To feel disgusted that Elle magazine are touting porn star Sasha Grey as a "feminist"?

[Scarletohello]

So I have seen a lot of porn and Sasha Grey is a very popular porn star. Mainly because she does very extreme stuff, for example the kind of scenes where she is gagged with a man's cock to the extent that she us virtually vomiting. And she acts like she is loving it. One of the quotes in the magazine article from one of her films is, " Rip my fucking holes open". It's the most brutal, mistogynistic, woman hating porn you can possibly experience. And she is talking about it as being liberating and empowering for women. I'm no prude but her stuff sickens me. And now she's written an erotic novel and has an interview in Elle magazine where the cover line is, " writer, actress, feminist,porn star".
Makes me absolutely despair of where we as women have come to if she is being described as a "feminist". She is absolutely everything anti feminist to me. Any thoughts? Also if you have never seen her stuff, prepare to be appauled...

Women don't make the choice to sell their bodies, in a vacuum. There is nothing feminist about what she is doing, what she is portraying to other women and men, and what the men viewing are thinking about her.

Ruining it probably wasn't quite the right turn of phrase.
The few posts prior to me starting typing on my phone (so the last hour or so) seemed to be less an exchange of views and opinions.

I don't trust that link by grimi

Mmmmm I fear you may be correct.

Me neither.

ah, deleted I see

these threads attract some lovely people, dontcha think ?

a lovely industry, lots of lovely people just doin' their thang and none of it influencing the lives of the people around them

no sirree

Sorry, I didn't get to end of thread, want to go to sleep BUT

Elle is US owned, not likely to hit the rocks anytime soon and the porn star would not have been paid in any way. No celebs in magazines are paid. Magazines don't have big bucks to spend anymore, advertising revenue and circulation in decline.

The editor of Elle has always liked being 'shocking'

But OP YANBU

Plenty of people do things that they like in the privacy of their own home. I am sure a lot of people do like aggressive sex with their partner, of choice (to be clear) but this is very different to a woman being paid to do these with a stranger who has no care for her well being as the intention is to sell a 'rough as it gets' image.
I am not being a prude but some things stick in the mind and watching her doing these acts is likely to cause an impression on any young boy or girl who sees her in Elle and looks her up. Do we really think that a teen should be made aware of this kind of pornography in the first place simply because they are reading Elle? Yes I know some teens will be aware of her and they are 'cool' or whatever, but you can't say that this isn't sending an image to both sexes that this is normal.

The issue is not what she chooses to do, but the fact that she normalises brutal sexual violence. It means that some people will view that as normal and acceptable, just as the man who attacked my friend. He seemed to genuinely not understand why she wasnt hot for it as he expected her to be.

That is why what she does is wrong. If she gets her kicks by having her perineum ripped from vagina to anus then thats up to her, but please dont send out the message that every woman gets off on that.

Binks. It's not about people being scared of 'extreme' sex. It's about people being concerned about 'extreme' sex being portrayed as the 'norm' and not therefore 'extreme' at all, but just 'what you do'.

Now, you may love a bit of violent sex. Marvelous, knock yourself out (or have your DP do it for you, whatevs) but you have to admit, that sort of sex is not the norm and not for everyone.

It needs to be conducted in a relationship with an amount of trust IMO and an understanding of the limits of the other person.

Porn is often a young persons first introduction to sex. (I am not saying this is right or should happen, but it does)

Due to the internet, we've moved an awful long way from finding a Hustler magazine in the bushes. If Sascha Grays films form your image of sex, you may feel that sex is standard and feel pressurised into replicating the sex in those films. Even though you may not enjoy it, feel comfortable, understand it, or be with a partner with whom it is safe to explore that sort of sex. Which isn't good.

I may enjoy my DH choking me till I pass out (I said may - it's an example). That's fine. Because I trust him, because I enjoy it, because I consent, because he knows my limits, blah blah - but importantly, because I am acting in as close to a bubble as I can get. The only person that impacts on is my DH, and assuming we don't split up and he doesn't cheat, it's had a minimal impact on other women. Hence, no one cares what you, or I or the postman get up to in bed (usual caveats about consenting adult), because its impact on the rest of society is pretty negligible.

Oh, and because other peoples sex lives are boring. Even yours - promise.

Porn is rather different as it does have an impact on society and on sexual culture. Therefore, people care about it and many people feel the 'extremes' of sex should remain just that and should not be presented as the mainstream, which creates a pressure for people to participate regardless of whether they enjoy it, want to or are in a safe position to do so. This is particularly so when we live in a world where porn is so easily accessible and so often accessed by children.

A while ago you'd would have had to go to a specialist shop to get hold of extreme porn. It would have been a mission for an adult and pretty near impossible for a child. So the impact on society is much smaller. Now you just click a button. Or read about it in Elle magazine.

Surely performing in violent, degrading porn makes Sasha Grey the victim of misogyny rather than its perpetrator? Being the victim of misogyny shouldn't exclude you from being a feminist.

But no, apparently actually having violent abusive sexual acts done to your body makes you a perpetrator. Meanwhile, the OP who watches this porn for her own titillation is a victim of porn?

Sorry no. It is just possible that such a person is a victim of misogyny, presumably because she's too brainwashed to know better.

Alternatively it could just be that she's completely irresponsible and cares nothing for the effects of what she does on society around her. Doesn't sound very feminist to me. I don't see why anyone should assume that performing in degrading porn must make one a victim.

This "I'm a feminist just because I say I am" is bollocks. The sooner it stops the better. The term has to mean something.

And I won't report your post because I think people should see just how far you will go to prove a point.

Not on at all.

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She didn't suggest that you were into child porn

It's the old 'play the person, not the ball' technique, Binks. FWIW I have found your contributions to this thread interesting. Not half as interesting as I have found the relentless judging of other people's social and sexual habits by the usual suspects.

Thank you, flatpack.

I think catgirl makes some very good points.

But to be honest, I wish I hadn't seen this thread. Makes me feel sick and sad. I'm only in my 30's and have never watched porn. I'm now even more pleased that I don't have any violent degrading images in my head.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I didn't think AF meant child porn...

If it's any help,

Child porn? What are you talking about, binks ?

I merely suggested it may not be wise to take seriously the contributions of someone who, in the space of 24 hours, has extolled the virtues of violent sex and how lovely it is to be treated like a little girl

Any other connections you see are entirely of your own making