Murray Davis' Smut, Erotic Reality/Obscene Ideology
Murray Davis' Smut, Erotic Reality/Obscene Ideology
In the book Smut, Erotic Reality/ Obscene Ideology , by Murray Davis
(1983), the author expresses the idea that the best source for studying human sexuality objectively is "soft core", rather than "hard core" pornography.
(Davis p. xix). The purpose of this paper is to critique Davis's claim and to study what understanding of human sexuality someone might have if they used some other resource that is available today, in this case the Internet. Davis argues that , "hard core pornography is usually more abstract and less explicit than soft-core pornography". (Davis, p. xix, 1983). Davis doesn't go on to explain how hard-core pornography can be less explicit than soft-core.
However he does explain that hard-core pornography is more abstract in that, it depicts the sex act only and not the emotional or personal characteristics of the people involved in the act. (Davis, p. xx) He believes soft-core pornography is describing "a sexual experience", which conveys characteristics of the participants that are not described by hard-core pornography. Hard-core pornography describes "sexual behaviour" which involves more of the act of sex rather than the characteristics and feelings involved with sex. (Davis, p. xix) Although Davis admits that the vocabulary of sex is changing (Davis, p. xxv), he also states that hard-core pornography uses considerably more vulgar terms that are associated with lower-class activity, such as, "prick, fuck, and suck" (Davis, p. xxiii). Davis believes that hard-core pornography, induces imaginative behaviours by using these lower-class, four-letter words. The stories use phrases such as "First we sucked, then we fucked."(Davis p. xix,
1983), to allow the reader the tools to imagine the scene actually taking place.
The reader is lead by the author through the story by using words that may be more understood or common in the readers' everyday life. He also accuses hard-
core
In the book Smut, Erotic Reality/ Obscene Ideology , by Murray Davis
(1983), the author expresses the idea that the best source for studying human sexuality objectively is "soft core", rather than "hard core" pornography.
(Davis p. xix). The purpose of this paper is to critique Davis's claim and to study what understanding of human sexuality someone might have if they used some other resource that is available today, in this case the Internet. Davis argues that , "hard core pornography is usually more abstract and less explicit than soft-core pornography". (Davis, p. xix, 1983). Davis doesn't go on to explain how hard-core pornography can be less explicit than soft-core.
However he does explain that hard-core pornography is more abstract in that, it depicts the sex act only and not the emotional or personal characteristics of the people involved in the act. (Davis, p. xx) He believes soft-core pornography is describing "a sexual experience", which conveys characteristics of the participants that are not described by hard-core pornography. Hard-core pornography describes "sexual behaviour" which involves more of the act of sex rather than the characteristics and feelings involved with sex. (Davis, p. xix) Although Davis admits that the vocabulary of sex is changing (Davis, p. xxv), he also states that hard-core pornography uses considerably more vulgar terms that are associated with lower-class activity, such as, "prick, fuck, and suck" (Davis, p. xxiii). Davis believes that hard-core pornography, induces imaginative behaviours by using these lower-class, four-letter words. The stories use phrases such as "First we sucked, then we fucked."(Davis p. xix,
1983), to allow the reader the tools to imagine the scene actually taking place.
The reader is lead by the author through the story by using words that may be more understood or common in the readers' everyday life. He also accuses hard-
core
References: Davis, S. Murray. (1983). Smut erotic reality obscene ideology. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.