Porn - Philosophy for Everyone: How to Think With Kink (8 page)

NOTES

1
Robert Darnton,
The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France
(London: Fontana, 1996), p. 7.

2
Ibid., p. 17.

3
Translations of both of the Diderot novels discussed may be found in Michel Feher (ed.)
The Libertine Reader: Eroticism and Enlightenment in Eighteenth-Century France
(New York: Zone Books, 1997).

4
Robert Hellmann and Richard O’Gorman (eds.)
Fabliaux: Ribald Tales from the Old French
(New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1965), pp. 105 ff.

5
Mary D. Sheriff, “Labia,” in Colin Blakemore and Sheila Jennett (eds.)
The Oxford Companion to the Body
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001).

6
Published in 1743, but circulated earlier in manuscript.

7
Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d’Argens,
Thérèse philosophe
, trans. Robert Darnton. In Darnton,
Forbidden Best-Sellers
, p. 299.

8
Notably by Walter Kendrick,
The Secret Museum: Pornography in Modern Culture
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987).

9
Quoted in Isabel Tang,
Pornography: The Secret History of Civilization
(London: Macmillan, 1999), p. 23.

10
Ibid., p. 35.

11
Joan DeJean, “The Politics of Pornography: L’Ecole des Filles,” in Lynn Hunt (ed.)
The Invention of Pornography: Obscenity and the Origins of Modernity, 1500–1800
(New York: Zone Books, 1996), p. 112.

12
Quoted in James Grantham Turner,
Schooling Sex: Libertine Literature and Erotic Education in Italy, France, and England 1534–1685
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 2.

13
Ibid., p. 128.

14
Paula Findlen, “Humanism, Politics and Pornography in Renaissance Italy,” in Hunt,
Invention of Pornography
, pp. 95 f.

15
Pietro Aretino,
Dialogues
, trans. Raymond Rosenthal (New York: Marsilio, 1994), p. 158.

16
C. M. Woodhouse, “How Plato Won the West,” in M. Holroyd (ed.)
Essays by Divers Hands
, vol. 42 (London: Royal Society of Literature, 1982) p. 122.

17
Plato,
Republic
, trans. Robin Waterfield (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), 495c.

18
Findlen, “Humanism, Politics and Pornography in Renaissance Italy,” p. 78.

19
Laura McClure,
Courtesans at Table: Gender and Greek Literary Culture in Athenaeus
(London: Routledge, 2003), p. 102.

20
Both quoted in McClure,
Courtesans at Table
, p. 102.

21
For a valuable survey of these images, see Ayers Bagley,
Study and Love: Aristotle’s Fall
(Minneapolis: Society of Professors of Education, 1986).

22
Simon Blackburn,
Lust
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 10.

23
Henri d’Andeli, “The Lay of Aristotle,” trans. Stephen G. Nichols, Jr. In Angel Flores (ed.)
Masterpieces of World Literature: The Medieval Age
(New York: Dell, 1963), p. 334.

24
Ibid., p. 336.

25
Ibid., p. 339.

26
Ibid., p. 340.

27
John Norman,
Hunters of Gor
(1974), quoted in Peter Fitting, “Violence and Utopia: John Norman and Pat Califia,”
Utopian Studies
11, 1 (2000): 93.

28
Fitting, “Violence and Utopia,” p. 102.

29
Shaowen Bardzell and William Odom, “Experience of Embodied Space in Virtual Worlds: An Ethnography of a Second Life Community,”
Space and Culture
11, 3 (2008): 239–59.

30
Fitting, “Violence and Utopia,” p. 94.

31
John Lange,
The Cognitivity Paradox: An Inquiry Concerning the Claims of Philosophy
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970), p. 55.

32
Versions of this argument have been advanced by many authors. One of the best is Rae Langton,
Sexual Solipsism: Philosophical Essays on Pornography and Objectification
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 38 ff.

PART II

THE PORNOGRAPHIC MIND
Psychology and Porn

ANNE K. GORDON AND SHANE W. KRAUS

CHAPTER 3

YES. YES! YES!!

What Do Mona’s Moans Reveal About Her Sexual Pleasure?

Most research on the topic of pornography has been concerned with some variation of the question (and feel free to sing along), “Porn! . . . Huh! (good God) What is it good for?” and, overwhelmingly, the answer has been “Absolutely nothing! Say it again! Y’all.” Research has shown that viewing pornography causes some men to view professional women as sex objects, remembering more of what they look like and less of what they say.
¹
Porn viewers are more likely to form erroneous beliefs, such as that women enjoy being raped.
²
Watching violent porn, in particular, can desensitize viewers toward rape victims, leading them to recommend lesser sentences for rapists.
³
Men exposed to pornographic material, such as
Playboy
centerfolds, compared to those in a control group, e.g., who looked at abstract art, report being less attracted to and less in love with their wives.
⁴
Importantly, high pornography consumption predicts sexual aggression, particularly among men predisposed toward sexual aggression.
⁵

Despite the documentation of many pernicious outcomes associated with watching pornography, we believe that one particularly insidious consequence of porn viewing has been overlooked. Specifically, we are proposing that watching porn may make some men bad lovers! Of central relevance to this thesis is that porn movies serve as a salient and accessible basis for social comparison and social learning. People may compare themselves to porn stars and adopt a host of misperceptions.
⁶
Male porn viewers may conclude that their penis is inadequately small or wonder why their ejaculate does not soar across the room with the propulsion of a Boeing 747. Female porn viewers may see female porn stars appear to have earth-shaking orgasms from intercourse without clitoral stimulation and think there is something wrong with them because they do not respond in this manner during sex with their partner. More centrally, men may learn from watching porn that standard sexual intercourse, without foreplay or emotional context, is enough to send women into the throes of sexual ecstasy. Alas, because, on average, the clitoris is about an inch away from the urethra – a close proxy for the vagina – penile thrusting alone is usually insufficient to bring most women to orgasm.
⁷

We coined the term “porngasm” to refer to orgasms depicted within the context of a pornography movie, and our research examined several questions related to perceptions of female porngasm. Our research questions included the following: Do people believe that most female porngasms are real or fake? Do men and women differ in their perceptions of female porngasm? Does frequency of porn viewing predict one’s beliefs about female porngasm? We hypothesized that males would be more likely than females to believe in the genuineness of female porngasm. Before describing our research methodology and results it is important that we articulate some of our assumptions.

Female Porngasm is More Interesting to Study than Male Porngasm

Although men occasionally fake orgasm, it is usually easier for men to climax than it is for women. Men take less time to reach orgasm (sometimes less than 30 seconds!) and for most men emotional connection with a partner is not a prerequisite for orgasm. Men are more consistent in their propensity to orgasm across time and partner. Moreover, no one is debating the function of male orgasm. Natural selection has favored men who climax rapidly, readily, and regularly. Additionally, there is usually an obvious cue that men have achieved orgasm. Although there are physiological cues to female orgasm,
⁷
e.g., vaginal contractions, changes in heart rate and respiration, skin coloration changes, they are not as conspicuous as a man’s ejaculation.

Most Porn is Designed to Activate and Appeal to Men’s Short-Term Sexual Strategies

We rely on theory and evidence from evolutionary psychology to explain why men are usually more interested in watching porn than women.
⁸
From this perspective, watching porn is enjoyable to men because it activates evolved mechanisms in the brain that are associated with the pursuit of short-term sexual strategies. Over evolutionary history men and women have had to solve a host of problems related to securing short- and long-term mates.
⁹
For both types of mating, but particularly for short-term mating, men have had to identify and attract women who were fertile. This has meant identifying and attracting women who are young and healthy – two classes of cues that are linked to fertility. A woman’s age, health, and fertility can be inferred from visual cues such as waist-to-hip ratio (WHR; a .7 WHR is what most men consider smokin’ hot), full lips, smooth skin, long shiny hair, healthy teeth, bilateral symmetry, and high energy level. For these reasons, men’s mating psychology is more sensitive to visual stimuli than women’s. It is no coincidence that porn is highly visual, and most consumers of porn are male.

Conversely, women’s reproductive success has depended less on identifying men who were fertile (because men’s fertility is not steeply age graded) and more on attracting men who were able and willing to invest in them and their offspring. Thus, women have had to assess a man’s emotional investment, commitment, intelligence, kindness, generosity, dependability, and social status, which are not as closely tied to obvious physical cues. This is not to suggest that women are unconcerned with men’s attractiveness. Women generally prefer men who are tall, strong, and athletic, because these traits are associated with health, social dominance, and the ability to protect. Moreover, women consider men’s physical attractiveness to be particularly important when pursuing short-term mates.

Importantly, because sperm are cheap, and eggs, internal gestation, and lactation are expensive, men have benefited more than women, on average, from having more sex partners, to whom they are necessarily less emotionally committed. Conversely, women, have benefited more than men, on average, from being selective about whom to mate with and from delaying sex until the aforementioned qualities, e.g., emotional commitment, could be developed and assessed.Thus, differences between men and women in their attitudes toward short-term mating ultimately result from these basic physiological differences. Do not be fooled. Men and women are not equal when it comes to attitudes toward, desires for, fantasizing about, and readiness to engage in casual sex with strangers and acquaintances. In one study, 75 percent of men who were approached on a college campus by a female stranger agreed to have sex with her that night! Not one woman approached under similar conditions by an unfamiliar man agreed to his sexual offer.
¹⁰
Porn, of course, is famous for portraying sex between strangers and casual acquaintances.

Most Female Porngasms are Fake

Although the mystery remains unresolved, researchers have accumulated data regarding what predicts female orgasm (guys, get your note pads!). We report a partial list of factors known to be associated with female orgasm: having a mate who is relatively symmetrical,
¹¹
physically attractive,
¹²
and earns a high income;
¹³
clitoral stimulation, particularly via cunnilingus;
¹⁴
and feeling happy in your marriage, or otherwise being in a stable, long-term, and committed relationship.
¹⁵
Conversely, many things interfere with female orgasm. The primary culprits include using drugs (nicotine and anti-depressant medication), being overweight, having cardiovascular disease or poor body image, feeling guilty, thinking sex is dirty or sinful, having low testosterone, being distracted, self-conscious, or anxious, and not focusing on the pleasurable, physical sensations associated with sex. You may notice that all of these predictors of “female sexual dysfunction” are located, perhaps unfairly, within the woman. None refer to the qualities, characteristics, or sexual techniques of the men with whom these women are having sex. Moreover, discussions of female orgasm often erroneously assume that women
should
orgasm as rapidly, readily, and regularly as men.

So, what is the function of female orgasm? Why do women orgasm at all? Several evolutionary explanations have been advanced in response to these questions. Hypotheses include female orgasm as a functionless byproduct of male orgasm, the hedonic hypothesis, the paternity confidence hypothesis, the paternity confusion hypothesis, and the sperm-retention hypothesis. We focus on the Mr. Right hypothesis, because it is most relevant to our arguments and is relatively well supported empirically.

A key premise of the Mr. Right hypothesis is that the occurrence of female orgasm is uncertain and unpredictable. Some women never or rarely experience orgasm; others experience orgasm easily and regularly. Importantly, there is substantial variability within women in their likelihood of experiencing orgasm, as a function of sex partner and relationship context. Women may orgasm powerfully with one man and have great difficulty experiencing orgasm with another man. Moreover, the same woman may vary in her sexual response to the same lover, as a function of her current relationship satisfaction. According to the Mr. Right hypothesis, female orgasm functions as a signal that helps women select and retain the best (most caring, sensitive, devoted) mate and dad and/or select the highest-genetic-quality father for her children. From this perspective, a man’s ability to bring a woman to orgasm reflects his standing on various dimensions relevant to his being a desirable long-term mate and/or his being a good genetic catch, in terms of health, strength, and masculinity.

Now consider the conditions likely present during the filming of a porn movie, as experienced from the perspective of a female porn star. The director shouts, “Lights! Camera! Action!” There are numerous, possibly dozens of, people in the room. Someone drops a cup of coffee. The director yells, “Cut! Start over with ‘Give it to me baby’.” There is no privacy.There is a camera in your face and one between your legs.You have to remember your lines.You have to maintain the correct and likely very uncomfortable position so the camera angles are just right. A light bulb goes dead. Again, the director yells, “Cut! Take it from ‘Oh Gary, I’ve always
dreamed
of having sex with you and your buddy Steve’.”There is no moonlight piercing through the window; there is no whispering of sweet nothings.There is no soft music or scent of jasmine wafting through the air. Except for when Gary is a pizza-delivery guy arriving with dinner in tow, there is no gift or offering to signal his ability and willingness to invest. Importantly, there is little to no foreplay or emotional context. In sum, Gary is not depicted as the kind of guy who would be Mona’s, or many women’s, Mr. Right.

Unfortunately, we did not have a group of female porn stars to ask directly about their porngasms or lack thereof (good luck getting that grant funded!). Instead, we rely on the aforementioned arguments and evidence to infer that most female porngasms are fake. Although it is difficult to estimate, we suspect that 5–20 percent of female porngasms are genuine. (Anne’s money is on 5 percent; Shane’s is on 20 percent.)

Our Study

We designed and administered an online survey to 111 male and 153 female college undergraduates.Volunteers were recruited from introductory psychology classes at a large midwestern university and received course credit for their participaion. Our sample was predominantly Caucasian (86 percent), heterosexual (94 percent), and unmarried (96 percent). Most students (99 percent) were between 18 and 24 years old. A sample of college-aged participants was desirable because this cohort is generally interested in mating pursuits, and they came of age when access to Internet porn was widespread and its use had become mainstream.

Participants were told that they would be asked to answer questions regarding their attitudes and beliefs about pornography and their responses would be anonymous. For the purposes of the study, pornography was defined as sexually explicit material presented in the form of a movie or film designed to create or enhance sexual feelings or thoughts in its viewers. This definition excluded soft-core pornography, in which the sexual activity is simulated. Orgasm was defined as genuine sexual climax.