Only the Literal: The Contradictions of Anti-pornography Feminism

Abstract

Within feminism, battles over pornography have become the wars without end. Despite the controversy it generates, the discourses of anti-pornography feminism have continued to make inroads into legal frameworks, most recently in Canada. This piece surveys the growth and questionable appeal of such feminist campaigning, under the theoretical leadership of Catharine MacKinnon: its rewriting of feminist theory; its parasitic relation to the authoritative, phallocentric discourses of gender and sexuality; its alliance with the most reductive, behaviouristic psychology; its disavowel of fantasy and psychic life; its provocative mirroring of both the style and content of the `pornography' it deplores; its unwavering pursuit of legal remedies which enhance the power of state regulation of sexuality; its threat to subversive expressions of women's sexual agency and repudiation of any possibilities for sexual resignifications.

The Widening Gender Gap in Opposition to Pornography, 1975–2012

“…Critical feminists argue that the mainstreaming of pornography necessarily entails the mainstreaming of a "harmful model of prostitution sex and perhaps even the mainstreaming of eroticized violence against women" (Tyler 2011:9). However, this view is not without strong opposition: some feminist scholars consider pornographication to be part of a broader trend of sexual progressiveness (McNair 2013) or find antipornography feminism paternalistic (Strossen 1993;Ciclitira 2004;Segal 1998) (see also Attwood 2006, Smith 2010. Feminist pornography also exists (for more on this topic, see Penley et al 2013).…”

Lesbian and bisexual women’s interpretations of lesbian and ersatz lesbian pornography

“…Further, it not only socializes men to objectify, dominate, and (in many cases) brutalize women, but also socializes women into accepting their oppression by men (Segal, 1992). Thus, pornography is more than simply the sexist and offensive representation of women; it is a cultural product that actively contributes to gender inequality because "it causes men to injure and violate women both in its creation.., and in its consumption" (Segal, 1998: 48).…”

`Empowerment' and the Pole: A Discursive Investigation of the Reinvention of Pole Dancing as a Recreational Activity

“…The experience of sexuality, male or female, is therefore not a natural phenomenon but, rather, actively constructed by people who exist in a particular historical moment. Thus, the understanding of the 'female' by both men and women as inherently sexual (MacKinnon, 1989;Mason-Grant, 2004), 'naturally' inferior (Segal, 1998) and as subservient to men (MacKinnon, 1989;Mason-Grant, 2004) is arguably not only a consequence of patriarchy and the privileging of the 'masculine' as normative. It is also an ongoing negotiation of power between both men and women, with this negotiation occurring within the dominant ideology of patriarchy, which includes the privileging of normative masculinity.…”