Since I deleted my Facebook account awhile back, I have replaced the former addiction with reading all types of different sources online. A longstanding debate about whether pornographic material is good or bad was listed in my Google Reader feed last week, so I spent a few hours reading all the different perspectives.

Most women I know agree that the porn industry is detrimental to women because it “objectifies” them. However, Dr. Joshua Knobe, associate professor of Cognitive Science and Philosophy at Yale University believes that “animalification” is the reality, a concept that differs from objectification.

See, objectification is the complete dismissal of the human qualities of affect and reason, whereas animalification allows for the acknowledgment of affect while denying the ability to reason. In other words, what seems to happen in the mind of a porn user is that the women involved are nothing but emotional beings, completely void of cognition, rather than being lifeless sex toys.

Dr. Knobe acknowledges that this perspective of women is degrading and possibly detrimental to all parties involved, he just saw something separate from objectification happening and decided to investigate.

I assert that the porn industry is not the only entity animalifying people. Bloggers write about celebrities or politicians, acting as if they are void of logical thought. They even extend this perspective to the people who voted for such a politician. Have you ever heard the comment, “They only voted for Obama because he’s black.”?

It seems to me that downplaying humanity keeps people in their comfort zones. It compartmentalizes people into subgroups so that Jenna Jameson is a different kind of human than your girlfriend. Who wants to know that their girlfriend’s overt sexual behavior is only a click away for anyone with an internet connection to see?

I don’t understand why we can’t just look to behavior rather than downgrading the person as a whole. Sure, adults should be responsible for their behavior, but if we label a one-time marijuana user as a druggie, that person is more likely to become a full-blown user.

In my social psychology class, I learned that the fundamental attribution error is commonly made when ascribing a cause for behavior. We tend to explain our own behavior as situational while blaming stable, internal traits for other people’s behavior. We tell ourselves that we drank too much because we were unaware of the alcohol content in the beverages while we say that our friend drank too much because she is a drunk.

Could this be why female porn stars are seen as animal-like and politicians and celebrities are deemed maniacal? Instead of accounting for the fact that the porn stars are doing a job and not doing what their personalities guide them to do, we dismiss them as sex fiends. Politicians are not seen as being caught up in the game of politics, rather, they are just crazy.

Perhaps it is actually benificial to women for this animalification and fundamental attribution error to continue regarding porn stars. After all, it means that we everyday ladies are viewed differently, and surely will receive more respect.

I’m not worried about being mistreated by my significant other simply because he has viewed pornography. I believe that he is smart enough to know the difference between those women and myself, and to see me as a human rather than an animal or object.

All illegal sites and addictions to xxx material aside, I say let it be.

Nikki Davidson is a psychology major.

She can be reached at 581-7942 or [email protected].