Feminism and Pornography
FEMINISM AND PORNOGRAPHY
- Mishika Bedi, Symbiosis Law School, Pune
All throughout world history, the female gender has faced discrimination against and has been considered inferior to the male gender in the society. Stereotypical societal roles confined women to the four walls of their homes, made them absolutely dependent on the males of their family and consequentially led them to bear the brunt of being the weaker sex. It all dates back to the nineteenth and early twentieth century, when the idea of feminism and the feminist movement first emerged. Women came out in numbers to fight and to assert their rights, demanding an equal platform for themselves in the political, legal and social era, and we see the struggle continuing even today. Feminism, as an ideology, promotes the equality of both the genders and advocates for women’s rights and attempts to bring them at an equal pedestal with men. Feminists, today, argue that the growing access to pornography is a major threat to the values of feminism and goes on to promote violence and inequality against women. It nullifies the efforts of the feminists and brings them back to where they were centuries ago.
Pornography is the representation of sexual behaviour in motion pictures, books, statues, pictures and other media that is created or published for the purpose of causing sexual excitement in the consumer. The underlying question behind the significance of such pornographic content in our lives is that ‘where do most of us learn about sex from’? One thing that I can say with most certainty is that it is definitely not from a sex educational class, but certainly through a magazine that you might have come across or most likely it is through a hardcore porn video that you have watched. One third of all internet traffic is estimated to be directed towards pornography. We, unfortunately, live in a society that is deprived of the concept of ‘sex education’ and is also so deeply consumed in the porn culture that it is easier to access pornographic content than to get comprehensive sex education. Pro-Sex Feminists argue that the mainstream pornographic content is not the cause of the patriarchal mindsets but rather an effect of it. In a time where women have come a long way in terms of the struggle for their rights and the scenario is improving, the growing access to pornographic content continues to instill in us the values of patriarchy and the virtue of dominance against the women. Feminists also discuss how pornographic content in itself is not problematic but the manner in which most of the mainstream content is produced and the things it portrays degrades the position of women in the society.
Radical Feminists argue that sex is a function of gender hierarchy and the concepts of ‘sex’ and ‘sexuality’ are a social construct that are created by the society itself. The males are typically the ones who have created the social construct and are also being benefited from it. A typical example of this social construct is that men are the bread winners of the family and women are the home makers. They also define as to what is the acceptable behavior for both the genders, i.e. while the male is supposed to be strong and aggressive, women are supposed to be docile and submissive. This social construct is also evident in the laws that were passed years ago and continue to exist today. Women had a historical inaccess to the political arena and the female perspective was systematically neglected. Hence, all the legislations and rules that were laid down were created by men and were based on the male idea of morality. An example of this is the property inheritance rights that were only given to men, while the women were completely deprived of it. There were continuous rejections for the introduction of provisions for marital rape in India because a woman is ‘supposed to’ pleasure the man after marriage at whatever time he wants, so the idea of ‘consent’ post marriage does not exist. Hence, our ideas of right or wrong, good or bad, acceptable or unacceptable are based on the male morality.
Pornography rather than being a space for expressing bodily autonomy and sexual freedom has become a tool of patriarchy. The underlying presumption in the minds of the creatives, directors and producers while creating such pornographic content is that they need to make profits out of it and hence, their audience comprises of merely straight white men. Dylan Ryan, a very famous feminist porn star described the position of women in mainstream pornographic content. She said that women are portrayed as ‘vulnerable but hypersexual, passive but sexually desiring, ready for sex but without the impetus to make it happen. It seems as if sex was happening to them rather than with them because of their choice.’ Pornography goes on to promote unhealthy sexual practices. While some mainstream porn content may be out rightly vulgar, offensive, degrading and misogynistic, some might not seem to be so on the face of it, but still has an underlying virtue of dominance and the reduction of women to the status of mere sex objects. The commonality is that women are portrayed as sexual objects that are played with rather than sexual subjects that u engage with. Most of the mainstream porn shows that male ejaculation is the end of a sexual intercourse, while the female orgasm is merely a side effect of it and might/might not happen. Most of the women, in fact, fake an orgasm while having a sexual intercourse. This is primarily because of the idea that the act of sex is supposed to pleasure men, while women ‘must be’ and ‘should be’ pleasured by it. It is entirely about the male’s performance as opposed to female pleasure.
Something most frequently argued by feminists is that porn also promotes rape culture. Radical Feminists argue that a man rapes a woman choosing to use ‘sex’ as the tool of domination. Having a thousand options to establish dominance on a woman, why does a man use the tool of sex to do so? Studies show that the consumption of pornographic content has a significant connection with the commission of any form of sexual violence. Moreover, porn normalizes dominance over the female sex and desensitizes us towards things like consent, bodily autonomy and mutual respect. The most brutal forms of pornography show that women enjoy being raped, forced or beaten up. In mainstream porn, women’s resistance to sex is of two kinds. First, there is a false resistance. The moment this resistance is overcome by force, the woman starts expressing excessive sexual desire. Second, there is a genuine and serious resistance by the woman. This resistance by a woman in pornography is mostly looked down upon. Furthermore, if at all her experiences are taken seriously, the pornography does not appear to be an entertainment but is rather looked at as a threat to male supremacy. For men it shows the repercussions of losing control over women, while for women it shows the repercussions of asserting their power of consent and independence. When 18 or 19 year olds, who are deprived of any kind of sex education and have never openly talked of sex because sex is considered to be a taboo in their society, get access to such content, their young minds are moulded into believing that the sexual activity that is being shown to them is okay. In fact, many of them have not even engaged in a sexual intercourse when they start watching porn. This instills in these young minds a patriarchal mindset which they then exhibit in not only their sexual activities but also their day to day working and interaction with women.
CONCLUSION: FEMINISTS DOING THEIR BIT
Feminists are neither anti-sex nor anti-porn. They are simply against the mainstream porn that degrades the values of feminism and equality. In fact, Feminist Porns have come up lately, that promote an enthusiastic consent for all genders. It is ethically produced on screen and off screen and takes into account the comfort and safety of its performers. Moreover, the performers are provided with a space to explore areas of their sexuality. They get to choose what they wish to do and do not have to do something merely because the director wants them to, something that does not happen in mainstream porn. It gives equal importance to female and male pleasure and stresses on what is called an ‘actual consent’. Feminists believe that porn not only has the power to arouse, but also the power to educate and empower. It controls the way people perceive the roles they play during sex, which goes on to affect other aspects of their life. It eliminates all sorts of sexual objectification and develops on the concept of sexual subjectivity. Until now, the porn industry has been working to our detriment but with the feminist porn industry coming into the picture, sexual liberation for women can be a legitimate expectation for the future.
REFERENCES
1. ‘Why we need Feminist Porn’ (Dailyo, 13 July 2015) <www.dailyo.in/variety/feminist-pornography-sexual-relationships-olivia-tarplin-tedx-new-york-city/story/1/4948.html> accessed on 14 April 2020
2. Eric Hoffman, ‘Feminism, Pornography, and Law’, (1985) <https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/penn_law_review/vol133/iss2/5> accessed on 14 April 2020
3. ‘Session 4: The Social Construction Of Gender’ (2001) <http://www.law.hku.hk/hrportal/wp-content/uploads/file/Session4.pdf > accessed on 14 April 2020
4. Erica Lust, ‘Feminist pornographer says porn can be a tool for empowerment — if it’s done right’, (Women in the World, 23 August, 2018) < womenintheworld.com/2018/08/23/feminist-pornographer-erika-lust-says-porn-can-be-empowering-if-done-right/ > accessed on 15 April 2020
