I'm a feminist, I own a sex-toy store (SugarTheShop.com), and I watch porn-not a lot of porn, but enough. Other things get me hotter than most porn does. You're much more likely to find me with a book of erotica or a hot fantasy boiling up between my ears than with a DVD in my laptop. Porn is just one part of a vast arsenal of erotic fun.
I have a degree in women's studies. When I went to college, I was taught that porn is a symptom of and responsible for the oppression and rape of women. I, along with many other women, participated in "Take Back the Night" vigils and marches. We took to the streets to protest rape and sexual assault of women-apparently, the rape and sexual assault of men and trans folk was immaterial-and we protested outside of stores that sold porn.
PORN IS...
I now own a store that sells porn. So what happened?
As I got older, I began to challenge my assumptions about porn. I came to believe that the dominant feminist interpretations of porn were based on an anti-sex fetish rather than reality. This fetish, derived from a dualistic reaction to the objectification of women, was a direct and opposite reaction. In that line of thinking, if women are objectified in pornography, then pornography must be responsible for the objectification of women. That seems to grant porn a little too much power.
I began to wonder whether anything was inherently anti-feminist or exploitive in depicting people being sexual, even explicitly sexual. Perhaps the exploitation I was perceiving in pornography was a reflection of a patriarchal and oppressive society, rather than an active agent of that oppression. Sometimes what's called for is careful consideration and finding a place on a continuum, rather than simply running to the opposing pole. Was porn reflecting the oppression, causing the oppression or perpetuating it? Or was it all and none of the above at the same time?
Porn could be hot and feminist if it reflected diverse bodies and ethnicities, and it was reasonably certain that the performers were of age and free of coercion. That didn't seem to be too much to ask.
SAME FACE DIFFERENT GIRL
Mainstream pornography still promotes the Barbie ideal. Most of the big-name actresses have fake boobs, tiny waists and long blonde hair. At the AVN Expo this year, I sometimes felt like I was seeing the same woman over and over again. However, diversity of body type and ethnicity is slowly creeping into porn. Right now, "ethnic" films are sectioned off into separate categories. I look forward to the day when it will be more common to see women and men of color in the increasingly big-budget productions-and that we see more natural breasts or, at least, better boob jobs.
But porn is not alone in its lack of diversity. Look at Hollywood. Again, is porn reflecting our dominant culture, or is it shaping it?
People of all genders are exploited in porn. People, especially women who have limited resources, addictions, or mental illnesses, are especially vulnerable to exploitation. This happens in many other industries in the United States, including agriculture and the textile industry. Porn isn't the only industry in which some business owners exploit workers. And not all people who work in porn are exploited.
WOMEN ON TOP
Pornography can be a highly lucrative industry. In fact, it is one of few industries in which women with little education and few connections can parlay their bodies, talents and drive into successful, profitable careers. Certainly, the level of success achieved by women like Jenna Jameson is the exception and not the rule, but that level of success is a possibility. Women are increasingly taking over the means of production in porn and making the rules. Women are still a minority but are a rapidly growing and highly successful minority- the list includes women such as Jenna Jameson, Tera Patrick, Tristan Taormino, Shine Louise Houston, Belladonna and Candida Royale.
A woman performing in porn exchanges her body and ability for money. In our culture, that freaks us out. Why? People regularly exchange their bodies and abilities for money. Professional dancers, coal miners, professional athletes, agricultural laborers, stunt people-all put their bodies and health on the line in exchange for paychecks. Most of us risk the health of one or more body parts to make a living. Sex can be an intimate, private experience, or it can be something utterly other than that. Some of us can be sexual with multiple people in a way that is emotionally and physically safe. Some of us can't. And some of us can take that ability and turn it into a career.
THE GOOD SEX FLICK FIX
So here's what it came down to for me: Some porn is bad for us, and some is good. And most of it is somewhere in between, just like anything else.
Celebrating the good porn is powerful. We, as people who are sex-positive, have a right to celebrate our sexuality by experiencing it through the medium of film and video. It's one of the most powerful mediums available to humans. Why shouldn't it include sex?
Like most film and video, porn reflects the world we live in. The world we live in is riddled with oppression and other things that aren't fun. But some porn goes further and reflects the world in which some of us want to live: a world that celebrates sex and human bodies. That's still the exception, but we can make it the rule. Buy the porn you like, and abandon the rest. The industry listens.
I try to buy porn that has accurate representations of human pleasure. Porn that I have reason to believe has been produced in a manner that was respectful to the cast and crew. Porn that celebrates sexuality. Porn that, ultimately, is hot. Getting people off is powerful. Getting people off in a way that subverts the patriarchy is even hotter. And dangerous. And subversive. And delicious.
Jacq Jones is the owner of the retail store Sugar, located in Baltimore. Its company mission: "Sugar is a lesbian-owned, women- and trans-operated, for-profit, mission-driven sex store," (SugarTheShop.com). She has also worked in direct services and administration in reproductive health care clinics and street-level outreach since 1994.
