User:EditingReality/Feminist views on pornography

Anti-pornography feminism

Feminist opponents of pornography—such as Andrea Dworkin, Catharine MacKinnon, Robin Morgan, Diana Russell, Alice Schwarzer, Gail Dines, and Robert Jensen—argue that pornography is harmful to women, and constitutes strong causality or facilitation of violence against women.

Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin had separately staked out a position that pornography was inherently exploitative toward women, and they called for a civil law to make pornographers accountable for harms that could be shown to result from the use, production, and circulation of their publications. When Dworkin testified before the Meese Commission in 1986, she said that 65 to 75 percent of women in prostitution and hard-core pornography had been victims of incest or child sexual abuse.

Andrea Dworkin's activism against pornography during the 1980s brought her to national attention in the United States.

Harm to women during production
See also: Rape pornography

Anti-pornography feminists, notably Catharine MacKinnon, charge that the production of pornography entails physical, psychological, and/or economic coercion of the women who perform and model in it. This is said to be true even when the women are being presented as enjoying themselves. It is also argued that much of what is shown in pornography is abusive by its very nature. Catharine MacKinnon argues that the women in porn are "not there by choice but because of a lack of choices." Gail Dines holds that pornography, exemplified by gonzo pornography, is becoming increasingly violent and that women who perform in pornography are brutalized in the process of its production.

Anti-pornography feminists point to the testimony of well known participants in pornography, such as Traci Lords and Linda Boreman, and argue that most female performers are coerced into pornography, either by somebody else, or by an unfortunate set of circumstances. The feminist anti-pornography movement was galvanized by the publication of Ordeal, in which Linda Boreman (who under the name of "Linda Lovelace" had starred in Deep Throat) stated that she had been beaten, raped, and pimped by her husband Chuck Traynor, and that Traynor had forced her at gunpoint to make scenes in Deep Throat, as well as forcing her, by use of both physical violence against Boreman as well as emotional abuse and outright threats of violence, to make other pornographic films. Dworkin, MacKinnon, and Women Against Pornography issued public statements of support for Boreman, and worked with her in public appearances and speeches. In this instance, both against and pro-pornography, recognize that "exploitation and abuse of vulnerable women does sometimes occur to produce some pornography," however, testimonies like Boreman's can still be viewed by some feminists as preventable and not as an essential aspect of producing porn.

Social effects

Distorted view of the human body and sexuality
German radical feminist Alice Schwarzer is one proponent of this point of view, in particular in the feminist magazine Emma.[citation needed] Many opponents of pornography believe that pornography gives a distorted view of men and women's bodies, as well as the actual sexual act, often showing the performers with synthetic implants or exaggerated expressions of pleasure, as well as fetishes that are not the norm, such as watersports, being presented as popular and normal.[citation needed] Catharine MacKinnon echoes these views by asserting that pornography "desensitizes consumers to violence and spreads rape myths and other lies about women's sexuality."

Harry Brod offered a Marxist feminist view, "I [Brod] would argue that sex seems overrated [to men] because men look to sex for fulfillment of nonsexual emotional needs, a quest doomed to failure. Part of the reason for this failure is the priority of quantity over quality of sex which comes with sexuality's commodification."

Pornography and the Sex Trafficking Industry

Catharine MacKinnon argues that the consumption of pornography fuels the prostitution and sex trafficking industry. MacKinnon claims that the production of pornography is "itself a form of prostitution and trafficking." which creates a demand for women to fill the roles in porn, including women who may have been trafficked. According to MacKinnon, the relationship between pornography, prostitution, and sex trafficking is closely related and a central aspect of this relationship relies on the buying of sex with women as an experience which requires more women, trafficked or not, to produce these experiences and fill demand.

In an article discussing OnlyFans, an online subscription-based platform hosting pornography and sexually explicit content uploaded by creators, MacKinnon writes about the allegations against OnlyFans of allowing rule-breaking content, such as content featuring minors or child abuse, to pass their inadequete screening process. Similar to the traditional pornography industry, MacKinnon asserts that it is impossible for websites like OnlyFans to know "whether pimps and traffickers are recruiting the unwary or vulnerable or desperate or coercing them offscreen and confiscating or skimming the proceeds, as is typical in the sex industry." MacKinnon also explores the concept of revenge porn and the possibility of pornographic material being sold on websites like OnlyFans without consent, which MacKinnon refers to as victims of online sex trafficking.

Sex Positive and anti-censorship feminist views

Feminist pornography

Pornography produced by and with feminist women is a small, but growing segment of the porn industry.[citation needed] Feminist pornography attempts to address the perceived gaps in ethics found in mainstream pornography production. Feminist pornography "typically involves respect, proper pay, communication, safety, and consent for performers." According to Erika Lust, one difference between feminist porn and mainstream porn is that performers in feminist porn have the freedom to choose the intensity and the type of work they star in, while working in an environment that values communication and personal boundaries. Although feminist pornography operates with a different set of ethics than mainstream porn, feminist pornography is still produced under capitalism which means opportunities for exploitation are still present.

Some pornographic actresses such as Nina Hartley, Ovidie, Madison Young, and Sasha Grey are also self-described sex-positive feminists, and state that they do not see themselves as victims of sexism. They defend their decision to perform in pornography as freely chosen, and argue that much of what they do on camera is an expression of their sexuality. It has also been pointed out that in pornography, women generally earn more than their male counterparts.

Feminist porn directors include Candida Royalle, Tristan Taormino, Madison Young, Shine Louise Houston, and Erika Lust. Some of these directors make pornography specifically for a female or genderqueer audience, while others try for a broad appeal across genders and sexual orientations.[citation needed] Candida Royalle, founder of Femme Productions, thought of her work as "female-oriented, sensuously explicit cinema as opposed to formulaic hard-core pornographic films that [...] [degrade] women for the pleasure of men." Erika Lust, and her production company Lust Films, produce feminist porn with the message that female pleasure is important. Feminist porn directors like Candida Royalle and Erika Lust have produced content that is different from mainstream pornography by honouring women's sexuality.

Feminist curators such as Jasmin Hagendorfer organize feminist and queer porn film festivals (e.g. PFFV in Vienna).

According to Tristan Taormino, "Feminist porn both responds to dominant images with alternative ones and creates its own iconography." Erika Lust argues that everyone in the porn industry has their own ethical standards, and that the worldviews and values of the directors, screenwriters and producers are the key to how well performers are treated, and how desire, gender roles and agency are presented to consumers. According to Lust, 'ethics can also exist in the porn industry, and should be enforced'.