Community Blogs Login | Register | Search Blogs
Post from Jesse Singal's Blog:
Feminism and Pornography
By Jesse Singal - Apr 10th, 2008 at 12:33 pm EDT
Also listed in: Campus Progress Blog
Comments |  Mail to a Friend
Tags: feminism, pornography
Bad? Brilliant?
You can rate this post.
Register or login now and
tell us what you think.
"Can feminism and porn coexist?" asks Sarah Hepola at Salon's Broadsheet blog. Maybe I'm out of my element here, acting as I am as the token male commenting on a feminist issue, but my immediate reaction is, Why not? It's one of those overly broad, provocative questions designed mostly to spark discussion, but the answer seems simple enough and I'm having trouble thinking of a counterargument. Since Hepola's not asking "Can feminism and porn made by men coexist?" or "Can feminism and porn-as-we've-known-it-since-the-1960s coexist?," why couldn't feminism and porn coexist, so long as we admit certain things about most porn would have to be altered or excised?

Reader Comments
  
Sure.
Reply
By Superduperficial Apr 11th 2008 at 3:51 pm EDT
So long as you accept the notion (as I do) that objectification (of both men and women) is perfectly acceptable in some contexts and entirely unacceptable in others.

Much the same way as I can be opposed to BumFights videos, and still appreciate a Tony Jaa fight scene.
Re: Sure.
Reply
By Bobby Allyn Apr 11th 2008 at 5:54 pm EDT
give me some examples where objectifying women is "acceptable" ...
  
xfexmx
Reply
By Bobby Allyn Apr 11th 2008 at 5:53 pm EDT
"token males" can be feminists just as much as anyone else can.

most of porn objectifies women and displays them horribly subordinate and submissive.

why not get feminists involved? imagine if feminists took over the porn industry --that might be a big leap -- but really, the more feminists get involved and embrace pornography the more they can change it.
  
Porn is not automatically objectification
Reply
By echomikeromeo Apr 12th 2008 at 1:00 am EDT
There's certainly women-friendly and women-made porn out there (though not as much as there should be, of course). Much as loads of major release films are lame, but there are really cool indie films out there as well, a little searching unearths porn that isn't mainstream and misogynist and terrible.

An M/f power dynamic in porn is not automatically reflective of the evils of the patriarchy. It can be fantasy, a story - and consensual at that.

Feminism should be about giving women the freedom to enjoy their porn as much as anyone else.
  
Campus Progress

Please remember that Campus Progress' terms of use do not allow promoting or endorsing any particular political party or candidate for office. Posts or comments that do this will be deleted.
Campus Progress