernando Valley in the 70’s to the Porn Industry today’
Lisa Cullen, writing for time magazine argues that porn has become so unambiguous in society, ‘its almost irresponsible not to teach young people how to deal with it’
As human beings, explains Paul Martin, writer of ‘Sex, Drugs and Chocolate: The Science of Pleasure’, we belong to a very sexual species, capable of being more lustful and inventive than the Bonobo. (the ‘Bonobo’ for the many of you wondering is our closest biological relatives who possess an extensive sexual repertoire, in addition to conventional male and female intercourse, bonobos....I’ll let the curious do there own research here)
‘The lure of sexual pleasure is so powerful that people will find ways of obtaining it even in difficult situations’, continues Martin. We are the only big brained mammals, excluding the dolphins, whose sexual behaviour isn’t shackled to reproduction. According to Martin, ‘most human sexual activity takes place when reproduction is impossible and in that sense it’s largely recreational’
‘The bottom line’, remarks Mike Gornall of UCLAN, ‘I don’t see anything wrong with Uclan offering such a course in Porn studies, but put it this way, I wouldn’t want to be the one to introduce that sort of course’. Why? ‘Because I imagine the backlash of offering such a course would be huge. It would be bad for the university’.
Ah so there you have it folks, shut the curtains, dim the lights, take your clothes off – and we’ll all pretend its not happening.
If Freud was around today I wonder what he’d make of all this. An average of $89 a second is estimated to be generated from porn, the statistics speak for their selves really, just don’t expect it in a classroom near you anytime soon.
ur forgetting all the illegal downloads of porn as well...i mean thats the only way i watch it!!! (too much info?!...naaaaarghh)
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