Peer Review

Hi there,

I appreciate that you chose your topic to be on sexual violence in pornography; although this topic might be considered a taboo for some, controversial, and uncomfortable for others, I think that it is important to gain a greater understanding of it to examine how this detrimentally affects individuals (women in particular) in society. I liked that you mentioned that one of the impacts of sexually explicit media is that women’s bodies become objectified. Perhaps you could extend on this idea, what are the consequences of this objectification? In other words, how does objectification impact the lives of women? Maybe you can extend this objectification of women and the consequent impacts of this for women in the workplace. For example, if women are seen as only sexual objects in the eyes of men, the patriarchal culture is perpetuated and they are not seen as individuals, capable of doing hard work. Instead of recognizing their hard work and ability in the workplace, men could view them as sexual objects, thus preventing from moving up the professional ladder. In addition, you state that there are many other factors that can contribute to misogynistic beliefs and actions such as personal problems, existing personal beliefs, and family upbringings. In regards to existing personal beliefs, could these beliefs stem from the cultural context in which one lives? For example, living in a cultural society characterized by patriarchy can generate misogynistic viewpoints. I encourage you to look further into how sexual violence depicted in pornography contributes to and legitimizes negative attitudes, sexism, and misogyny.