Over on Baby Sinead’s very awesome and brilliant blog (with frequent nudity to boot), she answers a question from a reader about whether she thinks porn sites like hellfiresex.com and meatholes.com are a degradation of female sexuality.
Her responses are awesome and spot on:
Now Meatholes.com is about obviously about pushing their stars limits. This video has made the rounds of course and enforced the idea that the site is abusive to it’s stars to the point of making them snap. I don’t really know Meatholes or the people behind so I can’t say if it’s awful. It does seem degrading in the viral video but on the first video of the site is a girl talking about how hard she can take things and what she will take. I can not really speak on this site.
(emphasis mine)
She’s talking about labor, not images. And that’s hugely important - and it’s the future of discussions about porn and exploitation, even if there’s still a lot of obsessing about the sex acts happening on screen.
It’s often hard to tell just from looking at a visual representation whether or not the performers are being placed under duress or if their working conditions are bad. Can you tell by looking at a tee shirt whether it was made by workers in ethical working conditions? Nope. Not unless you look at the label and then do your homework on the company.
Sometimes when I present the idea that its not the aggressive anal/choking/cum splattering that makes porn unethical or unfeminist, but the conditions under which the performers are doing said acts, people say things like, “its impossible to know what the working conditions are.” It isn’t impossible - it just requires some research. Just as people research textile factory conditions and then put pressure on corporations to have better practices - the same could happen with porn.
6:44 am
Its like anything else, its up to the consumer. Smart consumerism = quality product.
8:38 am
Well, it’s late, I’m sick, but I’ll bite
I’ve long had a severe aversion to that meatholes site; I find it offensive.
I would argue that it’s not the acts themselves that are the problem, it’s the language used on the site. The women may be having the time of their lives, but they are derided and despised for having sex; the viewer is encouraged to think less of them because they’ve been fucked.
So, you could argue that the language of this site doesn’t tick any feminist boxes because it upholds the myth of the “dirty slut” - the woman who is simultaneously desired and despised because she is sexual.
The story setups are essentially about degradation - “she arrived looking pretty, she looked like a whore at the end, we gave her an ice pack and sent her home.” The site gives the performers no respect. And, while I have no idea whether they like being involved or not, the site doesn’t seem to be interested in whether the women enjoyed the sex. The viewers are encouraged not to care.
That kind of negativity… I just don’t want to see it, not in porn, or anywhere for that matter.
My opinion, of course. I tend to think of feminist porn as being sexual material that gives priority to female pleasure and that also respects women and their viewpoints.
So while I agree that discussions about porn should really focus on labor like you say, I don’t think you can necessarily avoid or dismiss the discussion of the meaning of porn. It’s primary purpose may be to arouse but it still carries plenty of cultural baggage that gets in the way.
I remembered writing about “reality” porn a while back, I found this bit of musing on the “race to the bottom” trend with sites like meatholes
http://www.msnaughty.com/blog/2006/02/05/porn-reflects-us-values/
“If it’s consensual, pleasurable for both parties, positive and respectful to both sexes, then great. If it encourages hatred, disrespect or other extreme negative emotions, then I think it’s offensive and possibly harmful.”
9:14 am
[…] on a roll! Here she is pointing out the importance of distinguishing between porn labor and porn images, which is such a […]
9:20 am
[…] Waking Vixen » Blog Archive » Why Porn Companies are Like Clothing Manufacturers “Sometimes when I present the idea that its not the aggressive anal/choking/cum splattering that makes porn unethical or unfeminist, but the conditions under which the performers are doing said acts, people say things like, ‘its impossible to know what the working conditions are.’ It isn’t impossible - it just requires some research. Just as people research textile factory conditions and then put pressure on corporations to have better practices - the same could happen with porn.” (tags: porn adult business consent work labor) […]
9:16 am
[…] Waking Vixen » Blog Archive » Why Porn Companies are Like Clothing Manufacturers “Sometimes when I present the idea that its not the aggressive anal/choking/cum splattering that makes porn unethical or unfeminist, but the conditions under which the performers are doing said acts, people say things like, ‘its impossible to know what the working conditions are.’ It isn’t impossible - it just requires some research. Just as people research textile factory conditions and then put pressure on corporations to have better practices - the same could happen with porn.” (tags: porn adult business consent work labor) […]
7:59 pm
[…] As for feminist critiques of porn: it’s fair game, sure, just like anything else is. Feminist critiques of media and society are important; there shouldn’t be anything unique or specially-isolated about porn. (Talked about this on the radio show last night, too.) But fundamentally I think it’s pointless to get going down the track of what is or isn’t feminist based on the content of porn movies. Sure, there can be some valid analysis there, just like there can be valid analysis of popular music lyrics; but banning music because it makes your kids commit suicide? Well, we all know how that went - it fixed everything, right?! I think it’s important to remember, as Dacia has pointed out many times, that it’s not the content that truly determines whether porn is feminist, but the conditions under which it was made. […]