The Pornography Wars by Kelsy Burke

Author:Kelsy Burke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

For all the ethical motives behind feminist or ethical porn, proponents of these genres must contend with the fact that they can be labels to generate profits, too. Feminist pornography is “hot,”8 according to industry magazine XBIZ, but it is not without controversy. In 2018, two directors who worked for Erika Lust were accused of abusive behavior on set. One accuser, Lina Bembe, who performed for several Lust films, told the website Jezebel that “the people who are really ethical,9 they’re not like, ‘We’re ethical, trademark!” As Mattel did when it came out with a gender-neutral doll in 201910 (“a doll line designed to keep labels out and invite everyone in”), virtue signaling is a way for corporations to express care and understanding for diverse consumers without significantly altering corporate practices or profits. The 2020 “Holiday Barbie” is as white, blond, and thin as ever. Melissa Harris, the former porn director and performer, pointedly responded to my questions about the genres of feminist and ethical porn: “Feminist porn is not real. Ethical porn is not real. These are marketing terms. I would say the only ethical and feminist content is from independent producers.” Lust, for her part, has since published a set of guidelines for her directors to follow and has resolved conflicts11 between directors and performers through mediation.

Andre Shakti, the independent sex worker and porn performer, is also critical of the label “feminist” for porn, because it places value judgment on the content itself. She disagreed with one of the hallmarks of feminist porn, as described by the Feminist Porn Awards, that porn should depict “genuine pleasure.” “I’m a performer. This is my job,” she told me. “And I’m going to put on a great performance regardless of whether my orgasm is real or not.” As Stoya, the famous porn performer and now advice columnist for Slate magazine, has described, “My politics and I are feminist12 … but my job is not.” “I use my body to make gender-binary-heterosexual-oriented pornography for a production company that aims to have as much mass appeal as possible.” Nothing about this is feminist, Stoya writes, but it is consensual—and the way she makes a living.

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