Porning Politics: How Pornification is Making the (Political) World a Worse Place
In his recent Huffington Post piece, Mike Edison made his case for “How Sex Magazines Made the World a Better Place.” His conclusion? In addition to supposedly holding “pictures of naked ladies” in a “more sacred light” than does today’s internet porn, Edison asserted that magazines like Screw and Hustler were “ground zero for relentless freedom of speech in the form of tasteless comedy, brutal political satire, and, of course, naked ladies.” As an amateur First Amendment scholar, I’m sure that Edison is aware that another group that has benefitted from key freedom of speech court decisions is the Ku Klux Klan, but I doubt that Edison would argue that they, therefore, “made the world a better place.” Indeed, it’s possible to be an unabashed supporter of free speech and still question the cultural value of magazines that mainstream the sexual objectification and victimization of women. Of course, people have been debating whether or not pornography has deleterious effects on society for decades, and women who identify as “feminist” and “pro-woman” often come down on opposite sides of the issue. What this debate has thus far ignored, however, is the pornification of U.S. political culture, where women’s images are often hijacked for prurient purposes, further degrading political dialogue.
This trend emerged forcefully during the 2008 primary and general election campaign cycles, at a time when women were making historic political gains. (Want all the gory details? The full version of the study is available here.) Hillary Clinton was the first woman to be a major-party frontrunner for the presidential nomination, but she was also repeatedly called a term that “rhymes with blunt”:
Sarah Palin was the first woman to be a Republican vice-presidential nominee, but shortly after being attached to the McCain ticket, Palin became the MILF next door:
Perhaps the worst offender of 2008 (and the one that employed imagistic strategies closest to those employed in porn magazines) is the “Declare Yourself” get-out-the-vote campaign. Its “public service ads,” aimed at the 18-25 year old voter, use a “torture porn” aesthetic to convince ostensibly disengaged citizens that when they fail to vote, they limit their own political agency:
You don’t have to look far, however, to find persistent pornification of political women in 2011. Elizabeth Warren was heckled as a “socialist whore” at one of her campaign events. When Sarah Palin failed to confirm or deny her intention to run for president in 2012, Meghan McCain derided her as a “tease.” Janice Hahn, a candidate for California’s 36th congressional district, was lampooned in an attack ad that the conservative Daily Caller describes both as “the most racist, fear-mongering, sexist sing-a-long the political world may ever see,” and as “horribly hilarious.” In the video, titled “Give Us Your Cash, B—ch,” Hahn is cast as a pole-dancing “ho” who funnels funds to menacing gang bangers.
http://www.thenewagenda.net/2011/12/14/porning-politics-how-pornification-is-making-the-political-world/
= new reply since forum marked as read
there were more than a few blink of the eyes thinking palin would be vp. i think that is the largest factor in mccain losing. my father has never voted dem in his life. he voted obama. because of palin.
edit to add... lol, thanks for your rant. there was mine. 
It's not true.
"She was very intelligent and she was stripping because she loved to dance.."
Riiiight, because slithering around near-naked with men sticking bucks in your
bra expresses a simple love of The Dance. 
"Yet one of the the stupidest people in history, Sarah "You Betcha" Palin, could have been Vice President and
no one blinks an eye".
No one "blinks an eye"?....HUH?...Where have you been hanging out?
If you want to support the exploitation of women with "intelligence" but questionable self-esteem,
go ahead, but please don't try and act as if it's something else.
It is obvious that one poster in particular trolls this group for things to pluck out to take to another group for the sole purpose of sarcastically mocking.
It is also easy to guess why.
Just doesn't bother me that much. It's an interesting thing to observe and it makes me curious but not upset.
Dragging us into Meta is not cool. We have like minded people hanging in their own groups and have had enough damn drama already.
If that group wants to be the DU version of frat boys at Hooters at Happy Hour, meh, I don't care.
Just don't take away their porn. Or video games.
