--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Things like pornography perpetuates this…" description: "\"Things like pornography perpetuates this idea that women are just there as objects of male desire and are not complex people with their own sexuality a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/marielle-heller-7174_complexes_things-like-pornography-perpetuates-this_1943857.jpg" --- # Things like pornography perpetuates this idea that women… ![“Things like pornography perpetuates this idea that women are just there as objects of male desire and are not complex people with their own sexuality and humanity.” quote by Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/marielle-heller-7174_complexes_things-like-pornography-perpetuates-this_1943857.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/marielle-heller-7174_complexes_things-like-pornography-perpetuates-this_1943857.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/marielle-heller-7174_complexes_things-like-pornography-perpetuates-this_1943857.jpg) > “Things like pornography perpetuates this idea that women are just there as objects of male desire and are not complex people with their own sexuality and humanity.” [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques how pornography reduces women to objects, denying their full humanity and sexual agency. **In simple terms:** Pornography objectifies women, ignoring their complexity. Key Takeaway Recognize and respect women's full humanity. Themes gender media objectification sexuality humanity Mood critical concerned Type social commentary When to use this quote - activism - education - policy making - personal relationships Key Concepts feminist critique media analysis Questions to Reflect On - How does media shape our view of gender? - What steps can reduce objectification? A Different Perspective The impact of pornography is complex and varies across cultures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Complexes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexes/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Males](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/males/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Pornography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pornography/) [Sexuality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexuality/) ## Related quotes > [I'm not trying to redefine sexuality or humanity or say that my answer is right and yours is wrong. I'm just happy with who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nico-tortorella/i-m-not-trying-to-redefine-sexuality-or-humanity-or-say-that-my/) [Nico Tortorella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nico-tortorella/) > [ \[Jazz singing\] is like pornography. You can't say what it is, but you know it when you see it. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-elling/jazz-singing-is-like-pornography-you-can-t-say-what-it-is-but-you/) [Kurt Elling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-elling/) > [Posting information is like pornography, a slick, impersonal exhibition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/posting-information-is-like-pornography-a-slick-impersonal-exhibition/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [I have to admit to you, I am the person who's done probably the least analysis on the selfie, because it's a bit like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-cotton/i-have-to-admit-to-you-i-am-the-person-who-s-done-probably-the-least/) [Charlotte Cotton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-cotton/) > [Perhaps violence, like pornography, is some kind of an evolutionary standby system, a last-resort device for throwing a wild joker into the game?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-ballard/perhaps-violence-like-pornography-is-some-kind-of-an-evolutionary/) [J. G. Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-ballard/) > [I don't like to degrade women, but I like pornography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupe-fiasco/i-don-t-like-to-degrade-women-but-i-like-pornography/) [Lupe Fiasco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupe-fiasco/) > [“Like pornography, postmodernism is hard to define but easy to spot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-cashill/like-pornography-postmodernism-is-hard-to-define-but-easy-to-spot/) [Jack Cashill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-cashill/) > [ “Like pornography, junk \[food\] might be tough to define but you know it when you see it.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-bittman/like-pornography-junk-food-might-be-tough-to-define-but-you-know-it/) [Mark Bittman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-bittman/) > [Sentimentality, like pornography, is fragmented emotion; a natural consequence of a high visual gradient in any culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/sentimentality-like-pornography-is-fragmented-emotion-a-natural/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Meaning is like pornography, you know it when you see it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-lloyd/meaning-is-like-pornography-you-know-it-when-you-see-it/) [Seth Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-lloyd/) > [“The truth is a strange thing. Like pornography, you know it when you see it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tayari-jones/the-truth-is-a-strange-thing-like-pornography-you-know-it-when-you/) [Tayari Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tayari-jones/) > [Intelligence is like pornography. I can't define it, but I know if when I see it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-mcdevitt/intelligence-is-like-pornography-i-can-t-define-it-but-i-know-if-when/) [Jack McDevitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-mcdevitt/) > [“Meat is like pornography: before it was someone's fun, it was someone's life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melinda-vadas/meat-is-like-pornography-before-it-was-someone-s-fun-it-was-someone-s/) Melinda Vadas > [Offended mothers were calling up and saying I shouldn't be doing this, that they weren't going to go see it. OK, don't see it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-radcliffe/offended-mothers-were-calling-up-and-saying-i-shouldn-t-be-doing-this/) [Daniel Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-radcliffe/) > [There's no reason for men to be better at maths than women - it's just about our perception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-riley/there-s-no-reason-for-men-to-be-better-at-maths-than-women-it-s-just/) [Rachel Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-riley/) ## More by Marielle Heller > [I think there used to be more respect toward young people in movies. John Hughes really respects his characters and they're given their emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/i-think-there-used-to-be-more-respect-toward-young-people-in-movies/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [I remember my grandmother's husband dying. But I think I was older. I think I was 7 or 8 when he died. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/i-remember-my-grandmother-s-husband-dying-but-i-think-i-was-older-i/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [My normal way of filming something is, like, one camera, very well planned out, knowing exactly how we're going to get each shot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/my-normal-way-of-filming-something-is-like-one-camera-very-well/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [I like working in TV, but my real love is making movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/i-like-working-in-tv-but-my-real-love-is-making-movies/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [You live in an apartment in New York, and you think all the time about like, 'I don't even know who's living above me.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/you-live-in-an-apartment-in-new-york-and-you-think-all-the-time-about/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [I spent most of my 20s working as an actor. I started writing and directing because I was frustrated with the types of roles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/i-spent-most-of-my-20s-working-as-an-actor-i-started-writing-and/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [I'm getting more and more used to the fact that being a director and being a woman are two things that everyone wants to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/i-m-getting-more-and-more-used-to-the-fact-that-being-a-director-and/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [I don't really believe that all theater needs to be filmed - for some things, the special part of live theater is that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/i-don-t-really-believe-that-all-theater-needs-to-be-filmed-for-some/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [I do think there's probably a little more opportunity to direct in television, because there are just so many TV shows. In movies, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/i-do-think-there-s-probably-a-little-more-opportunity-to-direct-in/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [One of the boring tricks about capturing Broadway onscreen, actually, is just about all the different unions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/one-of-the-boring-tricks-about-capturing-broadway-onscreen-actually/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [Why do so many women drop out of the workforce at this age, in our late 30s, early 40s? Well, often it's because we're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/why-do-so-many-women-drop-out-of-the-workforce-at-this-age-in-our/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [I just have no interest in making a biopic. No offence to biopics, it's just not where my mind goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/i-just-have-no-interest-in-making-a-biopic-no-offence-to-biopics-it-s/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [As women we are very accustomed to putting ourselves in the shoes of male leads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/as-women-we-are-very-accustomed-to-putting-ourselves-in-the-shoes-of/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [I remember the first time somebody classified me as a feminist. I was in fourth grade. And I remember thinking, 'Oh, is that what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/i-remember-the-first-time-somebody-classified-me-as-a-feminist-i-was/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) > [Just make things, and find people you love working with. If you're working on something you truly love and are passionate about, you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/just-make-things-and-find-people-you-love-working-with-if-you-re/) [Marielle Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) [Explore all 94 Marielle Heller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/) ## More Complexes quotes > [Being an artist is a totally godlike thing to do - and I have a god complex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-anderson/being-an-artist-is-a-totally-godlike-thing-to-do-and-i-have-a-god/) [Laurie Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-anderson/) > [UN peacekeeping operations are now increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing failed States back to life, often after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/un-peacekeeping-operations-are-now-increasingly-complex-and-multi/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [For many of us, work is the one place where we feel appreciated. The things that we long to experience at home - pride…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlie-russell-hochschild/for-many-of-us-work-is-the-one-place-where-we-feel-appreciated-the/) [Arlie Russell Hochschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlie-russell-hochschild/) > [People are messy and complex, particularly in the homosexual world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milo-yiannopoulos/people-are-messy-and-complex-particularly-in-the-homosexual-world/) [Milo Yiannopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milo-yiannopoulos/) > [At the risk of some oversimplification, if the skill composition of our work force meshed fully with the needs of our increasingly complex capital-stock,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/at-the-risk-of-some-oversimplification-if-the-skill-composition-of/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [There's a whole journalistic-industrial complex dedicated to keeping newsprint, TV screens and radio waves clean of destabilizing scoops damaging to corporations or the state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-cockburn/there-s-a-whole-journalistic-industrial-complex-dedicated-to-keeping/) [Alexander Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-cockburn/) > [The ascent of any route begins, in dreams at least, the autumn before. Our minds ring, involuntarily, with the alluring names of mountains, aiguilles,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-rebuffat/the-ascent-of-any-route-begins-in-dreams-at-least-the-autumn-before/) [Gaston Rebuffat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-rebuffat/) > [Through learning we grow, becoming more than we were before, and in that sense learning is unselfish, because it results in the transformation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/through-learning-we-grow-becoming-more-than-we-were-before-and-in/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [Significantly, God in Genesis 1 pronounces the rest of creation "good" before humanity is created. The psalmist and the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-clapp/significantly-god-in-genesis-1-pronounces-the-rest-of-creation-good/) Rodney Clapp > [Naval dominance of European waters was the largest, longest, most complex and expensive project ever undertaken by the British state and society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-rodger/naval-dominance-of-european-waters-was-the-largest-longest-most/) [Nicholas Rodger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-rodger/) > [When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/when-you-first-start-off-trying-to-solve-a-problem-the-first/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [“The act of consciousness is central; otherwise we are overrun by the complexes. 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This is a tough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/we-knew-the-syrian-situation-was-complex-and-there-were-lots-of/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) [Browse all 1,635 Complexes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Things like pornography perpetuates this idea that women are just there as objects of male desire and are not complex people with their own sexuality and humanity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marielle Heller" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/things-like-pornography-perpetuates-this-idea-that-women-are-just/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Complexes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/things-like-pornography-perpetuates-this-idea-that-women-are-just/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/marielle-heller-7174_complexes_things-like-pornography-perpetuates-this_1943857.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/marielle-heller-7174_complexes_things-like-pornography-perpetuates-this_1943857.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/marielle-heller-7174_complexes_things-like-pornography-perpetuates-this_1943857.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Things like pornography perpetuates this idea that women are just there as objects of male desire and are…” — Marielle Heller", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Marielle Heller", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marielle-heller/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Things like pornography perpetuates this idea...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/things-like-pornography-perpetuates-this-idea-that-women-are-just/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marielle-heller/things-like-pornography-perpetuates-this-idea-that-women-are-just/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```