Padaviya

sanityscraps:

I really think all this bullshit about “objectification” of women in porn stems from our society’s anti-female sexuality stigma, especially against women having sex regardless of marriage or—EVEN WORSE—enjoying it. God forbid a woman genuinely like having hardcore sex on camera.

No one’s up in arms about men being “objectified” in porn because they’re simply not. And neither are women. People think that porn is something just for men, but plenty of women watch porn too, myself included. Assuming consent, then no one in porn is being “objectified”—they’re displaying themselves as sexual beings in front of a camera because they want to do so.

Why that difference? Why does no one care about men being “objectified” in porn? I say it’s a pseudo-concern for women’s welfare by people who are anti-sex. And no, this isn’t a “what about the men” rant. Not at all. This is me pointing out some blatant slut-shaming on the part of much of society.

This is actually everything I don’t like about folks who criticize feminists who aren’t totally pro-porn.

Sorry, but uh, “Ebony teen takes dick in both holes” just is not my idea of respect for women’s personhood and personal fulfillment. Neither is “MILF with nice tits gets a load”. Or “Her tits bounce as she takes a hard cock”. Especially not considering there is almost no variation from those titles on any free porn site you can go to.

And you know what? Men are objectified in porn! They are boiled down to their dick and what it can do! In fact, lots of times all you can see is their dick. That’s because the penis and what it can do is of the utmost importance in porn. This is also why the “cumshot” is so important. That being said, at least men still get to be the actor rather than the acted upon. In this, there’s almost no exception. 

Sorry, but the “plenty of women do it” argument doesn’t work, either. Plenty of women vote republican, but that doesn’t make the republican party pro-woman, either. I would argue that women watch porn as it is today because that’s still the most easily accessible sexytime-feeling inducing thing to watch. Although it can be borderline disturbing how little women’s agency is respected within some porn, it’s still all that some women can access in order to get their rocks off. 

So maybe some women do like having hardcore sex on camera. that’s fantastic. I wish them well. But that isn’t any excuse for the way the porn industry treats women or female pleasure. 

And fuck, that’s not even touching on the ridiculous shit they do regarding “lesbianism”. That’s straight up objectification - yes, even if some really femme girls like to make out with each other and spit on each other’s cooches in front of a camera. 

I’m pro-people fucking on camera and other people being able to watch it. That doesn’t necessarily make me pro-porn. Porn as it is today (in the mainstream) is essentially a shrine to white male interests. I’m not anti-sex just because I’m anti-catering only to white straight cis dudes with objectification and marginalization of everyone who isn’t a white straight cis-dude. 

Porn can just be so much better and varied than it is, and it’s not slut-shaming to say so. 

I just can’t with pro-porn feminists being all “lalalala heteronormativity and racism etc. etc. etc. in my porn? Nopenopenope I luuuvs teh pr0n”. It makes no sense. If it were anything else, the criticism would be welcomed. But when it comes to what you like to fap to, suddenly critical thinking and deep analysis is unwelcome? I don’t get it.

OTTAWA — On the third day of the Women’s Worlds conference at the University of Ottawa three Australian academics warned that when it comes to pornography, life is starting to imitate art — and that’s something both women and men should be worried about.

Renata Klein, an author and retired professor of women’s studies at Deakin University in Melbourne, said pornography has become so ubiquitous eople are starting to model their real sex lives on “porn sex.”

In porn sex men are all sleekly muscled studs with erections that last for hours, while women are hairless, bronzed, botoxed and surgically enhanced. She says these images become the sexual ideal that people try to live up to.

But even worse, she says porn sex is built around the idea of submission and dominance, where the woman is reduced to “a servicing station for men’s sexual needs.”

According to Klein, this is a big problem when children as young as 11 are learning about sex for the first time from pornography.

“An 11 year old boy sees that, who hasn’t got anything to compare it with, he must think this is the normal kind of sexuality,” she said. “And then he has this girlfriend and perhaps he wants her to do similar things, well she really wouldn’t know that that’s not the normal way of having sex.”

During the talk Klein and her colleagues took aim at the idea that pornography could be empowering for the women in it, and that images of submission and dominance were harmless as long as they were just images.

Klein said that the rough acts seen in pornography were not just images, they were actually happening to the women onscreen, and aside from the increased risk of STIs in an industry where condom use is discouraged, she says the large amounts of sex women in the porn industry have could result in damage to the women’s vaginas or anuses.

And Klein forecast that porn sex would only get rougher.

“By now porn consumers want something different,” she said. “They want daring acts.”

And for her, saying that women are in pornography by choice, and they are paid for it, is no excuse.

Klein said the women who volunteer to be in porn may have other options, but usually not very many, or very good ones.

For her, if acting in pornography is the best choice society gives these women then the problem is with society.

“I want to live a life of equality whether it’s in the bedroom or it’s in the boardroom,” she said.

Also… the nomination period for the 2011 Feminist Porn Awards (to be held April 8-16 in Toronto, Ontario) is open now through February 15.

Via GoodForHer.com:

Good for Her is thrilled to present the 6th Annual Feminist Porn Awards.The Feminist Porn Awards honor pornographers whose groundbreaking work offers a fresh perspective on the sexual expression of women and everyone who finds themselves under-represented in mainstream pornography.

The official nomination period for consideration for the Good For Her Feminist Porn Awards opens on December 1, 2010 and will close on February 15, 2011.

In order to be considered for a Feminist Porn Award, submissions must meet at least 1 of the following criteria:

1)    The work depicts genuine pleasure, agency and desire.  These movies may also include a focus on connection, communication and collaboration between the performers and/or between the performers and filmmakers.

2)    The work expands the boundaries of sexual representation on film, challenges stereotypes and presents a vision that sets the content apart from most mainstream pornography.  This may include depicting a diversity of desires, types of people, bodies, sexual practices, and/or an anti-racist or anti-oppression framework throughout the production.

Categories for awards may include, but are not limited to: Canadian Content, Lesbian/Dyke, Diverse Cast/Representation, Emerging Filmmaker, Kink/Fetish, Lesbian/Dyke, Straight, Trans, and Website.

Please send 4 screener copies of each work to be considered on DVD to:

FPA Nominations c/o Good For Her 175 Harbord Street Toronto ON M5S1H3 Canada

PLEASE NOTE: for submissions from outside of Canada, please be sure to mark your package as a gift or sample with a value of $0.  Good For Her and the Feminist Porn Awards are unable to pay duty on submissions and packages requiring duty will be refused.  NO EXCEPTIONS.

For website submissions, please email your information to alison@goodfoher.com and include a user name and password to be used by up to 5 jury members.

The Feminist Porn Awards will be held on April 15th, with special screenings on April 8th and April 14th 2011 in Toronto, Ontario.

Please visit http://www.goodforher.com/fpa_2011 for submission forms, official rules and regulations and more information about the events.

Good For Her is entering their sixth year as producers of the Good For Her Feminist Porn Awards, the largest and longest running celebration of feminist porn in the world.  Since 1997, Good For Her has been creating a nurturing environment where everyone can feel comfortable learning about sex and pleasure. Good For Her provides quality sex toys, erotic and educational books as well as DVDs and workshops that empower and celebrate the diversity of everyone’s sexuality.

Could we, please, try doing without some or all of the following for once? Just give it a try, see if we can get by without:

• Freakishly long fingernails
• Excessive eye makeup
• The “blowjob—>vaginal—>{anal—>}{blowjob—>}facial cumshot” formula
• Sex always being male-initiated and controlled — come on, what’s wrong the lady jumping her guy or wrestling to get on top?
• The mindset that sex has to be degrading to women to be arousing
• The idea that there’s something unusual and dirty about a woman who wants to get off
• Sleazy asshole men
• Picture sets that never show the man’s face, or really anything much apart from his dick
• Male porn stars who aren’t even really physically attractive apart from their dicks (Possible exception for Ron Jeremy)
• Creepy “blacks on blondes” porn that treats black men like animals and ends up coming across like some sort of beastiality porn for racists.
• Pigtails
• The obsession with 18 year-olds
• The “schoolgirl” thing in general

(via porncull)

For a while there, almost every Google alert I got for the phrase “porn for women” came from some columnist or blogger declaring the books and films to be thus. It’s an offhand way of dismissing the immense popularity of these teenage vampire books, similar to the way romance novels are marginalised. “Oh,” huff the critics, “it’s all just fluffy romantic nonsense. Porn for women.” (Because women don’t like real porn, of course. We’re too girly for that. Sex is icky, remember?)

I’d like to declare that the Twilight Saga is not porn for women. Mainly because it’s not porn. Duh.

(I resent that the rapist is described as gross for being, among other things, redhead and “pale all over”.  I’m redhead and “pale all over”.  Thanks a lot, Sasha Basulka.  I don’t think use of the term “pudgy” is going to win you any fans, either.  However, despite Basulka’s insensitive and judgmental language towards the physical characteristics of other humans, the article is still worth linking to and reading).

Article:

You may have heard that Kendra Wilkinson, ex-Playboy bunny and Girl Next Door, has a sex tape that’s just been released against her wishes. What you may not know is that this isn’t a sex tape at all. It’s a rape tape.

(definitely check out the video at the above link, though it’s not for the feint of heart)

Labiaplasty, a plastic surgery in which the labia is reshaped, is on the rise in many Western countries. Usually this means trimming the labia so that it is less “obtrusive” and social pressure, especially from increased exposure to pornography, is blamed for the rise. For reference, see our post on the natural range of labia shapes and sizes (nsfw) and our post featuring before and after pictures of labiaplasty (nsfw).