“But What About Feminist Porn?”

Abstract

This article examines the work of Tristan Taormino, a prominent self-described feminist pornographer, in order to illustrate themes and commitments common among those who produce, perform in, and/or support feminist pornography. I argue that her work is burdened by thin and limited conceptions of feminism, authenticity, and sexual ethics, as well as by the profit-based exigencies of producing ''feminist porn'' within the mainstream pornography industry. I conclude that, if indeed feminist pornography is possible, Taormino's work falls far short of the mark. Public Health Significance Statement: This study suggests that Taormino's pornographic films are unlikely to have salutary effects on the sexual and relational lives of their consumers.

German Heterosexual Women’s Pornography Consumption and Sexual Behavior

“…It has been argued that pornography is an important social influence (Dines, 2010;Jensen, 2007) and that the culture has been increasingly "pornified" (Mulholland, 2014;Paul, 2005;Tyler, 2011). If there is veracity to these arguments, and if the construction of gender and sex in most pornography is that of male dominance and female submission (Whisnant, 2016), then women should be more likely to have tried and to express interest in trying the submissive side of the particular sexual behaviors observed in Bridges, Wosnitzer, Scharrer, Sun, and Liberman (2010) and Sun, Bridges, Wosnitzer, Scharrer, and Liberman (2008) than the dominant side. The following hypothesis is thus proposed:…”

Pornography and the “Sex Wars”

“…Having discussed one-sidedness, let's consider another recurrent anti-pornography claim: that sex divorced from self hood somehow renders it morally problematic and inauthentic. Rebecca Whisnant's (2016) critique of Tristan Taormino's work displays this type of thinking. For Whisnant, Taormino's much-celebrated brand of putatively feminist pornography does not qualify as genuinely feminist.…”

Business, porn, and morality: What morality do feminist pornographers construct for their practice?

“…From such a perspective, pornography and feminism are thus not mutually exclusive (Danaher, 2019; Ryberg, 2014). Still, critics of feminist porn warn against commodifying sex, bodies, and fantasies, as this may jeopardize feminist emancipation, especially if the industry continues to function according to its current exploitative and oppressive norms (Berg, 2017; Whisnant, 2016). Furthermore, feminist porn “is still subject to the logics of media power and industry” (Liberman, 2015: 188).…”