“Politically, I call it rape whenever a woman has sex and feels violated.”
MacKinnon is unapologetic with her ideological approach to feminism, rape culture, pornography, and patriarchal oppression. She opts for radical change as a means of solving the issue of systemic oppression therefore she delves into the sensitive subjects. In modern society, the lines drawn regarding consent and sexual violation have been a matter of contention when it comes to the rape culture. MacKinnon however creates a clear line that does not allow for any ambiguity in terms of sexual abuse. Therefore, makes a clear political stance to convey the essence of her feminist ideology.
“If you want to know who is being hurt in this society, go see what is being done and to whom in pornography and then go look for them other places in the world.”
MacKinnon does not shy away from opting for complete change on laws around pornography even though she receives backlash. She considers the industry as a catalyst for female oppression and also a disservice to the progress being made by the feminist movement. In her argument pornography fosters a culture of female subservience and mistreatment of the female body. Though opinions regarding the subject clash even within progressive movements, MacKinnon affirms the industry is a clear embodiment of female oppression.
“What I've learned from women's experience with sexuality is that exploitation and degradation produce grateful complicity in exchange for survival. They produce self-loathing to the point of extinction of self, and it is respect for self that makes resistance conceivable.”
MacKinnon argues that conformity to the misogynistic social norms renders the discourse against such exploitation ineffective. She incorporates the idea that persistent oppression eventually prompts a revolution however she affirms the phenomenon is reverse within female sexuality. She asserts her cause and the feminist discourse require self-respect that is however being stifled by the social inequality of the genders. Accordingly, she elects to break the structures that indeed fosters the exploitation and degradation of female sexuality.
