Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry (41 page)
Read Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry Online
Authors: Melinda Tankard Reist,Abigail Bray
Tags: #General, #Social Science, #Sociology, #Media Studies, #Pornography
Conclusion
Feminist resistance to pornography is re-emerging in the 21st century as a significant and important development in the trajectory of the UK feminist movement. A new generation of activists are embracing radical feminist analyses of pornography, and developing dynamic, creative and strategic campaigns to resist pornification and the expansion of the sex industry. They are also developing support strategies in order to help build and sustain an anti-porn resistance movement: strategies which emerged strikingly as a vital element of the activism.
The global scale, technological reach and economic power of the porn industry are huge challenges for feminists, as is negotiating the dominant discourse of ‘choice’, ‘free speech’ and ‘empowerment’ that serve to legitimise its existence. However, in a short space of time and with extremely limited resources, a new generation of UK anti-porn feminists have achieved some notable successes,
particularly in attracting media attention and driving through important legislative changes. Through their involvement in activism, this new generation of feminists are breaking the silence around porn and gaining strength, confidence and assuredness in their arguments, and discovering a sense of solidarity and shared purpose. In the UK in the 21st century, anti-porn feminism is once again emerging as a vital and urgent political force.
___________________________
1
This article draws on research findings from my doctoral research, which involved carrying out ethnographic studies of two UK groups involved in feminist anti-porn activism, along with 24 in-depth, qualitative interviews with anti-porn activists from across the UK.
I would like to thank all the courageous and inspiring women who participated in this research.
2
‘Hooters’ is an international restaurant franchise that originated in Atlanta, USA. The company states that “the element of sex appeal is prevalent in the restaurants” and that “Hooters hires women who best fit the image of a Hooters girl to work in this capacity”, <
http://www.hooters.com/About.aspx
> (accessed 25 April, 2010).
3
‘Stop Porn Culture’ produces a wealth of resources for feminist anti-porn activists. See <
www.stoppornculture.org
>.
4
See <
www.object.org.uk
>.
5
For a flavour of the assertive and extrovert style of
Feminist Fridays
protests, see a video of the July, 2010 action, available at <
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA7aAizybG8
> (accessed 28 March, 2011).
Feminist resistance to pornography is re-emerging in the 21st century as a significant and important development in the trajectory of the UK feminist movement. A new generation of activists are embracing radical feminist analyses of pornography, and developing dynamic, creative and strategic campaigns to resist pornification and the expansion of the sex industry. They are also developing support strategies in order to help build and sustain an anti-porn resistance movement: strategies which emerged strikingly as a vital element of the activism.
The global scale, technological reach and economic power of the porn industry are huge challenges for feminists, as is negotiating the dominant discourse of ‘choice’, ‘free speech’ and ‘empowerment’ that serve to legitimise its existence. However, in a short space of time and with extremely limited resources, a new generation of UK anti-porn feminists have achieved some notable successes,
particularly in attracting media attention and driving through important legislative changes. Through their involvement in activism, this new generation of feminists are breaking the silence around porn and gaining strength, confidence and assuredness in their arguments, and discovering a sense of solidarity and shared purpose. In the UK in the 21st century, anti-porn feminism is once again emerging as a vital and urgent political force.
___________________________1
This article draws on research findings from my doctoral research, which involved carrying out ethnographic studies of two UK groups involved in feminist anti-porn activism, along with 24 in-depth, qualitative interviews with anti-porn activists from across the UK.
I would like to thank all the courageous and inspiring women who participated in this research.
2
‘Hooters’ is an international restaurant franchise that originated in Atlanta, USA. The company states that “the element of sex appeal is prevalent in the restaurants” and that “Hooters hires women who best fit the image of a Hooters girl to work in this capacity”, <
http://www.hooters.com/About.aspx
> (accessed 25 April, 2010).
3
‘Stop Porn Culture’ produces a wealth of resources for feminist anti-porn activists. See <
www.stoppornculture.org
>.
4
See <
www.object.org.uk
>.
5
For a flavour of the assertive and extrovert style of
Feminist Fridays
protests, see a video of the July, 2010 action, available at <
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA7aAizybG8
> (accessed 28 March, 2011).
Gail Dines
Stop Porn Culture!
Stop Porn Culture! is dedicated to challenging the pornography industry and an increasingly pornographic pop culture. Our work toward ending industries of sexual exploitation is grounded in a feminist analysis of sexist, racist, and economic oppression. We affirm sexuality that is rooted in equality and free of exploitation, coercion, and violence
.
The founders of SPC are long time anti-pornography activists who have been organizing against the porn industry since the 1980s. In March, 2007 we held a conference called ‘Pornography and Pop Culture: Reframing Theory, Re-thinking Activism’ at Wheelock College in Boston. This was the first feminist anti-porn conference in the US in 15 years and the response was overwhelming. Within a day of going live with our Website, we had over 200 registrations. About 550 people came to Boston for the conference and it was the beginning of a new era in anti-porn activism. Stop Porn Culture! was founded that weekend and we have been active ever since.
One of our goals was to create a movement to fight the hypersexualization of culture and the increasingly violent nature of mainstream Internet porn. As the porn industry continues to grow and creep into all areas of our lives, it is more important than ever to organize a movement that resists the misogyny of porn. On our Website we ask:
being used across the USA as well as in Canada, Europe, Russia, and even parts of Africa. With a script and over 100 slides, the show is an excellent resource for people who want to raise awareness about the harms of porn. It is being used by educators, anti-violence professionals, community activists and citizens who are concerned about the increasing pornification of our society.
The second slide show, written by Rebecca Whisnant, is called ‘It’s Easy Out Here for a Pimp: How a Porn Culture Grooms Kids for Sexual Exploitation.’ This show focuses on how a pornified popular culture (including pornography itself) shapes the identities of children and adolescents, while increasingly portraying them as sexual objects for adults. Our goal is to produce more slide shows that look at the different ways porn infiltrates our daily lives.
Every year Stop Porn Culture! holds training sessions for people who want to become anti-porn activists. These two-day seminars introduce participants to the literature on the effects of porn and provide a general introduction into the history of feminist anti-porn activism. Central to the training is a day of mock question and answer sessions where we train people in how to answer the various questions that audience members typically have after seeing the slide show. This helps people develop the confidence necessary to give public lectures on porn.
The SPC Website has an array of resources for people seeking more information on the effects of porn, on how to deal with a partner who is a habitual user, as well as videos and articles on issues relating to the sex industry. Over the years SPC has become a visible movement in fighting the porn industry and we are now developing international links with other groups who are trying to raise consciousness as to the harms of porn.
<
http://stoppornculture.org
>
Stop Porn Culture!
Stop Porn Culture! is dedicated to challenging the pornography industry and an increasingly pornographic pop culture. Our work toward ending industries of sexual exploitation is grounded in a feminist analysis of sexist, racist, and economic oppression. We affirm sexuality that is rooted in equality and free of exploitation, coercion, and violence
.
The founders of SPC are long time anti-pornography activists who have been organizing against the porn industry since the 1980s. In March, 2007 we held a conference called ‘Pornography and Pop Culture: Reframing Theory, Re-thinking Activism’ at Wheelock College in Boston. This was the first feminist anti-porn conference in the US in 15 years and the response was overwhelming. Within a day of going live with our Website, we had over 200 registrations. About 550 people came to Boston for the conference and it was the beginning of a new era in anti-porn activism. Stop Porn Culture! was founded that weekend and we have been active ever since.
One of our goals was to create a movement to fight the hypersexualization of culture and the increasingly violent nature of mainstream Internet porn. As the porn industry continues to grow and creep into all areas of our lives, it is more important than ever to organize a movement that resists the misogyny of porn. On our Website we ask:
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by pornography? … Are you ever concerned that mass media reduce women, and increasingly girls, to sexual objects while encouraging men and boys to be sexually callous? Is it getting more difficult for you to protect your kids from the porn culture?
You aren’t alone. Stop Porn Culture! is a group for those willing to ask these questions – activists and academics, young people and parents, organizers and ordinary people. We are no longer willing to accept the ways the pornography industry has pushed its way into our lives, distorting our conceptions of sex and sexuality. We are ready to fight back.
The central organizing tool of SPC is a series of slide shows that explore the nature and effects of contemporary porn. The first slide show, written by Gail Dines, Rebecca Whisnant and Robert Jensen, is called ‘Who Wants to be a Porn Star?’ It can be downloaded free of charge from the SPC Website and it is nowYou aren’t alone. Stop Porn Culture! is a group for those willing to ask these questions – activists and academics, young people and parents, organizers and ordinary people. We are no longer willing to accept the ways the pornography industry has pushed its way into our lives, distorting our conceptions of sex and sexuality. We are ready to fight back.
being used across the USA as well as in Canada, Europe, Russia, and even parts of Africa. With a script and over 100 slides, the show is an excellent resource for people who want to raise awareness about the harms of porn. It is being used by educators, anti-violence professionals, community activists and citizens who are concerned about the increasing pornification of our society.
The second slide show, written by Rebecca Whisnant, is called ‘It’s Easy Out Here for a Pimp: How a Porn Culture Grooms Kids for Sexual Exploitation.’ This show focuses on how a pornified popular culture (including pornography itself) shapes the identities of children and adolescents, while increasingly portraying them as sexual objects for adults. Our goal is to produce more slide shows that look at the different ways porn infiltrates our daily lives.
Every year Stop Porn Culture! holds training sessions for people who want to become anti-porn activists. These two-day seminars introduce participants to the literature on the effects of porn and provide a general introduction into the history of feminist anti-porn activism. Central to the training is a day of mock question and answer sessions where we train people in how to answer the various questions that audience members typically have after seeing the slide show. This helps people develop the confidence necessary to give public lectures on porn.
The SPC Website has an array of resources for people seeking more information on the effects of porn, on how to deal with a partner who is a habitual user, as well as videos and articles on issues relating to the sex industry. Over the years SPC has become a visible movement in fighting the porn industry and we are now developing international links with other groups who are trying to raise consciousness as to the harms of porn.
<
http://stoppornculture.org
>
Linda Thompson
Challenging the Demand
Imagine standing up in a room full of strangers. Imagine standing up talking to them about pornography. Imagine going into that knowing that a good few will be hostile to everything you say and extend that personally to you. Imagine hearing young women talk of practising faked orgasm sounds and faces to meet partners’ expectations. Imagine talking with parents supporting their teenagers as they deal with their naked images being shared online.
And yet, I love my job challenging demand for commercial sexual exploitation, including prostitution and pornography. I don’t love what I see, read and hear, but every day I am proud to be involved in challenging one of the most destructive forces in our culture. Saying “I am anti-porn” is definitively stating a position which some are surprised even exists. There is disbelief that anyone does such a job and that I would confess to being like
that
. Sometimes there is a nervous laugh, slight defensiveness or even an envious “Wow, I’d love to look at porn and get paid for it!” Clearly, I am part of a minority, holding an alternative position outside the dominant view of pornography as acceptable, liberal and progressive.
Years ago, this anti-porn position would have seemed incompatible with my work with young people in sexual health projects in Belfast. Now, my work as the Development Officer with the Women’s Support Project
1
includes reading porn industry journals,
2
viewing the latest uploads on Youporn or scanning the highest-rated pornography on British Bukakke Babes. The idea that this regular
exposure to the pornography industry would radically change my views was something I never expected.
In the 1990s, I was a woman who knew about pornography, knew its language but thought if someone wanted to use it to get off – what was the problem? Back in that era of videos, DVDs and magazines, I reassured female friends that all guys look at this stuff and blew the whistle on the usual hiding places. I said, “Where is the harm?” This seemed to fit with my sexual health work and with the ostensible need to be sex-positive.
So, what changed? Simply, I took a step back, found out more and had to accept that pornography was not unproblematic.
I thought I had a good working knowledge of the sex industry but I was not prepared for what I discovered. Finding out about the US activists’ group Stop Porn Culture! and watching their slide show started the steep learning curve. After I decided to develop their ‘Who wants to be a porn star?’ slideshow
3
for the Scottish context, I read all the research, checked out the evidence and looked at examples down to local levels.
As all elements of the sex trade are inextricably linked, so is my work. I not only watched pornography but read opinion pieces, talked to women involved and became au fait with punters’/consumers’ review sites. I had to be informed which meant, in turn, being shocked, angry and upset. I heard the experiences of women in the sex trade, saw the language used to market them as commodities and consumers’ total disconnect with them as individuals. I had to then find a way to get all this across with a feminist underpinning. When I delivered this information to wide audiences, I also got feedback on their own real, lived experiences with pornography. This showed me how far we have gone with letting porn become mainstream.
I have yet to talk with any groups of women, men and young people without hearing real concerns about porn in people’s lives. Research undoubtedly guides and informs, but the whole process from funding to peer reviewed articles takes a long time. Meanwhile there is growing lived evidence around us. People’s experiences may not be currently captured in research results but activism provides the bridge.
This activism offers understanding outside of the myths and justifications of men’s need for porn as they are peddled in the mainstream. It uncovers people’s concerns, the emerging trends, and so, paying heed to what you hear ‘out there’
can form a comprehensive agenda about how pornography is affecting us. Sexual health clinicians, health advisors, relationship counsellors and help-lines are
increasingly
dealing with pornography’s adverse effects. Why do we ignore them for cutting across the idea that porn is a positive, liberating influence?
Attendees at our seminars frequently have preconceived, and sometimes outdated, ideas of what pornography is and does. What I offer is often the first unequivocal challenge to these assumptions. I am conscious of what I show people and maintain a sense of responsibility. Things seen cannot be unseen. It is necessary to have safeguards in place; people decide to attend after being informed about my approach including looking at images drawn from pornography, from its move into the mainstream, from advertisements, videos, DVDs and the Internet. I remind them at the start of my talk, and then, before they see any images, they are reminded again.
I have found that using references from the everyday media can have more impact than current mainstream pornography. Some of the hardest days at work are not spent immersed in porn land but in supposed ‘entertainment’. A memorable occasion was
ZOO
online lads’ mag
4
showing a series of images, purportedly uploaded by a young woman who was penetrated by bottles in her bedroom with framed family photos on the wall, soft toys on a bed … It takes only a few steps to access young people’s social networking sites on the Internet, and it becomes immediately clear how internalised the porn messages have become, with 13-year-olds posting semi-naked pouting images in the hope of being rated a ‘sexy hot babe’ by self-appointed panels of older male peers.
Some in our audiences perceive anti-porn activism as personal challenges and sometimes retaliate in vicious ways, launching personal attacks. Their ‘helpful’ advice ranges from the “Just watch more porn – then you will understand,” to the more threatening suggestion that a porn-style f*cking, notionally delivered by the commentator will ensure we ‘get’ the benefits of pornography. Anti-porn activism is under constant scrutiny and unless we are experts on media, philosophy, economics, ethics, the law, and human rights, to name just a few, then our work is undermined. People are all too eager to attack, vilify, dismiss and trample you underfoot in their rush to defend this global industry at any costs. But it is precisely at the point when it feels you are pushing against an ever-expanding frontier directed by the sex industry, that we must celebrate and share our successes. These connections motivate and keep the energy going.
It is hearing from women who now have, for the first time, words to express and validate how they have been feeling. It is a young woman writing that she is taking a break from sex while she works out what she wants sexually, without pornography’s influence. It is reading a young man’s blog who is now pushing pornography back from his life and making personal changes. It is men opening up about their experiences with porn and struggling to counterbalance its messages on their kids’ understanding of sex and relationships. It is hearing from a father of teenage girls now challenging his friends’ acceptance and sharing of ‘hot schoolgirl sluts’ porn. It is hearing about women discussing pornography in new ways with their friends. When others are showing enough commitment to question, discuss and take action – then the balance can be redressed. Imagine the potential for change if more people spoke up. Then imagine if
you
did something.
You have to make it personal – take a stance and make decisions. With growing economic hardship, women are facing even more reduced opportunities while the sex industry is ever more acceptable, accessible and affordable. There are fewer resources to fund support services and run campaigns so we
need
a groundswell of activism. This is crucial if we really want to change assumptions, confront the apologists, and challenge the demand.
My work across Scotland would not be possible without the foundations laid down by women in the 1980s and 1990s, especially in the field of violence against women. Activism worked to allow victims and survivors of rape and sexual assault to be the ones who defined what was violent. A growing number of women with experience in domestic abuse and sexual assault work moved into positions of influence in party politics and community development. This forged the links between the real lived experiences of women and policy-making (Macleod et al., 1994). Much effort and energy went into furthering understanding of the dynamics and realities of domestic abuse and sexual violence, against the backdrop of deeply rooted male attitudes about entitlement and power. Thirty years later, it is sobering to see the same discussions and processes repeated with commercial sexual exploitation, which is now specifically identified in the national approach to violence against women, Safer Lives, Changed Lives (2009).
The birth of my daughter also prompted me to take fresh stock of our culture. Did I want her coming of age in a world where coming on her face would be the marker of manhood for her male peers (Clark-Flory, 2009). Did I want her value to be judged against how ‘porn-ready’ she is (Sawyer, 2010)? Did I want her sexuality to be directed and dictated by certain industry moguls? Most of all, did I want my daughter to ask why I hadn’t done anything?
People can remain in denial that sexual exploitation doesn’t affect them, but
through anti-porn work you are really asking them to consider where they are positioned with the industry. Do they collude with the exploitation of women’s social and economic status? Do they consume sexualised inequality and sustain the market? Do they turn a blind eye to the consequences of what they and their partners and friends are demanding? Or do they become informed and honestly appraise how it all relates to them? Do they then take action?
The global growth of the sex trade, pornography included, counters so much of what I believe in. But I believe that if we are given factual information, are supported when we process this information, and understand what it really means personally and for others around us, we can make informed decisions. We need skills to weigh the consequences of our decisions and follow them through with a sense of respect. With the growth of the sex trade and its seepage into everyday life, the notion of ‘informed choice’ has changed. Sexual health promotion is almost rendered valueless given the affordability, accessibility and anonymity of the pornography industry (in Cooper, 2000). When high numbers of young people identify porn as their main sex education, we have allowed the pornography industry to write the script (Flood, 2009).
If
I don’t
challenge this, I am helping open the floodgates to allow this take over of our public spaces, our online world, our media and our entertainment as well as the co-opting of our personal lives. As Alasdair Robertson, a Scottish activist against violence against women said, “If you think that it doesn’t affect you – you must be living on another planet.”
5
Bibliography
Cooper, Al (Ed) (2000) ‘Cybersex: The Dark Side of the Force’ Special Issue
Journal of Sexual Addiction and Compulsion
. Brunner-Routledge, Philadelphia, PA and Hove, Sussex.
Clark-Flory, Tracy (18 August, 2009) ‘Generation XXX: Having sex like porn stars. How is smut changing teen sexuality? One word: Facials’, <
www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/feature/2009/08/18/gen_porn/index.html
> (accessed 18 August, 2009).
Flood, Michael (2009) ‘Boys, Sex, and Porn: New technologies and old dangers’, <
http://www.xyonline.net/sites/default/files/Flood,%20Boys,%20sex%20and%20porn%2007.pdf
>.
Macleod Jan, Patricia Bell and Janette Foreman (1994) ‘Bridging the gap: feminist development work in Glasgow’ in Miranda Davis (Ed)
Women and Violence
. Zed Books, London.
Safer Lives Changed Lives (2009) Section 4.1, <
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/06/02153519/0
>.
Sawyer, Miranda (2010) ‘Shag bands, porn on mobile phones … kids need more help to understand sex’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/03/sex-education-porn-twitter
.
Stop Porn Culture! <
http://stoppornculture.org/slide-show-home/
>.
ZOO Today! <
http://www.zootoday.com/
>.
___________________________
1
<
www.womenssupportproject.co.uk
> This work is funded through the Equality Unit Violence Against Women fund in Scotland with the overall aim to challenge the demand for commercial sexual exploitation, which includes prostitution, pornography, and so-called adult entertainment (e.g. stripping/lap dancing). This is delivered through awareness raising, public education, training, multi-agency working and developing new resources. The Women’s Support Project is a Scottish feminist charity, which has been operational for over 26 years working against violence against women and children. This work has highlighted the links between different forms of male violence and promoted interagency responses to the abuse of women and children.
2
The porn industry, similar to other large commercial sectors, has its own trade journals. Included in these are
Adult Video News
(AVN), <
http://business.avn.com/
>, XBIZ <
http://www.xbiz.com/
> and in the UK,
Adult Industry Trade Association
(AITA). <
http://admin.gdbtv.com/aita/about.php
>.
3
Stop Porn Culture! through Gail Dines, Rebecca Whisnant and Robert Jensen developed a slide show for activists to use, <
www.stoppornculture/resources.com
>.
4
ZOO magazine
is a high-street lads’ mag with an accompanying Website, <
http://www.zootoday.com
>.
5
See <
http://www.womenssupportproject.co.uk/content/challengingdemand/180/
> for copies of the Money and Power resource packs and <
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCYIJCGO2Gw
> for a short film clip developed to raise awareness of commercial sexual exploitation in Scotland which quotes Robertson.
Challenging the Demand
Imagine standing up in a room full of strangers. Imagine standing up talking to them about pornography. Imagine going into that knowing that a good few will be hostile to everything you say and extend that personally to you. Imagine hearing young women talk of practising faked orgasm sounds and faces to meet partners’ expectations. Imagine talking with parents supporting their teenagers as they deal with their naked images being shared online.
And yet, I love my job challenging demand for commercial sexual exploitation, including prostitution and pornography. I don’t love what I see, read and hear, but every day I am proud to be involved in challenging one of the most destructive forces in our culture. Saying “I am anti-porn” is definitively stating a position which some are surprised even exists. There is disbelief that anyone does such a job and that I would confess to being like
that
. Sometimes there is a nervous laugh, slight defensiveness or even an envious “Wow, I’d love to look at porn and get paid for it!” Clearly, I am part of a minority, holding an alternative position outside the dominant view of pornography as acceptable, liberal and progressive.
Years ago, this anti-porn position would have seemed incompatible with my work with young people in sexual health projects in Belfast. Now, my work as the Development Officer with the Women’s Support Project
1
includes reading porn industry journals,
2
viewing the latest uploads on Youporn or scanning the highest-rated pornography on British Bukakke Babes. The idea that this regular
exposure to the pornography industry would radically change my views was something I never expected.
In the 1990s, I was a woman who knew about pornography, knew its language but thought if someone wanted to use it to get off – what was the problem? Back in that era of videos, DVDs and magazines, I reassured female friends that all guys look at this stuff and blew the whistle on the usual hiding places. I said, “Where is the harm?” This seemed to fit with my sexual health work and with the ostensible need to be sex-positive.
So, what changed? Simply, I took a step back, found out more and had to accept that pornography was not unproblematic.
I thought I had a good working knowledge of the sex industry but I was not prepared for what I discovered. Finding out about the US activists’ group Stop Porn Culture! and watching their slide show started the steep learning curve. After I decided to develop their ‘Who wants to be a porn star?’ slideshow
3
for the Scottish context, I read all the research, checked out the evidence and looked at examples down to local levels.
As all elements of the sex trade are inextricably linked, so is my work. I not only watched pornography but read opinion pieces, talked to women involved and became au fait with punters’/consumers’ review sites. I had to be informed which meant, in turn, being shocked, angry and upset. I heard the experiences of women in the sex trade, saw the language used to market them as commodities and consumers’ total disconnect with them as individuals. I had to then find a way to get all this across with a feminist underpinning. When I delivered this information to wide audiences, I also got feedback on their own real, lived experiences with pornography. This showed me how far we have gone with letting porn become mainstream.
I have yet to talk with any groups of women, men and young people without hearing real concerns about porn in people’s lives. Research undoubtedly guides and informs, but the whole process from funding to peer reviewed articles takes a long time. Meanwhile there is growing lived evidence around us. People’s experiences may not be currently captured in research results but activism provides the bridge.
This activism offers understanding outside of the myths and justifications of men’s need for porn as they are peddled in the mainstream. It uncovers people’s concerns, the emerging trends, and so, paying heed to what you hear ‘out there’
can form a comprehensive agenda about how pornography is affecting us. Sexual health clinicians, health advisors, relationship counsellors and help-lines are
increasingly
dealing with pornography’s adverse effects. Why do we ignore them for cutting across the idea that porn is a positive, liberating influence?
Attendees at our seminars frequently have preconceived, and sometimes outdated, ideas of what pornography is and does. What I offer is often the first unequivocal challenge to these assumptions. I am conscious of what I show people and maintain a sense of responsibility. Things seen cannot be unseen. It is necessary to have safeguards in place; people decide to attend after being informed about my approach including looking at images drawn from pornography, from its move into the mainstream, from advertisements, videos, DVDs and the Internet. I remind them at the start of my talk, and then, before they see any images, they are reminded again.
I have found that using references from the everyday media can have more impact than current mainstream pornography. Some of the hardest days at work are not spent immersed in porn land but in supposed ‘entertainment’. A memorable occasion was
ZOO
online lads’ mag
4
showing a series of images, purportedly uploaded by a young woman who was penetrated by bottles in her bedroom with framed family photos on the wall, soft toys on a bed … It takes only a few steps to access young people’s social networking sites on the Internet, and it becomes immediately clear how internalised the porn messages have become, with 13-year-olds posting semi-naked pouting images in the hope of being rated a ‘sexy hot babe’ by self-appointed panels of older male peers.
Some in our audiences perceive anti-porn activism as personal challenges and sometimes retaliate in vicious ways, launching personal attacks. Their ‘helpful’ advice ranges from the “Just watch more porn – then you will understand,” to the more threatening suggestion that a porn-style f*cking, notionally delivered by the commentator will ensure we ‘get’ the benefits of pornography. Anti-porn activism is under constant scrutiny and unless we are experts on media, philosophy, economics, ethics, the law, and human rights, to name just a few, then our work is undermined. People are all too eager to attack, vilify, dismiss and trample you underfoot in their rush to defend this global industry at any costs. But it is precisely at the point when it feels you are pushing against an ever-expanding frontier directed by the sex industry, that we must celebrate and share our successes. These connections motivate and keep the energy going.
It is hearing from women who now have, for the first time, words to express and validate how they have been feeling. It is a young woman writing that she is taking a break from sex while she works out what she wants sexually, without pornography’s influence. It is reading a young man’s blog who is now pushing pornography back from his life and making personal changes. It is men opening up about their experiences with porn and struggling to counterbalance its messages on their kids’ understanding of sex and relationships. It is hearing from a father of teenage girls now challenging his friends’ acceptance and sharing of ‘hot schoolgirl sluts’ porn. It is hearing about women discussing pornography in new ways with their friends. When others are showing enough commitment to question, discuss and take action – then the balance can be redressed. Imagine the potential for change if more people spoke up. Then imagine if
you
did something.
You have to make it personal – take a stance and make decisions. With growing economic hardship, women are facing even more reduced opportunities while the sex industry is ever more acceptable, accessible and affordable. There are fewer resources to fund support services and run campaigns so we
need
a groundswell of activism. This is crucial if we really want to change assumptions, confront the apologists, and challenge the demand.
My work across Scotland would not be possible without the foundations laid down by women in the 1980s and 1990s, especially in the field of violence against women. Activism worked to allow victims and survivors of rape and sexual assault to be the ones who defined what was violent. A growing number of women with experience in domestic abuse and sexual assault work moved into positions of influence in party politics and community development. This forged the links between the real lived experiences of women and policy-making (Macleod et al., 1994). Much effort and energy went into furthering understanding of the dynamics and realities of domestic abuse and sexual violence, against the backdrop of deeply rooted male attitudes about entitlement and power. Thirty years later, it is sobering to see the same discussions and processes repeated with commercial sexual exploitation, which is now specifically identified in the national approach to violence against women, Safer Lives, Changed Lives (2009).
The birth of my daughter also prompted me to take fresh stock of our culture. Did I want her coming of age in a world where coming on her face would be the marker of manhood for her male peers (Clark-Flory, 2009). Did I want her value to be judged against how ‘porn-ready’ she is (Sawyer, 2010)? Did I want her sexuality to be directed and dictated by certain industry moguls? Most of all, did I want my daughter to ask why I hadn’t done anything?
People can remain in denial that sexual exploitation doesn’t affect them, but
through anti-porn work you are really asking them to consider where they are positioned with the industry. Do they collude with the exploitation of women’s social and economic status? Do they consume sexualised inequality and sustain the market? Do they turn a blind eye to the consequences of what they and their partners and friends are demanding? Or do they become informed and honestly appraise how it all relates to them? Do they then take action?
The global growth of the sex trade, pornography included, counters so much of what I believe in. But I believe that if we are given factual information, are supported when we process this information, and understand what it really means personally and for others around us, we can make informed decisions. We need skills to weigh the consequences of our decisions and follow them through with a sense of respect. With the growth of the sex trade and its seepage into everyday life, the notion of ‘informed choice’ has changed. Sexual health promotion is almost rendered valueless given the affordability, accessibility and anonymity of the pornography industry (in Cooper, 2000). When high numbers of young people identify porn as their main sex education, we have allowed the pornography industry to write the script (Flood, 2009).
If
I don’t
challenge this, I am helping open the floodgates to allow this take over of our public spaces, our online world, our media and our entertainment as well as the co-opting of our personal lives. As Alasdair Robertson, a Scottish activist against violence against women said, “If you think that it doesn’t affect you – you must be living on another planet.”
5
Bibliography
Cooper, Al (Ed) (2000) ‘Cybersex: The Dark Side of the Force’ Special Issue
Journal of Sexual Addiction and Compulsion
. Brunner-Routledge, Philadelphia, PA and Hove, Sussex.
Clark-Flory, Tracy (18 August, 2009) ‘Generation XXX: Having sex like porn stars. How is smut changing teen sexuality? One word: Facials’, <
www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/feature/2009/08/18/gen_porn/index.html
> (accessed 18 August, 2009).
Flood, Michael (2009) ‘Boys, Sex, and Porn: New technologies and old dangers’, <
http://www.xyonline.net/sites/default/files/Flood,%20Boys,%20sex%20and%20porn%2007.pdf
>.
Macleod Jan, Patricia Bell and Janette Foreman (1994) ‘Bridging the gap: feminist development work in Glasgow’ in Miranda Davis (Ed)
Women and Violence
. Zed Books, London.
Safer Lives Changed Lives (2009) Section 4.1, <
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/06/02153519/0
>.
Sawyer, Miranda (2010) ‘Shag bands, porn on mobile phones … kids need more help to understand sex’,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/03/sex-education-porn-twitter
.
Stop Porn Culture! <
http://stoppornculture.org/slide-show-home/
>.
ZOO Today! <
http://www.zootoday.com/
>.
___________________________
1
<
www.womenssupportproject.co.uk
> This work is funded through the Equality Unit Violence Against Women fund in Scotland with the overall aim to challenge the demand for commercial sexual exploitation, which includes prostitution, pornography, and so-called adult entertainment (e.g. stripping/lap dancing). This is delivered through awareness raising, public education, training, multi-agency working and developing new resources. The Women’s Support Project is a Scottish feminist charity, which has been operational for over 26 years working against violence against women and children. This work has highlighted the links between different forms of male violence and promoted interagency responses to the abuse of women and children.
2
The porn industry, similar to other large commercial sectors, has its own trade journals. Included in these are
Adult Video News
(AVN), <
http://business.avn.com/
>, XBIZ <
http://www.xbiz.com/
> and in the UK,
Adult Industry Trade Association
(AITA). <
http://admin.gdbtv.com/aita/about.php
>.
3
Stop Porn Culture! through Gail Dines, Rebecca Whisnant and Robert Jensen developed a slide show for activists to use, <
www.stoppornculture/resources.com
>.
4
ZOO magazine
is a high-street lads’ mag with an accompanying Website, <
http://www.zootoday.com
>.
5
See <
http://www.womenssupportproject.co.uk/content/challengingdemand/180/
> for copies of the Money and Power resource packs and <
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCYIJCGO2Gw
> for a short film clip developed to raise awareness of commercial sexual exploitation in Scotland which quotes Robertson.
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