Pornography and Silence by Susan Griffin
"Pornography and Silence" by Susan Griffin explores the complex relationship between cultural imagery, particularly pornography, and the denial of natural human instincts and emotions. Griffin argues that Western civilization often positions culture in opposition to nature, fostering a fear of bodily sensations and emotional expression. This cultural backdrop leads to a denial of the self, where individuals project their suppressed vulnerabilities onto others, particularly women, who are often caricatured in pornographic representations. These projections create a mythology that not only distorts personal identities but also perpetuates suffering for those whose real experiences are overshadowed by these flat, unrealistic images.
Griffin further extends her analysis to the realms of racism and anti-Semitism, highlighting how similar psychological mechanisms can manifest in prejudiced attitudes towards racial or national groups. She posits that the root of these societal issues lies in a disconnection between soul and body, thought and feeling, and advocates for a reconciliation of these aspects through a concept she terms true eros. By embracing the unity of self and nature, individuals can counteract the damaging effects of cultural myths and foster a more authentic understanding of themselves and others. This work invites readers to consider the deeper implications of cultural narratives on personal identity and interpersonal relationships.
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Subject Terms
Pornography and Silence by Susan Griffin
First published: 1981
The Work
Susan Griffin is one of the founding mothers of ecofeminism. In Pornography and Silence: Culture’s Revenge Against Nature, she applies the Jungian concept of the shadow to the abusive cultural imagery known as pornography. In her analysis, Western civilization views nature and culture as being in opposition. This culture attempts to dominate nature, but bodily sensations, emotions, and natural processes keep bringing human “nature” back into consciousness. Culture teaches people to fear and despise the uncontrollable nature within them, so people learn to deny their natural perceptions and impulses. Denial, however, does not make this nature go away. Instead, it is reshaped by projection, the process by which a part of the self is experienced as being outside the self. In such a process, a man who is afraid of his vulnerability, physicality, or emotions might forget that such parts of his personality exist. Instead, he might look at another person or category of persons and ascribe those characteristics to them—he might decide that women are vulnerable, physical, and emotional.
This denial and projection of nature produces the elaborate mythology of pornography in which the apparently separate figures of “man” and “woman” or “sadist” and “masochist” actually represent two parts of a divided self at war. One side of oneself is the unfeeling possessor of control and the other is the out-of-control possessor of feelings. This mythology causes much suffering to real women, whose real experience and humanity tend to be erased in order that they might become blank screens on which the cultural image of women can be more easily projected. In addition, if the only image of women that women find in the culture around them is the flat and unreal image of the pornographic myth, then women will actually reshape themselves to match the model they are given, creating a split between their image of themselves and their bodily experience.
Griffin extends the same framework to explain racism and anti-Semitism as well. Just as a man can project some hated part of his own personality onto the image of a woman, he can also choose to make that projection onto a racial or national group. The solution to the problems caused by pornography, anti-Semitism, and racism, Griffin asserts, will be found in true eros; that is, in an acceptance of the unity of soul and body, of thought and feeling, of self and the universe, of culture and nature.
Bibliography
Faludi, Susan. Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women. New York: Crown, 1991. A thorough and readable study of how feminism came to be seen as a scapegoat for a broad spectrum of problems in American society. Faludi examines popular culture, including fashion, film, magazines, television, and the men’s movement, to trace the backlash against the movement for women’s equality.
Greer, Germaine. The Female Eunuch. London: Paladin Books, 1971. Greer examines ways in which women can find motives and causes for political and social action through reassessing themselves and through questioning basic elements of education and socialization. The provocative quotations inserted into the main text and the thorough footnotes are helpful.
Griffin, Susan. Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her. New York: Harper & Row, 1980. Written in a style similar to that of Pornography and Silence, this “long prose poem” focuses on the oppression of women. Griffin links the exploitation of women with the victimization of the earth; both are sustaining forces and are often victims of male revenge.
Showalter, Elaine, ed. The New Feminist Criticism:Essays on Women, Literature, and Theory. New York: Pantheon Books, 1985. Sections on feminism and the academy, feminist criticism of literature and society, and women’s writing make this essential reading for those interested in understanding feminism and its influence on reading and writing. Very thorough bibliography.
Steinem, Gloria. Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem. Boston: Little, Brown, 1992. Research on factors that affect self-esteem, combined with personal stories from Steinem and other women. Steinem examines education, the family, the body, and ways of working for positive change.