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5I edit porn for a living and write searingly intelligent articles like this one on sexuality. When asked about my work at all the glamorous parties I go to, I often make a point of saying I work in ‘feminist porn’ as a Video Editor and Writer. In other words, the ‘good porn’ and, I’m not actually in it so please don’t picture me naked.
With antiporn narratives like and other unsubstantiated still rampant, not to mention the belief that it’s bad for women, am I just adding to that stigma when I imply that there is ‘bad porn’? Is ‘feminist porn’ just another way to discriminate?
Since the sex wars of the 70s and 80s, anti-porn feminists, like Andrea Dworkin, spurred by films like Deep Throat, claimed that porn objectifies and harms women. In contrast, pro-sex feminists and pornographers like Annie Sprinkle, Nina Hartley, and Bettie Dodson believed women should have autonomy over their bodies and sexuality, and express it in whatever way they like. Ellen Willis writes in , "As we saw it, the claim that 'pornography is violence against women' was code for the neo-Victorian idea that men want sex and women endure it."A belief that normalises violence against women and discourages women from owning their pleasure. In a society that controls and limits bodies to maintain power, any expression of sexuality is a subversive act.
A modern definition of feminist porn goes as follows:
“As both an established and emerging genre of pornography, feminist porn uses sexually explicit imagery to contest and complicate dominant representations of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, ability, age, body type, and other identity markers... It does not assume a singular female viewer, but acknowledges multiple female (and other) viewers with many different preferences.” -
Feminist porn includes the same variety of people you find in life working on-screen and behind the scenes. When studio bosses and TV show stars are only white men, it limits the kind of stories that get told. In feminist porn, models are not directed like in more mainstream productions. Pornographer and Educator, believes in empowering performers “to have a say in the representation of their sexuality rather than simply having me tell them what to do.” When people can express themselves in porn, sex is for them and not for someone else.
Ultimately, any can’t be separated from the society that created it. As Susie Bright notes, "It's a far different criticism to note that porn is sexist. So are all commercial media. That's like tasting several glasses of salt water and insisting only one of them is salty. The difference with porn is that it is people fucking, and we live in a world that cannot tolerate that image in public." Blaming porn is only a distraction from the more substantive causes of social ills.
Instead of arguing over morality, it’s a good idea to look analytically at porn. As Madita Oeming writes for , with over 10,000 hours of porn consumed every hour on Pornhub, “We should understand which ones; how, by whom and why.” It’s interesting to see that showed increasing trends for female-centric pleasure as well as the ‘bisexual male’ and ‘Transgender’ categories. Dr Laurie’s interpretation of why the trans category is trending demonstrates the fluid relationship between porn and shifting social attitudes:
“This rise in visibility can often give all genders more permission and even prompt curiosity about what we find alluring, attractive and arousing. Trans communities have always existed and attracted trans people and performers, but as trans communities get more included in movies, shows and mainstream society – we start to see a normalisation of trans inclusion in other ways too, including porn and erotic media.”
But visibility and representation are not the same. Adult Content Creator, Kelly Pierce, explains to :
“A lot of porn viewership likes trans women on top [penetrating a partner]. So they’re putting trans women into sexual activities that they might not normally do. You have to use your penis, for instance. But the majority of trans women don’t want their penises touched. The majority don’t want to do anything with their penis.”
While it may be profitable to make porn that plays into fantasies like the male gaze, it isn’t responsible to ask performers to do something they might not be comfortable with to make sales. The idea porn should target straight cisgender men is a misnomer. Besides the fact , if you make porn for men and only men watch it, it doesn’t tell you women don’t want to watch porn. Additionally, with the popularity of sites like Ersties among male subscribers, even men are demanding more authentic, non-heteronormative content.
Porn, like any media, plays a role in shaping and reproducing harmful stereotypes around gender, race and orientation. It’s readily apparent from video titles and tags what these are. Under such categories, a performer’s demographic determines what work they get, how it’s marketed and what it’s worth. For POC performers, this seriously impacts the type of work available and pay. Mireille Miller-Young, Associate Professor of Feminist Studies at the University of California tells Glamour " are paid half of what white actresses in porn are paid."Not to mention some white women performers are paid more for scenes with male black porn stars. Feminist porn rejects discriminatory categories and pays performers equally but such discrepancies show we should shift towards intersectional feminism.
When ‘feminist porn’ is used to differentiate good porn and bad porn it ends up reinforcing much of what feminist pornography is against. While there are issues in the porn industry feminism aims to address, that’s rarely what people are actually referring to when they say that porn is bad. Instead, the moral panic around porn resembles attitudes towards sex in general.
A few years ago, now-revised banned BDSM, fisting, and squirting from being included in porn. The acts, typical of queer and deviant sex, were claimed to be immoral for the purpose of denying freedoms. When videos with BDSM themes are dismissed as violent it doesn’t just rid a woman of her autonomy, it shows a poor understanding of diverse sexual practices. Within a consensual BDSM scene, pain-inducing behaviours like choking and slapping are actually very pleasurable and for many, . Suppose somebody is ‘influenced’ by these videos and concludes BDSM is something all women like. In that case, we should ask why that person doesn’t understand consent - something the BDSM community prioritises above all else. It’s the taboo and lack of education around sexuality and pornography that causes harm, not the porn itself.
While porn can be educational and some is even designed to be, it’s a form of adult entertainment. We don’t watch Fast and Furious and think it’s a good idea to jump between moving traffic, but we’re entertained by it. Another gap in sexual literacy is that you can desire, and enjoy watching something you don’t necessarily want to do. And as long as such a film is produced and consumed responsibly, there should be no reason to police erotic imagination.
Yes, the primacy of a heteronormative model of sexuality isn’t good for anybody. People deserve to see themselves represented experiencing pleasure in a nuanced way. In recent years, the porn industry has shifted towards more diverse content, thanks in part, to advocacy from feminist pornographers.
However, there is significant discrimination within the industry that needs to be addressed and that won’t happen if porn is kept in the shadows. It’s important to remember porn doesn’t exist in a vacuum from the rest of society. Women’s bodies, especially marginalised identities and especially black women have always been under assault by the power of oppression and supremacy. We can’t claim to care about protecting women, particularly sex workers, by ignoring what they say they need and proposing censorial remedies that will cause further harm and losses to freedom.
So if I talk about working in feminist porn in future, it will not be to side with discrimination. I like how puts it in a recent podcast, “I am on the side of whoever is getting most royally screwed at the moment by power”.
