“Pornography is the theory; rape is the practice,” wrote Robin Morgan, former editor of Ms. in the late seventies. In 1981, Andrea Dworkin, noted anti-porn feminist, took it a step further, arguing that women “will know that we are free when the pornography no longer exists.” There was certainly a growing trend of anti-porn feminism at the time that sometimes even veered towards anti-sex in general, and anti-heterosex in particular. In her 1987 book Intercourse, Dworkin observed that, due to the inherent power imbalance between men and women within a heteropatriarchal society, female sexual subordination was central to all expressions of heterosexuality and reinforced within all mainstream culture from porn to classic literature. Within this framework, the idea of genuine consent was, therefore, problematic at best.

However, in the early nineties, queer activist Gayle Rubin made an entirely different argument. “Part of the modern ideology of sex is that lust is the province of men, purity that of women. It is no accident that pornography and perversions have been considered part of the male domain. In the sex industry, women have been excluded from most production and consumption,” and, therefore, if sexism and misogynistic violence were rampant in porn movies and the adult entertainment industry, the solution was to bring more women – as writers, directors, producers and consumers not just performers.

“When we find gender disparities in other sectors—from literary journalism to tech—we urge industry leaders to assess the problem and encourage women to lean in. But when it comes to porn, the impulse is to just shut the whole thing down,” writes Amanda Hess for Slate. “That’s unfortunate, because it reinforces the expectation that women can only ever be innocent bystanders to sexual material, never producers or consumers in their own right.”

Twenty-plus years on, pornography is still considered the ultimate realm of ‘the male gaze’, and, in this highly-connected era, no one is shocked to learn that most boys, on average, start consuming porn at around age ten or eleven. Nevertheless, feminist porn has made some strides in the meantime, despite still being far from the mainstream. Fifty Shades of A Total Mess Grey essentially created the genre ‘Mommy porn’ and opened up a lot of people’s eyes to the fact that women are interested in erotic content, but the questions still loom large: what exactly is feminist porn? Isn’t that a contradiction in terms?

“Feminist porn,” writes Madison Young (pornographic actress/director and sex educator), “takes a cultural form that has historically been seen as the purview of men. It reworks sexual images and conventions to explore new and more diverse kinds of desires.” In essence, it removes what feminist critic Laura Mulvey calls ‘the male gaze’ from the driver’s seat, and brings a more egalitarian sensibility to the experience of consuming smut. But that’s not to say that all feminist porn amounts to a more explicit kind of chick-flick.

According to Tristan Taormino, feminist pornographer and co-editor of The Feminist Porn Book, “There is a stereotype that women want kinder, gentler, more romantic porn; some women do, but not all women. Feminist pornographers don’t want to do away with sexual power dynamics; many of us want to explore them in an explicitly consensual and more diverse, nuanced, non-stereotypical way.”

So, if removing overtones of dominance and submission isn’t the key to making pornography feminist, what is? Not shockingly, the keystone of making feminist porn comes from understanding that sex work is work, and worker deserve dignity, agency and compensation for what they do. Think of it like this: is your sweatshop produced t-shirt from a large chain who stole the catchy design and empowering slogan from an independent artist feminist? Or is the fair-trade cotton t-shirt made in an unionised environment and sold in a way that benefits the workers, artists and creatives involved more so? If ethical fashion is in the production, so is ethical porn.

Melissa Gira Grant, writing for The Guardian, points out, “Feminist porn is no longer a debatable reality; it has become a matter of discussing how it will be organized, and who will get paid, and for doing what. Questions of labor, rightly, now come before stakes-free grandstanding about the meaning of a facial cum shot. Why were we so hung up on what’s on a model’s face and how it got there, rather than what’s in her contract and how she negotiated it?”

Madeline Marlowe, a professional dominatrix and longtime BDSM director, thinks that non-kink-based porn sets should learn to be as meticulous about consent as the BDSM porn sets she runs. One of her safeguards is that she emails performers extensive checklists ahead of time – and then checks in on the list before the scene itself. “We’re dealing with human beings and their bodies,” she says. “Headspace can change day to day.” She advocates for these safety protocols on-set and within the industry as a whole:

Be prepared to recognize when you need to call shoots, even if the main talent is not able to do it themselves. BECAUSE IT'S YOUR FUCKING JOB.

— M. Madeline Marlowe (@MaitresseM) March 9, 2018

The defining traits of feminist pornography are then not just the creation of progressive, intersectional content that features representation of different body types and ethnicities without fetishising the performers because of their difference, but the care put into the production side of things. Are the performers being treated with dignity and are their limits being respected? In a feminist environment, the safety and well-being of the performers is paramount.

In 2006, the Good For Her sex-shop in Toronto, Canada, created the Feminist Porn Awards which have run every year since. It’s probably the closest thing there is to an accepted criteria for what makes porn feminist. To be nominated for an award, Good for Her requires that:

• A woman had a hand in the production, writing, direction, etc. of the work.
• It depicts genuine female pleasure.
• It expands the boundaries of sexual representation on film and challenges stereotypes that are often found in mainstream porn.

You’re not alone if you were wondering about how porn could possibly be feminist and honestly, consuming porn is a very personal choice. It’s good to know, though, that there are measures in place that can help you get off on your porn without the guilt of possibly contributing to the net amounts of misogyny and abuse in the world. Personally, I’m nearly as wary of anti-porn rhetoric that ultimately only serves to disempower women in their workplace as I am of contributing to the other systemic abuses in the adult entertainment industry.

If you’re curious about feminist porn, you might want to look into:

• The Feminist Porn Book, edited by Tristan Taormino, for more perspectives on this. Or http://puckerup.com/feminist-porn/tristans-films/ Smart Ass productions, for some of her movies.
• http://www.feministpornawards.com/ for industry-approved feminist porn.
• http://sssh.com/ a porn site for women, founded by Angie Rowntree, a feminist porn filmmaker who sees her role as director as including being the on-set advocate for her performers.
• http://www.pinklabel.tv/ is a user-friendly site that allows you to browse for free before renting movies. Their collection is extremely queer friendly and a lot of their directors are women of color, queer women, and trans women.

N.B. Most of the feminist porn you find on free porn sites is stolen. The money in this side of the industry isn’t as massive as it is in mainstream porn, so, just like you may choose to spend more on ethical purchases in other fields, you’re going to need to pay for your ethical porn.

“I call feminist porn “organic, fair trade porn” and liken it to the organic and fair trade movement,” Taormino says, “Consumers who want to support feminist porn should look for filmmakers who identify their work as feminist and support it by buying their films. The biggest thing you can do is research the directors and companies who create porn and to buy — not illegally download — it.”

 

This article previously appeared in our print edition,  available now across campus and in select locations across Dublin.