The Problem With Porn

The Problem With Porn

*WARNING: This article contains descriptions of graphic sexual images and acts.  Those who do not want their minds stained with these images are advised to consider not reading parts of this article.*

While this subject may come out of the blue for anyone reading this (i.e. it bears no relevance to current events) it’s something that has been preying on my thoughts for some time now and I want to get if off my chest.

In particular, I have been wanting to draw the attention of modern liberal minded people to current pornographic trends.  You see, we all support freedom of speech, freedom of expression and are vehemently anti-censorship (these values have been expressed several times over these blogs).  These values have been qualified by the idea that people should exercise a kind of self-censorship.  We would not think to silence people who make public views that are different to ours, but our hope is that popular condemnation and common sense will see these views become obsolete.  This is surely one of the major ways that freedom is understood; that in a democracy good ideas stick around, bad ideas don’t stick.  Or, in the words of many a parent: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

This works most of the time where issues are held in public forums, people are informed on the subject and there are no taboos.

This environment does not exist on the most part for pornography.  The world of porn dwells in a sort of ‘no-fly’ zone when it comes to inquiry.  This is partly because of the debacle that first arose 40 years ago with the release of now famous titles such as Deepthroat, Emmanuelle and Debbie Does Dallas.  In the end these films (and thus all pornography) were allowed to be made under the banner of Freedom of Expression.  No pundit in their right mind seeking popular approval is going to talk about censoring consensual, legal sex acts on film.  The silence surrounding porn is also down to the reason that I have taken so long to write this:  you have to admit to watching it.  Not only do you have to admit to that, but to speak with any authority on the subject, you have to be familiar with the material.  So then you create you own paradox – I want to be able to remark on some of the uglier aspects of pornography while at the same time admitting to some kind of expertise.

In my defence, young men nowadays are all experts in pornography.  There are things we can talk about that would draw blank expressions from females and mere confusion from many others (especially in regards to Japanese porn).  Nowadays a boy is exposed to pornography from the age that his balls drop.  By the time he has finished adolescence he will have exposed himself to all manner of sexual images that would have simply been unavailable to his parents.  Thanks almost entirely to the internet and the way it works, a simple, dare I say healthy interest in sex and pornography would inevitably mean seeing pornography that you would otherwise never have known existed.  There are some aspects of this pornography that worries me.  It worries me for two reasons; one, because of its content and two, because of its popularity.

A parallel debate to this emerged with the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).  For those who don’t know, this is a combat sport that combines all aspect of martial arts (generally known as Mixed Martial Arts or MMA).  It started in 1993 as a no-holds-barred contest to see which fighting style was most effective.  Since then, in order to appease public sensibilities and broadcasting contracts (and no doubt to extend the careers of its fighters), the UFC has added more and more rules over the years.  Yet today it is still a very violent sports – its contestants can be unruly, its knockouts vicious and for those who are unfamiliar it can look a lot like “human cock-fighting”.  Personally I find this description shows a lack of understanding of man’s competitive spirit, but I concede this: it does attempt to satisfy the blood/combat lust that a certain type of man craves – both the contestant and the spectators.  Is this healthy?  Who knows, but the important thing is this – both men in the arena are there from their own choice, they know the risks, and both the men are treated as equals in the combat arena.  It is a bout to decide who exactly is ‘the best man’.  Similarities with pornography is that both are male-centric forms of entertainment, both are ‘fantasies’ in some way and both serve to satisfy certain manly needs – either violence or sex.

And this is where I have a problem with a lot of pornography.  Yes, the women ‘starring’ in these films are there of their own accord and they are doing what everyone else is doing in the world – using their talents to make a bit of money.  I am not here to question whether they want to be there (although it would make more comfortable viewing if I knew with certainty that she enjoyed her job) – I am questioning the equality that their gender enjoys in this medium.  As I said above, the men in the arena of the UFC are treated as equals and in this way it legitimises the otherwise brutal violence that we would never (in civilised socity) subject dogs, chickens or bears to.

The women in a lot of modern day pornography are not treated as equals.  Far from it.  In fact, I would so far as to say that a significant portion of the erotic appeal of pornography is derived from the fact that the women involved are being degraded, abused, objectified and otherwise ‘punished’ for being a female.

Am I being overly prudish?  Am I looking into this too much?  I don’t think so because I know men – I am one.  In terms of male fantasy, many if not most of the porn you find on the internet, the protagonist (i.e. YOU, the male viewer) is treating the female as stupid, dumb ‘bitches’.  Not only is this abhorrent in today’s equality based society, it encourages men to look at women this way.  Let’s have a look at some common examples (explicit descriptions):

-         face fucking/gag jobs – a scenario where the woman does not so much perform oral sex as she opens her mouth while the male thrusts violently into her.  The aim here is to get the woman to gag and throw up, often while still receiving the penis into her mouth.

-         Situations where a man or men ejaculate onto the woman’s face only to push her face away and leave her to clean up the mess.  The camera stays focussed on the female as she wipes her mouth, tears smudge her make up and she looks used and shaken by the violent fucking she just received.

-         Writing the words ‘stupid’, ‘whore’ or ‘bitch’ onto the forehead of the female.  These kind of scenes are accompanied by very rough sex and the male repeatedly calling the female stupid and a slut, a lot of spanking and getting her to repeat the insults back to him.

-         Oral sex that is interrupted by the male slapping the girl around the face, either with his penis or with his hand.

-         After ejaculating on the female, the man will slap her around the face hard.  Many scenes end this way.

-         Many scenes involve as part of the fantasy the girls repeatedly confirming that they are stupid worthless bitches.

-         Overlooking the physical pleasure derived from anal sex, a large part of its appeal is the perceived degrading effect that such an act performed against a woman will produce.

-         Women tricked into sex.  These are fantasy scenarios whereby the woman is promised a favour in return for sex (money, getting them home) but once the males have achieved orgasm, the deal is retracted and the woman is made to feel stupid while the men laugh at her stupidity.

-         Making the women perform “ass to mouth”, i.e. going from anal penetration to oral sex in one movement.  Also seen as degrading.

-         Forced sex scenarios.  The way these scenes are filmed walk a thin line between illegal rape fantasies and legal ‘compromising’ situations.  The usual way to get around it is for the woman to be seen enjoying it (even though that is not a usable defence in court against rape).

Granted, many of these acts may be the fantasy of both the male and female performers.  They may even be the fantasy of females watching them (although this is extremely unlikely).  But if we’re going to be honest here, the vast majority of this amounts to no more than your old women hating.  If all references to womanhood were removed and replaced with something racial this kind of pornography would have been banned at its inception.

A cursory search for ‘rape’ scenarios on the web will throw up a huge number of hits.  These will not be obscure eastern European productions of something out of the legally murky waters of the Far East.  These are titles that come from the UK and America, places we regard as progressive in their feminism.

What I find really ugly about all this is, to me, it looks like a quiet, inverted negative retaliation to feminine emancipation by men.  Social commentators, psychologists and relationship experts have often spoken of a gender role confusion syndrome that pervades western society since the women’s lib movement.  It is unclear who does what, when and how.  While most people are trying to adapt, there is an underbelly movement in pornography that gives an outlet for men’s frustrations against women.  While women break glass ceilings, gain respect and power in the ‘normal’ world, in the world of male fantasy, women are treated with as much respect as a pet or, more realistically, a slave.  Modern feminism and gender equality is being undermined by this hugely popular genre of pornography where the main ‘point’ in the scene (i.e. the reason to get off on it) is not the pleasure gained from having sex, but the pleasure gained from seeing a woman be put back “in her place” by faceless, penis wielding men.

I would like to reiterate that this is not a dig at all pornography.  Filming consensual and legal sex acts for pleasure is fine, even if it does contain things that your girlfriend would never do (in fact that’s the major attraction), or as a sex aid for a couple etc etc.  What I object to is the celebration of power and superiority latent in so much of it now – the kind of porn you could never show your girlfriend as it shames all men.  I object to it in the same way as I object to Bum Fights (a line of DVDs where boys in American towns pay tramps and the homeless to fight each other for money) and not UFC.  Even though the two men fighting are consenting to this (even in their intoxicated state) there is an equality issue involved with Bum Fights.  We as spectators are invited to laugh at them and their sorry state of affairs, to regard them as pathetic and enjoy the fact that in their state, they will do anything for money.

I am unsure what action can be taken against such abhorrent behaviour, but I am pretty sure that it should not be encouraged.

Here are some titles just as a reference for those new to the subject:

Crack Whores of The Tenderloin

Fresh Meat (now in its 14^th sequel)

Virgin Sacrifice

ATM Machines (Ass to Mouth)

These are quite tame titles actually, but I didn’t want to laboriously research all the most depraved titles I could.