There's a bloody silly article in today's Irish Independent by Ian O'Doherty which I suppose should be classified as an 'opinion' piece. Our brave scribe professes his defence of pornography against those stiff-necked, erotophobes who might worry about possible dangerous and exploitative consequences of exposure to the product. Indeed, it is contended that porn is "not only harmless but beneficial". There is not one jot of evidence to back this particular assertion. Nor is there any proper argument and evidence to counter the positions of the National Women's Council, whose stance greatly irritates our crusading journalist.
I'm not going to get into the substantive arguments about whether pornography is harmful or exploitative. I am aware that there is a large body of reputable scholarly research which can be carefully sifted and evaluated if one wanted to come to any conclusion. I am more interested in looking at this article to explore how the issue is framed. O'Doherty poses as the voice of robust common sense, ready to do battle with a politically correct establishment, personified by the likes of the NWCI and the Equality Authority, the latter dismissed as a "professional victims association". O'Doherty believes that
We have replaced, in this country, the revolting and unhealthy anti-sex attitudes of the Church with a trendier but no less pernicious politically correct version of the same attitudes.
This is a familiar, if rather tiresome generalisation which sheds little light on a more complex reality. It's very typical of a certain type of op-ed writing which is self-consciously radical in a libertarian sort of way. It's full of binary oppositions such as either you allow full freedom of choice and expression or you're motivated by by religious zeal or political correctness. There is no room for subtlety or nuance here or attention to particular contradictions or ambiguities that might emerge when considering issues like pornography. It is op-ed writing as pure propaganda. It is all assertion and no evidence. Anyone who doesn't accept this obvious 'common sense' is perforce a reactionary dupe, oblivious to the glaring self-evident truths of this brave libertarian world view. It was common one time for Marxists to construct those sort of arguments, though never of course in the op-ed pages of the Indo!
Comments