Feminists what are your views on porn?

But to continue, men get this skewed idea about women, the wrong impressions concerning what women want from sex, how women want sex to be initiated and this strange notion of what women think about sex.

Porn is at best unrealistic and cartoonish at this point, at worst it acts out elaborately violent and disgusting rape scenes. I don't think it's causing men to rape, I don't think it's making men hate women, but it's not having a positive effect on anyone. It's definitely negative.

Feminism aside, I think porn has a detrimental effect on men. Many men self identify that they are addicted to pornography, cannot masturbate without pornography etc. They say watching it makes them depressed/struggle to have sexual relationships etc. It is known to cause PIED (porn-induced erectile dysfunction).

Porn is bad, not just because it gives men a skewed idea of what sex is, and

Christ, reading this thread - Andrea Dworkins must be rolling in her grave. So much ground lost for women. I thought this was a feminist theory chat...it's more like ' women are so much more empowered when they are being trafficked and raped by the industry'...for god's sake wake up and take back our children and the few real men who are left. Women can change the world with their outrage. Why can't we grasp this and decide enough is enough.

This thread has been running for years...thing have gotten worse for women and children. Please a call to arms...a call to get radical (see Dines, Dworkins, feminist current..many more)..

I don't like porn, but it's not made for my pleasure, but for men's.
So I don't watch it.
I wouldn't be able to get over the fact I'm probably watching a woman being raped.

Also when we say we're seen as an object, you do realise that doesn't literally mean that your partner sees you as no different from that of a microwave or a chair. It doesn't mean your an inanimate 'object' literally.

1. We all know human trafficking feeds into the pornographic industry. Even if a woman isn't a trafficked, if she's doing it as a last resort, it's not really consensual.
2. If you want to keep your son from playing too many hours of violent video games, you should also be concerned with how most pornographic titles sound like titles in a newspaper.

Tbh porn just celebrates women's sexuality and highlights their pleasure, surely that's a good thing?

You should read this book - good for mother to read and the kids... I don't know anything about porn but I am concerned that my teens will see it - very concerned given how it is early available on the internet. It degrades women and will undoubtedly effect their relationships if they are watching it too young. Please review after reading to encourage others to open this topic up with their children. Here is the link to the book on Amazon - hard to find such books out there: ]]

Guess they are asking are you a prude.

If anyone is a staunch feminist here,and you don't like the porn industry,then don't watch anything to do with this.. It will always be here,as you well know. Porn, hard core porn,is very popular these days, and I know at least three women who perform as such,and they love it so it seems. I don't think the women and men are being degraded at all, they all just like to earn a bit of money doing what they do, and who knows what happens to them all,when they are well past all this,and who care's anyway..!

I think it was Martin Amis who said (and I paraphrase), 'once women assent to porn then that's it. Game over.'. Then a culture of sexual objectification and utilisation will have ultimately triumphed.

There are worrying signs that is happening. I speak to more and more younger women who think that porn is fine and normal, subscribing to the stupid, dangerous idea that women can be empowered, discerning, consumers of it. They can't.

Porn is nothing less than the objectification and degradation of women by a predatory capitalist industry. It seems odd to me that people who position themselves on the left and usually call for more intervention in capitalist markets leap to the defence of carpet-bagging porn barons - all on the basis that stopping people watch any filmed prostitution (for that is what it is) is an infringement of their rights.

Dworkin, Dines and others are absolutely right about the absolute, destructive horror that is porn; as are Christian conservatives - even though they're right about absolutely nothing else.

I would ban it all if I could.

You guys are still talking about porn. Cams are the new porn...

But regarding porn, all I can say is I found some great inspiration, after my gf told me to be more hard* with her, that she loves.

*She is Spanish mother tongue, so I think the translation is not fully accurate.

im a feminist and whilst I have big problems with the sex industry, I dont think all porn or sex work is terrible in itself

This should cheer you all up ;) Basically, my Dp has watched porn in the past. A couple of years ago we had an unexpected visitor (our mutual friend) and I was sitting on the sofa in my PJ's, with no bra. Now, whilst my nightwear was not 'see through' the outline of my breasts and nipples were visible. My partner kept glancing at my boobs and making a weird head gesture. He then whispered 'Go and get a bra on'. So I went upstairs, waited a couple of minutes....then re-emerged topless!! He then received an almighty bollocking from moi! He didn't talk to me for a while. I did however, get my point across regarding objectifying my body in such a way, and also pointed out he has happily watched porn, yet my poor breasts with lack of bra were deemed inappropriate.

Anybody who thinks porn is harmless should watch this lecture, from around the 40 minute mark - - it should disabuse you of some of the more naive notions that porn is just a matter between consenting adults and is unrelated to misogyny or male violence against women.

Yes, there is some vanilla porn out there, but the vast majority of it is brutal and sadistic, and the worst part is that men are left needing ever more extreme things to satisfy their desires, resulting in ever greater harms for the women involved.

Would you want to do it? Would you want your daughter to do it? Can you guarantee that the girl in the video isn't being harmed, psychologically or physically? Do you know how many of those women were sexually abused as children? Do you know what a rectal prolapse is, or gonorrhoea of the eye?

Porn is not harmless. It is resulting in harms not only to the women who perform in it, but also ordinary young girls, who find themselves in a situation where they are expected to perform degrading and inhuman acts, with all the intimacy and connection removed from sex.

Pornography is about male sexual violence against women. It's not nearly as harmful to men as it is to women. Porn is built on the model of male dominance and female submission. It's about men forcing women into humiliation where women have no desires of their own but are only there to be an object of rage and humiliation.

Porn is nothing new, it's just everywhere b/c of the internet. Porn highlights the inherent woman hatred in society. It's made mostly by men for men. The few women that do make it, make it for men, using the model I talked about above.

I'm trying to speak very generally here because the overarching themes of porn are hatred of women and male sexual violence against women and girls.

Porn is a public health crisis. Boys as young as 5 are watching it and then behaving sexually violent towards female classmates. It's quite horrible.

Anyone who thinks pornography isn't harmful to EVERYONE involved is kidding themselves. John and Fuzzy have expressed why perfectly.

I find the semiotics of mainstream pornography deeply offensive. Women are routinely portrayed as deserving of ill-treatment, including severe violence, and are described with offensive terms such as bitch and slut. Lesbians are caricatured. I see nothing in pornography that appeals to me, and I'm fairly sexually broad-minded. I did try to watch so-called feminist pornography, but it seemed to use many of the same tropes as mainstream pornography. I am also concerned about the likelihood of women being coerced into activities that they would prefer not to engage in.

I imagine that in an ideal world it might be possible to make ethically acceptable videos of people having sex, but we don't currently live in an ideal world.

100% agree Fuzzy. Super comment.

ubersquiz I completely disagree with this "Objectification doesn't have to be a bad thing, its all about context. After all without objectification we wouldn't find each other attractive."
'Objectification' is viewing/treating someone as an object. It is viewing others as things to be used. It certainty isn't intrinsic to attraction to normal healthy people, only sociopaths.
Porn encourages people to view others as sex things to be used.
We live in a male dominated society where most imagery reinforces the male gaze. When women try to make 'feminist' porn or explore the notion of the female gaze, they simply justify the status quo and muddy the water.... it invisibilises the huge inequality.
The 'fantasies' porn depicts arise within a male-dominated world, depicting control of and violence towards the female/feminine. This is both abusive of the women in porn (many who have been victims of sexual violence before entering the industry), and fills the minds and fantasies of the viewer with abusive narratives, which may become encorporated into the viewers sex life- which means it spreads and normalises abuse. Since porn is overwhelmingly made by and for men, this abusive behaviour acted out is most likely to be males pressuring/coercing females to endure porn-inspired degradation and sexual violence so it is a feminist issue.
Sexual intimacy requires trust, respect, sensitivity to what others want. Porn encourages secretive/untrustworthy behaviour, it normalises sexual objectification/disrespect and desensitises viewers to what others want.