Well, since everyone else has chimed in on how they reached their conclusions about defending porn, I guess that I should give you my story.
Basically, my "pro-porn" beliefs are in much part integrated in my own independent, radical, Libertarian Left perspective that humans should be given the space, the resources, and the freedom to express their own sexuality to the fullest extent possible, with no harm done to others, and with all parties involved getting the most satisfaction and pleasure out of their activities. To me, sexuality is the essence of personhood, and the expression of the positive lifeforce that not only creates life (and not just in the traditional way of sperm meets egg, either), but just as much sustains our lives in ways we just don't begin to imagine. I really do believe essentially that consensual sexual pleasure (not neccessarily limited to but including an orgasm) is a human being's connection to the overall life force; indeed, it is the goddess Aphrodite's gift to the masses. And it is one human resource that cannot be taken away by government fiat, religious doctrine, or global warming...regardless of how often some folks may attempt to make us believe differently.
In my view, the majority of porn that is out there merely depicts sexual activity amongst humans that real people already enjoy immensely; whether mere acts of beautiful women and handsome men masturbating and touching and groping and tasting and kissing; or whether it's a full blown orgy of mass fucking and sucking; or whether it's merely a couple finding each other's hot buttons. Unless you are of the view that the activities themselves are somehow "immoral" and a threat to "society" and "civilization", it would be highly hypocritical, in my view, to come down on the written or displayed depictions of consensual and mutally pleasurable sexual activity amongst adults.
Plus, those who are so quick to condemn porn so gravely miss the most important reason for its existence: to turn people on and get people off. In a world that can be quite lonesome, cruel, and unfeeling, anything that allows a lonely soul or two or fifty even some minimal measure of pleasure cannot be so bad after all....as long as no others are harmed by his/her actions.
Obviously, I have my own judgments when it comes to the particular brand of porn that fits my horny fancy; that makes me no different than most people....including my fellow and sista conspirators here on this blog. For me, I'm more of the "slut goddess worship" type; nothing gets me going better than a smart, beautiful woman showing off her lust and love of sex, and her willingness to share that gift of giving and receiving pleasure with others. (To reduce that to two words: Nina Hartley.) Otherwise, my tastes and fantasies sexually-wise are quite conventional as most average middle-aged men go.
I would say that my antiracist and antisexist political philosophy also goes to shape a lot of my sexual beliefs as well; it is no accident or coincidence that much of my sexual philosophy was founded by reading up on sex-positive philosophers/activists like Gayle Rubin, Patrick Califia, Joan Nestle and Amber Hollibaugh; sex worker activists like Margo St. James, Carol Leigh, and Carol Queen; and especially libertarian Left thinkers like Victoria Woodhull, Emma Goldman, Susie Bright, Scott Tucker, Violet Blue (the sexpert, NOT the porn starlet); amongst others.
For me, though, it is the women and men who actually do the hard and wet work (no pun intended) in making porn and doing sex work who really earn my attention and respect. Certainly, they are not all wonderful, rags-to-riches tales of glory and honor; but the very fact that they are so willing to expose themselves -- in more ways than the obvious -- for the sake of promoting the pleasure principle, makes them no less worthy of respect merely because they aim to metaphorically touch our clits and dicks rather than our hearts and minds.
Obviously, being "pro-porn" in my view doesn't mean that some porn doesn't deserve criticism or to be held accountable for its faults; mostly, porn is -- like most other forms of art and creative expression -- a window into the soul of the producers and performers, and on occasion, even the audience. And sometimes, that view can be as shocking, as disturbing, and even as disgusting and raw, as it can be pretty, beautiful, sensual, petty, hilarious, ridiculous, satirical, indifferent.....in short, all of the emotions that we humans can offer. My response to those who would regulate such diversity of emotion out of existence would be: "So what???" If we can accept art specifically designed to make us laugh or cry or scream in fear or holler in anger, then why in the hell is it so impossible to accept art and speech that makes us come???
The answer to that last question is obvious: whether they come out of the feminist "left" (and I use the parenthesis deliberately, since I consider most antipornfeminists to be mere pretenders and pilferers of legitimate Left practice and theory) or the traditional religious/fundamentalist right, I find that most of the loudest opponents of adult consensual sexual expression simply are people who desire control over others to compensate over the lack of control over themselves. Unfortunately, oppressing others to mask their own repression is a time-honored tradition that crosses and transcends political ideology; it will take a lot of reeducation, patience, love, and support to reverse millenia of sex-negative propaganda and create a more humane, more forgiving, and more liberatory approach to sexuality.
But, the rewards are more than worth the risks, as far as I'm concerned; it's pretty damn hard to argue with an orgasm.
Maybe it's not the more philosophical approach to sexual liberation and porn that others here may follow....but it works for me.
Yes, I am as much "anti anti-porn" as I am "pro-porn"....it's just an extension of my basic "sex-positive" progressive philosophy that, to paraphrase the co-authors of the classic The Ethical Slut, Dossie Easton and Catherine "Lady Green" Liszt: "Sex is nice, and pleasure is good for you."
And, I might add, much better than war, torture, and inequality, too.
"positive lifeforce that not only creates life (and not just in the traditional way of sperm meets egg, either), but just as much sustains our lives in ways we just don't begin to imagine. I really do believe essentially that consensual sexual pleasure (not neccessarily limited to but including an orgasm) is a human being's connection to the overall life force"
ReplyDeleteGot it in one.
Beautiful.
Thank you.
"For me, though, it is the women and men who actually do the hard and wet work (no pun intended) in making porn and doing sex work who really earn my attention and respect. Certainly, they are not all wonderful, rags-to-riches tales of glory and honor; but the very fact that they are so willing to expose themselves -- in more ways than the obvious -- for the sake of promoting the pleasure principle, makes them no less worthy of respect merely because they aim to metaphorically touch our clits and dicks rather than our hearts and minds."
ReplyDeleteWell said!
oohhh, Anthony! a Victoria Woodhull reference?
ReplyDeleteswooooooooooooooon
I think I'm in love!
AK: This post rocks. I love it.
ReplyDeleteTo be against porn is to dismiss hundreds (if not thousands) of years of people depicting sex.
ReplyDeleteFor example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerne_Abbas_giant
Excellent Blog
ReplyDelete.............
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