Pornland: How porn has hijacked our sexuality (My review)

In the last year or so, I have become increasingly interested by the 'study' of pornography and the effect is has on those who use it. I think it began when I joined a facebook group called "Stop adult magazines being sold at convenience stores". This lead to me doing my own research on the subject and becoming incredibly disheartened with what I learned.

I heard about a documentary about porn, entitled The Price of Pleasure. I was interested to see it but I learned it included clips of hardcore pornography (surprisingly enough!) so I decided I didn't want to watch it. Instead I was pointed towards a book by Gail Dines, called Pornland: How porn has hijacked our sexuality. Gail Dines has studied pornography for several decades, and also founded www.pornharms.com.

So, for starters, it took me awhile to track down the book, and I every time I was in a bookstore and asked if they had it, I got strange looks. ("We're not that kind of bookstore!"Haha.) I found it online and started reading it. It was absolutely fascinating to me, but at time very confronting and uncomfortable.

Gail Dines recounts the history of pornography in our culture, starting with pornographic magazines like Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler, and shows how they have lead into the mainstreaming of porn today. She provides information about the billion dollar porn industry, and the economics behind it. She also dedicates certain chapters to racism in pornography, and to child pornography.

The majority of the book is about 'gonzo' porn. Gonzo porn is a particular genre of porn that is based on violent, humiliating, body punishing acts done by men to women. The very intention is to cause the woman as much pain as possible, to dehumanize and degrade her as much as possible- all while remembering that she loves and enjoys it. Apparently. I won't go into any more detail about this other than to say it could be quite upsetting.

Gonzo porn is becoming very prevalent, and according to Gail Dines, if you googled "porn", you will get a lot of this. Perhaps you see how this could potentially be a problem as even primary school aged boys are exposed to these kind of acts online as their first experience of what sex is, with nothing to compare it to. And statistics say 92% of children 8-16 has come across porn online, accidentally or not.

Another large segment of the book was devoted to how porn has become normalised and a part of our lives without us realizing. Fashions are inspired by porn and pornographic brands are on everything from bed sheets to pencil cases.

Gail Dines has done a fantastic job and this book is very informative as well as logical. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject, and especially anyone who thinks porn is harmless.