In any society, there are rules and regulations that define what is acceptable and what is not. Some of this control is in the laws established and imposed by authorities. However, when it comes to values and moral standards, this control often is the domain of religion.
Religion as a social control tool defines the boundaries of many aspects of life, including sex. By establishing what is acceptable and what isn't, religion has served its purpose: telling people what to do in order to maintain order and cohesion within a society. However, as in any system, limits also invite transgression. While certain taboos remain untouchable - incest, for instance - many others need a place to be expressed without endangering the cohesion of the group. This is where the sex industry finds a niche.
Even though it may look like the industry is working against religion, they actually need each other as complements, expressing the opposites of the same unit. While religion tells people what to do, how to do it and why they should or shouldn't do it, pornography allows them to "live" what is forbidden, but without all the guilt and consequences of the real acts.
Homosexuality is a good example of a group trying to exist in a system that, by its religious values, denies its existence. Through the sex industry, among other media, homosexuals find a place where they can express their values, simply because the very nature of this milieu and its positioning in the social sphere makes it the perfect screen to project their difference. In other words, religion needs the sex industry to show what is evil and where it lies, and the sex industry needs religion in order to appeal to the transgressors who otherwise wouldn't feel the desire to act in opposition to what is "bad." All good needs an evil, and all evil needs a good.
So what's the big difference in this technological era? Is it that anybody can have one-click access to what they want in the privacy of their homes without being judged by neighbors or friends? Is it the simplicity of accessing content and their own fantasies with just one click and one credit card?
We can have exactly what we want when we want it. The adult industry is no different. We can get any type of content we want in any niches we want without fear of judgment, the fear that was religion's main control in earlier centuries. Today, it's the political side that judges and fights this industry.
Think of the progress we were able to make when the Democrats under Clinton were in control with their open minds, then think of how the Republicans are doing all they can to dictate the image and the direction we have to take. Think about the 2257 regulations adopted under the George W. Bush era. It's under this political power that Christians and churches are fighting against the values and morality of this multibillion-dollar industry.
Why is there such strong judgement against this form of entertainment? It's because we provide entertainment, relaxation and pleasure for peoples who cannot do or get what they really want. We are the distributors of sex entertainment, and we have the most powerful and efficient method of distribution: the Internet. It allows people to get what they want without being seen or judged. The fear of judgment is so powerful that even those of us who work in the adult industry are a little shy about telling outsiders what we do for a living. The power of perception is the strength of politics and religion, and it's the weakness of the adult industry.
In other countries, especially the emerging countries, it's the same battle, but the religions and governments sometimes are more powerful and controlling than they are in the United States. People who view adult content in those countries fear getting caught, and the penalties are much more severe, including death sentences. Religion is much more powerful because of the lack of infrastructures to get information to people living in those countries. There, religion has the best tool to control people's minds and, most importantly, it can direct people and governments like in the days when bishops and cardinals where the main influences on politics.
Pornography and religion have always needed each other to promote their respective ideas, and it's a love-hate relationship. In the past century, pornography always found ways to be seen and consumed, whether via the big screen or the video club, and the evolution over past 18 years has been gigantic because of the greatest tool for spreading information: the Internet.
I am proud to tell people that I work in the adult industry, and I go to church on Sundays with the biggest smile I can put on. What about you?
-Jean-Sebastien Fournier is an account manager for Gammae.
This article initially appeared in the June 2008 edition of AVN Online. To subscribe, visist AVNMediaNetwork.com/subscriptions.
