Almost as profitable as the oil industry; The ubiquitous multimedia pornography industry is said to be more profitable than the music and video industries combined. The European Parliament (2003) estimates that more than two thirds of the £252 million spent by European internet users in 2001 was received from various pornographic websites. This recorded expenditure, however, does not take into account the widely available non-Internet-based pornographic literature, theater and DVD trade, or prostitution, the ancient trade from which the term pornography derives (Potter, 1998); thus effectively deeming the pornography industry indescribably profitable. Because the pornography industry is undeniably extremely profitable, the industry is able to easily present itself as glamorous, often luring impressionable young women with quick and easy cash incentives. This essay will investigate and discuss this notion and present findings to answer the question: Does pornography exploit or liberate women? There are many who not only believe that pornography exploits women, but also increases rates of sex crimes (Dworkin, 1981; Morgan, 2001); while at the opposite end of the exploitation/liberation spectrum, many others believe that pornography is extremely artistic and liberating for both men and women (McElroy, 1998; Tatchell, 2008). This essay will also investigate the role of women in various social institutions such as employment, family and home; and in specific cases, how pornography can relate to, influence, and be equally influenced by these institutions. While the term "pornography" for most people conjures up the stereotypical and seedy image of a woman sexually dominated by at least... paper ......d by anti-pornography activists, there is in fact “…support [for] the production of erotic sexual material that is not based on power and domination that presents women as having agency and choice and contains no violence, abuse or degradation” (O'Connor, 2006 , p.10). Once again, this statement appears to promote equality regarding sexual activity; however, a deeper look reveals an ignorant contradiction as the statement notes a call to end specifically female subjugation and degradation. , despite the fact that many males regularly participate in sadomasochism – often asking to be dominated, humiliated, abused and degraded by a female dominatrix (Kenney, 2002). then it is probably fair to similarly state that some women will demand to be willingly subjugated and degraded..