Challenging: The Beautiful Servant by Fragonard
I recently attended the keynote lecture given by Dr. Linda Williams at the Pornography: At the Limit conference at the University at Buffalo. Williams elucidated several important things that we should consider when thinking about porn, which is a subject that provokes strong reactions categorizing it as everything from depraved filth to the ultimate expression of freedom. As critical thinkers, we certainly may hold these personal opinions of porn, but they do little to enhance our understanding of the medium.
A recent article profiling activist Gail Dines in The Guardian highlights how a personal opinion, in this case the premise that porn is destructive to women, can influence research. In a classic lapse of critical thinking, she formed a conclusion before any research took place and therefore found plenty of evidence to support her claim. Since Dines began her quest with the premise that porn is destructive and leads to violence against women, all further research has verified this hypothesis. If we start our investigation with the notion that porn is empowering for women, we can confirm that assertion as well by examining the work of feminist pornographers such as Tristan Taormino and Shine Louise Houston, among many others. To hold either position prematurely is not good research, good critical thinking or good skepticism.
Because porn deals with a subject so central, so inherently loaded with signification, it is unique in its ability to reflect society. For critical thinkers that wish to move beyond the limits of their own opinions and biases, porn studies are rich with interest. We can use porn as a starting point to examine different cultures, either historically or contemporaneously, in closed and open societies, various demographic groups and in relation to religious and other social mores. We can look at the good / bad and freeing / destructive binaries that are prevalent in discussions of porn and use them to explore the conditions that lead to the formation of those viewpoints.
Porn is nothing new. The only thing that has changed in the visual cultures of sexuality over millennia is the preferred media for distribution and the level of availability. One of the most popular sites in the volcano-preserved city of Pompeii is the Lupanare brothel, complete with murals depicting sex acts that served as a menu for patrons and penises in relief on the paving stones to literally point the way to “The Den of the She-Wolves.”
In the nineteenth century, during the repression of the Victorian Era, the discovery of photography rapidly led to the dissemination of pornographic imagery with greater ease and far less cost than a statue, bedroom mural or hand-painted cameo. It can be argued that the desire for sexual imagery drove the development of photographic technologies. The stereoscope, a forerunner to the Viewmaster of my youth, was used widely to view sexually explicit images, as were the popular “carte-de-visite” (calling cards with photos) for convenient pocket-sized nudes. Moving pictures brought another place for pornography to be displayed, as did sound film, mass-market adult magazines, video and of course, the Internet.
What does this brief look at the long history of porn tell us? It says that visual culture has a porn component, either very visible as it was in Rome, or hidden on small cards in private pockets and boudoirs in fin-de-siècle Europe. Producers and purveyors will tailor that expression to the media available, and can also push development in technology due to the demands of the market. It tells us that eliminating porn from culture is probably impossible, though many regimes and activists have tried and will no doubt continue to do so. It tells us that a great deal of money, time and attention is centered on porn. It tells us that porn does not and cannot reflect the sexual lives of society as a whole, because porn is performative and a creation for viewing passively, from a spectator’s physical and temporal distance, not real life.
Porn reflects the mechanics of various subcultures, from gay barebacking to BDSM to Asian Fetish and myriad other incarnations of desire, but it is still just a framed viewpoint incapable of revealing the entire reality of the demographic that is performed. It is, as Williams said, problematic to reduce any societal group to their depiction in porn. Porn is not, and should not be used as ethnographic evidence. It is fantasy performed through bodies, which makes unbiased viewing difficult, but not impossible, especially for critical thinkers. The sexual fantasies performed in porn often do not reflect the private sex lives of the performers, and certainly diverge widely from the sex lives of the viewing audience. Porn is an escape, not a revelation of heretofore unknown truths.
In every investigation of porn, it is important to remember this performative nature that cannot be separated from porn. Adult films and photographs are not, in the vast majority of cases, documentaries, but since they contain real bodies in motion, the fourth wall between our own lives and those that we are viewing are easily collapsed. We forget that we are watching performers, even in the so-called “amateur” genre. Our experience with the medium is structured by the technology, the director and the performers to present a product that we can only view passively.
Humans are visual, emotional and sexual creatures. Porn provides a point of convergence for all of these aspects of humanity. As critical thinkers, we should be equipped to investigate the evidence, evaluate the claims and arrive at findings about porn that are free from emotion, opinion and hyperbole. Porn studies, in my opinion is an excellent topic for skeptics.
Further reading:
Dean, Tim. Unlimited Intimacy: Reflections on the Culture of Barebacking. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009.
Kendrick, Walter. The Secret Museum: Pornography in Modern Culture. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.
Williams, Linda. Hard Core: The Power, Pleasure and ‘Frenzy of the Visible.’ Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
Williams, Linda, ed. Porn Studies. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004.
Williams, Linda. Screening Sex. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004.
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This was a very thoughtful overview of porn, and how we as skeptics might best challenge our preconceptions about it. I wish I had further insights, but as this is about where I am in my personal evolution in critical thinking, I really don’t. :-) Nevertheless, it’s a great place to point those who are still figuring it out!
Good insights here. Traditionally the “sex trade” including porn has been one of the few options for a woman to earn a living. Let’s not forget that many men also earn a living (and have) via porn or the “sex trade”. There is also a line between posing for porn and well being paid to have sex. Also various degrees of porn. Growing up, if you posed nude for Playboy that was pretty awful. Today, it’s a rite of passage. If you are a celebrity that has lost some weight, pose nude! I don’t think people even blink an eye at that.
One worry about porn is simply the exploitation of women ( and men). The people in the sex video are usually not the ones making the big bucks (with some exceptions). Dr.C. Everet Koop is leading a campaign to help make sure women and men in the porn industry have some protections, including the right to insist on safe sex practices without being fired. Insist on a condom and you can be blackballed by the porn industry. It isn’t so much about porn but about fairness and safety.
This question of how to separate my political opinions from my skeptical viewpoint has been on my mind a lot of late. Or rather, how to get past the emotional reaction that comes from my political opinions to a place where I can objectively look at the evidence available.
For me, at least, it’s a process. I don’t just start out with an objective view of things, I have to work towards one.
I agree with all your post, full stop. Then again, I’m sex positive and porn isn’t a triggering subject for me. I find the topic interesting both academically and personally.
If I was politically invested in either side of the porn debate, as I am with my view on body politics, I could completely understand how hard it would be to separate feelings from facts.
My upbringing has taught me to think nothing positive about porn, BUT if I want to be a gosh honest, real critical thinker, I need to be more open minded about this. I need to look outside my comfort zone, and try to see other views on this. Yes it makes me uncomfortable, and am not a partaker of the art; yes I think that porn and the business of sex often exploits women, and sometimes men, and sadly even children in a most negative way. But I cannot say without a doubt that negative exploitation is always the case. It is obvious that there are people choose this occupation and enjoy it, finding it personally and financially rewarding.
It can also serve the purpose of lessening the taboo of the topic of sex. We certainly talk about, write songs about, hint about it, write books about it, portray it in literature and film, but usually only in part. Pornography removes the covert nature of the topic of sex. That can’t be all bad, even if we agree that it isn’t a topic for everyone.
I also realize that views on the subject are based on cultural ideas, and that when it comes to pornography, sexuality and religion there can be some double standards going on. I naturally find that very problematic, as religion can help perpetuate negative stereotypes, and extreme bias where it shouldn’t exist. But that is a whole other topic.
As a porn consumer myself, I am still conflicted when it comes to the issues of pornography and feminism. While the consumption of pornography is something that I think will be hard to eliminate, the production of porn is often exploitative. Case in point, the recent decision that a woman need not give her consent to be featured in a Girls Gone Wild video.
The porn issue touches once again on the product-driven vs. process-driven debate. There are those who would be happy to censor and outlaw porn. In Australia, you cannot even purchase ‘hardcore’ porn (porn that depicts penetration) outside of the Australian Capital Territory. Getting porn off the shelves, however, would not solve the problem and could, in fact, make things worse by driving it underground.
As much as I love my porn, sometimes I’d like to see porn eliminated, but only by the process, that is, by a fundamental change in society where sex is no longer something that needs to be dirty and separate, and where women and men, gay and straight, trans and cis, are treated equally and sexuality is open and free. Erotica will still exist, but pornography, as a concept is relatively normalised as part of the wide array of entertainment available rather than shoved into a ghetto wrapped in plain brown paper.
Yeah, or something. I might change my mind later…
This is an issue that I’m still processing in my mind. I used think that all porn was bad because…well yuck. This is, of course, not a valid argument which I call the yuck factor. As of right now, I’m of the opinion that porn can be part of a healthy sexual relationship with your partner as long it is shared by both as part of intimacy. I don’t like the idea of my husband sneaking off and doing his thing while looking at other women. I prefer to be somewhere in his thoughts at the time. I have never watched porn alone, and until about 1 year ago had never watched it with my husband. I was a little uncomfortable at first, but found that with him it was fun and fulfilling. I think this experience changed my thinking about porn…a little. Also, I do have a problem with porn that promotes violence against women or any other group for the obvious reason.
Many of my views about this, skepticism, atheism are still in their infancy and need a great deal more development, but that’s what blogs like this are for. A place where I can feel comfortable expressing my newbie views without being judged and snarked at.
I am trying to search for a lecture series by Catherine Lumby that included a history of Porn especially in regard to class structure. It seems that the lower classes we seen not to have the appropriate breeding or education to be able to “handle” porn without turning into beasts. I wonder if there are echoes of ths attitude in Australia’s prohibition in aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory (x rated pornography is legal in the ACT and NT unless you happen to live on an aboriginal community.
Sean I’ve lived in Aboriginal communities, I’d say that’s definitely the case. There are so many things left from the Native Welfare days. There are also cases where communities have requested restrictions, especially with alcohol, but I haven’t heard of it with porn. From my experience there is definitely a problem, not so much with adults but that young children have very easy access to porn, in fact in some ways they can’t escape it. However where I currently am the library has a problem with men masturbating over Woman’s Day, so it’s definitely not a simple topic.
Personally I would class myself as a consumer of erotica rather than porn, and among other people I have contact with there seems to be a universal distinction between the two, even if people put the line in slightly different places! That would certainly be an interesting study – is there a significant difference, or is it about snobbishness?
Thanks for the great feedback, everyone. I’d like to continue this topic in a series of blog posts. Porn and other forms of sex work brings up really interesting questions that I enjoy exploring.
@Kitty — I don’t know if you intended the pun “being blackballed by the industry,” or not, but either way, I love it.
@JennaMarie — I’d be curious to see how certain women may think porn empowers them, because I have my own thoughts on that side of the issue and can relate in several different ways. I’ll be sure to check out your references when I can. Thanks for the post! I love me some good controversial topics!
I liked the article. But then I really like things that are thought provoking without being antagonistic or outright biased.
You might note that Violet Blue, the web hostess of Our Porn, Our Selves ( appeared on Oprah recently) has had the Facebook discussion group that she started closed down.
You can read my http://seantheblogonaut.com/2010/07/facebook-silencing-valued-discussion-around-pornography-for-women/ of her letter here or you can go to hersite, which does feature imagery that some might find confronting.ie NSFW
Sorry snarfed the html there :(
Jenna, are you going to be at D*C? I’m hoping you may be able to join the panel on sex, sexuality and skepticism?
Great blog man