Comparative Analysis: Women in Pornography - Dissertation Proposal

This dissertation proposal investigates the representation of women in pornography, contrasting Western and Southeast Asian cultural perspectives, examining ethical considerations, and addressing underlying industry issues. The literature review traces the evolution of pornography, highlighting the impact of technology and print culture on visual representations, from early illustrations to modern magazines. The proposal analyzes differences in the portrayal of women in adult magazines from Western countries and Thailand, focusing on features like clothing, hair, and skin complexion. It discusses the marketing of these magazines and the potential impact on identity and role models, particularly for younger women. The study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the cultural and ethical dimensions of pornography.

DISSERTATION PROPOSAL
PRESENTATION

INTRODUCTION
The present thesis would explore the representation of women
in pornography, comparing western culture to south East
Asian culture, viewing aspects and arguments from different
theoretical approaches, pin pointing ethical concerns and
underlying issues within the porn industry.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Pornography apparently started off as illustrations from a book in France
called ‘L’ecole des Filles, similar to reading a ‘black lace’ book today
such as ‘50 shades of grey’, where the purpose of the books are to
entertain the reader or are expected to give them a pleasant experience,
whether they can relate to the story line or not as some chapter’s could
be influenced by true events or perhaps these events were influenced
by those books.

CONTINUED....
Rise of technology and prints could have lead to a huge impact on
pornography today, as colour’s are introduced throughout the year’s,
artist’s and photographers are able to express their work and vision
clearer making images become more alive for the audience, for society
to be able to connect with the image visually where the consumption
becomes further more exciting and addictive, leading the subject to
arise with acknowledgement and curiosity of people.

CONTINUED....
Pornography nevertheless slowly emerged as a distinct category in the
centuries between the Renaissance and the French Revolution thanks,
in part, to the spread of print culture itself’ the definition of
‘pornographic’ however used to be seen as comic covers of women in
lingerie where women were ‘cartoonised’ and magazines were less
graphic in sexualizing women, compared to modern day magazines
where the content is of only ‘real’ women and ‘sexy’ models to attract
the modern day market.

CONTINUED....
Exploring adult magazines from both, western countries and
Thailand I have realized that they both share a clear focus on
the particular style and image they want, where the women
both are wearing minimal clothing but not completely naked
and have long hair as a typical feature of femininity.

CONTINUED....
Even though certain features of women on Thailand’s cover’s have been
enhanced, to fit or draw a similarity to western European cover girls,
for example their eye makeup tend to be quite dark for an appearance
of larger eyes; some even wear ‘big eye contact lenses’ to darken the
pupils giving an illusion of larger eyes which is a common trend
through out south east Asia including lighter coloured hair and
contouring face features to enhancing parts which genetically Thai
people are not commonly born with.

CONTINUED....
The most common difference of representation within Thailand’s covers
are that they tend to have lighter skin complexion compared to western
magazines where they are slightly more tanned though they both do
not feature as many ‘black’ women, never the less when they do, the
women still tend to have aspects and features of ‘white’ women, such
as their hair in fact Thailand’s magazines have never featured any
black women.

CONTINUED.....
Portraying a character that is completely different from when a women is
featured on their cover’s, unlike those men who are rarely revealing
any skin and body parts, women are usually exposing features of their
body, wearing one piece of garment such as a leather jacket where the
photographer focuses on the body as a whole including other similar
shots that are barely much different from the covers of adult magazines
that cater to men and attract men to the magazines.

CONTINUED....
Most magazines are either marketed to gay men or
heterosexual men rather than heterosexual women. Is it
because it is not in our nature to purchase this type of
magazine because we should not portray ourselves in an
‘unwomanly’ manner or do men genetically have a higher
urge for pleasuring themselves through visualizing women
sexually through the pages of magazine’s specially catered to
men.

CONCLUSION
Although some may disagree, this destroys authenticity of
identity, which some people in countries such as Thailand
forget to embrace. Not only models but celebrities have now
become face’s, appearing on covers of these magazines as
well as fashion magazines in a similar sense leading concern
on younger women of the future generation, as those face’s
are role model’s