A fatal distortion of sexual values
American feminist Robin Morgan said, “Pornography is the theory, rape is the practice.” Pornographic materials and sexual violence are deeply related. In 2004, Korea was outraged after a yearlong spate of sexual assaults at a middle school in Milyang, South Gyeongsang, by 44 high school boys who then distributed the video online. Angry citizens staged rallies in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, calling for an end to sexual violence, and the case was all over the media. The government talked about a war against sexual violence.
A feminist journal, If, had a special issue on pornography and sexual violence. As I investigated pornography, I learned that the lewd material was a tool that fulfills sexual curiosity and brings together male peers. I also found out that many of them get sexual information from pornography, perceive women as sexual objects and confuse “rape” and “sex” after exposure to pornography.
Actresses in pornographic materials initially refuse sex and get upset, but once they are forced into sex they would act pleased and ecstatic. One of the offenders said that in pornographic films, women seemed to enjoy forced sex.
In the past few years, sexual crimes against children have been on the rise. Children have been victimized while walking in their neighborhoods, playing in school yards and sleeping in their beds. From Kim Jeom-deok to Cho Du-sun to Kim Gil-tae to Koh Jong-seok, they all admitted watching child pornography before committing the crime. The government has detected the correlation between pornography and sexual crimes and installed a control tower to detect child pornography to fundamentally crack down on production, distribution and sales of child porn.
There is no secret to preventing sexual crimes. Los Angeles County District Attorney Park Hyang-heon said severe punishment and constant control are the best ways. We need to use all possible measures, drastically increasing sentences and keeping offenders under surveillance when they are released. They may argue that they chose children as victims because of pedophilic tendencies, but criminals generally commit crimes against children because they are helpless. But women do not want to be raped, either. Authorities need to crack down not just on child pornography, but all pornography.
When distorted sexual values and perceptions of women are acquired from watching pornography, the sexual predator does not even feel guilty about his crime and thinks the victim was enjoying the rape. And that misunderstanding makes innocent women the victims of sexual crimes. After watching pornography all night, the beasts are searching for the victims to put the theories into practice. By this point, these sexual predators are sub-human and capable of truly heinous crimes.
* The author is a guest columnist of the JoongAng Ilbo.
by By Eom Eul-soon
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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