“Pornography is more than just sexual fantasy. It’s cultural violence,” a Washington Post headline states dramatically. Feminist scholar always hotly contested pornography. The “Take Back the Night” marches took place in protest of it as early as the 1970s. While some see porn as a sexually liberating and well-paid career path, others argue that the images and career paths in pornography are inherently exploitative of and dehumanizing towards women.
A new era of pornography
Porn’s role in our society is shifting. Now, it is more accessible than ever before – just a mouse click away, even for teenagers and children. In a world where sexual education is lacking at best, especially for the LGBTQ-community, porn often serves as a teacher. Many don’t understand that porn is fantasy sex and mostly unrepresentative of the actual act.
Wrong expectations
Porn almost always depicts women the same way: vapid, willing and passive. Sex happens to them, not with them. They are portrayed as sexual objects to be looked at and played with, rather than as active participants. Women’s pleasure directly links to male ejaculation, which signifies the end of sex.
This gives not only the straight, white, male audience that porn caters to a false idea of what sex is really like, but also teaches the women, who, lacking other resources, turn to porn, that their pleasure is dependent on their male partner’s climax.
Furthermore, many feminists argue that women’s passive role in porn leads to attitudes like the Incel movement, an online male subculture that blames women for its involuntary celibacy. They believe that pornography overstimulates men, who are then unable to tie their desires to important sexual knowledge of topics like consent, contraception and reciprocation. “Pornography is the theory, and rape is the practice,” says Robin Morgan, American author and poet.
Sex comes with – excuse the pun – awkward position switching, bodily sounds, and long-term planning of sexual adventures. However, porn glazes over these regularities. It can accentuate body issues, as the performers’ bodies are often complete with surgical implants and pornography glazes over any physical imperfections within the act.
Abuse behind the scenes
Though porn depicts minorities and women, it does so through a fetishized lens. Their involvement in never meant for an audience outside of straight, white cis-men.
Many ex-performers have come forward with stories of abuse and manipulation. Recently, Mia Khalifa spoke out about her experience in the porn industry, including the manipulation, bad pay and verbal abuse. Countless abuse scandals have plagued the industry since its initial formation.
Inconsistent research
Many feminists believe that porn is our society’s the constant desensitization to violence against women. In an interview with The Guardian, women’s studies professor Gail Dines says: “To think that so many men hate women to the degree that they can get aroused by such vile images is really quite profound.”
Research has done little to confirm or deny claims like this. So far, no link between misogynistic attitudes and watching porn has been proven. What has been found to be true, however, is that men who already harbor sexist attitudes and antisocial traits further develop these when watching forceful pornography, which leads to an increased risk of them becoming sexually violent.
Feminist porn
Despite these problems, many women are interested in making or watching porn. Filmmakers like Candida Royalle, Tristan Taormino and Shine Louise Houston have been working to make the porn industry a safer and more constructive space for women and minorities. Their work is widely recognized as “feminist porn.”
Good For Her, a Canadian sexuality store and site that focuses on women’s pleasure, defined four criteria that pornography must fulfill in order to be classified as feminist
- The production, conception, and direction of the film involves women.
- The film depicts real female pleasure and orgasms. It guarantees agency for its performers, especially the women.
- The film is diverse, including different races, genders, and sexualities.
- The film somehow challenges mainstream porn tropes or expands the boundaries of sexual representation on film.
Feminist porn prioritizes enthusiastic consent. It values its performers, pays them fairly and lets them contribute creatively to storylines.
Changing times
From Playboy to Pornhub, pornography has undergone a significant change in the past few years. What we see on-screen shapes and influences our attitudes towards sex. Feminist pornographers are working on adding female perspectives to a white, male-dominated industry, but whether they can keep up with porn’s rapidly growing popularity and accessibility remains to be seen.
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