My chosen briefing paper is the '"Indecent" publications in shops' paper . This looks at the availability of soft pornography and so-called 'lads-mags' in newsagents and shops, and whether they should be banned. The paper specifically looks at the criticism from campaigners and groups such as the "Lose the Lads' mags" campaigners who believe the publications portray women as "dehumanised sex objects". However, the paper also looks at the guidelines that are currently in place for the displaying of these titles and whether these guidelines are sufficient to keep the publications out of the sight of children.
I will be applying the topic of feminism, and in particular radical feminism, which I will give a brief overview of, before raising any …show more content…
Radical feminists argued that the law tried to obscure or hide its bias through the use of neutral language, however the law was, and still is to this day, a male construct. One example of this, is the court process, which has a competitive and adversarial ethic that discourages compromise. This is clearly more suited to a masculine approach of reasoning than the female way of moral reasoning and sensitivity. The argument here is that the law is more suited to a male way of thinking, therefore men are more likely to find it easier to abide by the legal …show more content…
Consciousness raising is the major technique of analysis, method of practice and theory of social change of the women's movement . Catharine MacKinnon describes the process of consciousness raising as "the collective critical reconstruction of the meaning of women's social experience, as women live through it " This means that women, as a collective being and not as individuals, explore and express their experiences of suppression etc. According to MacKinnon, women's powerlessness has been found through consciousness raising to be both internalized and externally imposed e.g. femininity is identity to women and desirability to men .
Radical feminism treats gender equality issues as issues of dominance and the distribution of power. This enables writers such as MacKinnon etc to look beyond the orthodox and explore the impact of violence, pornography, abortion etc on feminist thinking .
The main argument in the briefing paper is that the availability of soft pornography and lads mags in newsagents and shops portrays women as "dehumanized sex objects" and a "lose the lads mags" campaign has been created in an attempt to stop high street supermarkets and newsagents from stocking such titles. Radical feminism would agree with this standpoint that soft pornography magazines help to objectify women and portray men as the dominant
I will be applying the topic of feminism, and in particular radical feminism, which I will give a brief overview of, before raising any …show more content…
Radical feminists argued that the law tried to obscure or hide its bias through the use of neutral language, however the law was, and still is to this day, a male construct. One example of this, is the court process, which has a competitive and adversarial ethic that discourages compromise. This is clearly more suited to a masculine approach of reasoning than the female way of moral reasoning and sensitivity. The argument here is that the law is more suited to a male way of thinking, therefore men are more likely to find it easier to abide by the legal …show more content…
Consciousness raising is the major technique of analysis, method of practice and theory of social change of the women's movement . Catharine MacKinnon describes the process of consciousness raising as "the collective critical reconstruction of the meaning of women's social experience, as women live through it " This means that women, as a collective being and not as individuals, explore and express their experiences of suppression etc. According to MacKinnon, women's powerlessness has been found through consciousness raising to be both internalized and externally imposed e.g. femininity is identity to women and desirability to men .
Radical feminism treats gender equality issues as issues of dominance and the distribution of power. This enables writers such as MacKinnon etc to look beyond the orthodox and explore the impact of violence, pornography, abortion etc on feminist thinking .
The main argument in the briefing paper is that the availability of soft pornography and lads mags in newsagents and shops portrays women as "dehumanized sex objects" and a "lose the lads mags" campaign has been created in an attempt to stop high street supermarkets and newsagents from stocking such titles. Radical feminism would agree with this standpoint that soft pornography magazines help to objectify women and portray men as the dominant