Deep Throat: a vintage porn classic

A moustachioed, muscled 80’s throwback plunges his oversized, unwashed member into an aged peroxide blonde, as she switches from the ‘hungry pelican’ to the ‘tantric monkey’; a disinterested sound man, one hand down his elasticised trousers, the other clutching a pasty, wanders aimlessly across the back of the shot.

That is most peoples’, especially women’s image of porn; grotty men in cheap macs sneaking out of basement shops clutching DVDs with titles like Amateur Hose Party 3, or twenty teenage boys gawping in awe as they flip through the village copy of Playboy.

How true are these images? What is men’s relationship with porn?

It has often been argued that men watching ‘traditional’ porn created solely for their gender distance themselves from the women on screen, viewing them not as women but as objects for their satisfaction. Interviewed in The Guardian, Bill Marigold, one of the industry’s longest serving performers said: ‘”My whole reason for being in this industry is to satisfy the desire of the men in the world who basically don’t care much for women and want to see the men in my industry getting even with the women they couldn’t have when they were growing up. So we come on a woman’s face or brutalise her sexually: we’re getting even for lost dreams.”

This view is reinforced by American Helen Longino who stated in Take Back the Night: Women on Pornography: “Women are represented as passive and as slavishly dependent upon men. The role of female characters is limited to the provision of sexual services to men. To the extent that women’s sexual pleasure is represented at all, it is subordinated to that of men and is never an end in itself as is the sexual pleasure of men. What pleases women is the use of their bodies to satisfy male desires”. The argument that men distance themselves from women in the adult movies, has, some believe led to a demand for more what could be termed ‘extreme pornography’. Because the women on screen are arguably viewed as objects not people, this leads to a desire to view increasingly brutal acts as a link is not established between the act and the effects on the person involved.

Another interviewee in the Guardian’s article ‘Men and Porn’ noted the trend towards increasingly brutal and degrading titles of adult movies and the frequent viewers slide towards increasingly extreme forms of pornography. While there can be little doubt that this type of porn views women primarily as objects of satisfaction for men, the link between sexual abuse or rape and pornography has yet to be proved either way. However if we, for a moment, choose to ignore the ‘extreme’ end of the spectrum and instead focus upon what might be termed ‘milder’ or more  ‘mainstream’ pornography then an argument emerges that the viewing of pornography on an infrequent basis is a natural part of development and goes some way to satisfying male curiosities and forming a healthy part of a sexual relationship, as Michael Flood was forced to conclude in his recent report.

Growing up with a healthy relationship to sexuality?

Protecting young people necessarily requires equipping them, and their caregivers, with adequate knowledge, skills and resources (e.g. media literacy; sex education; education about pornography and rights and responsibilities of sexual relationships; safe engagement with technologies) to enable successful navigation toward a sexually healthy adulthood, as well as tackling factors predisposing to sexual violence.

There is no doubt that for most men pornography has played to a greater or lesser extent, a role in their teenage or adult lives and the dominance of the internet has led to easier access to increasingly graphic materials that, aimed at men, frequently demean and objectify women.

However, that is not to say that all porn is demeaning to women; is gay porn demeaning to all men? Or is it to say that men who casually watch porn view such hard materials and transfer that objectivity of women into their daily lives or loving relationships.

Women and porn – Great Expectations?

Watching a porn starlet with her impossibly smooth toned legs thrown behind her head and gigantic breasts that remain unmovable no matter what, can lead to body and sexual insecurities that most of us struggle with at some point in our lives. But as Violet Blue points out “…if porn performers looked like you and me, they’d be out of a job. They’re abnormally thin, they get cosmetic surgery literally (and sometimes frightfully) from head to toe, they have makeup in places you’d be surprised makeup can be applied, they shave and wax everything imaginable, and they’re weirdly flexible. They occupy a tiny end of the gene pool, and that’s why they’re capable of acting out fantasy sex.”

Fantasy is exactly what it is; the ability to view the actresses on screen in the same way that one might view models on a Milan catwalk – just as no one really has a body like that, no one really has sex like that. These women are professional performers, the same way that models are – they tap into an idealised view of body image and sexual ability. The same issues that concern women may also concern the male porn viewer, especially with regards to issues of penis size and abs (of lack thereof).

Does the modern porn industry cater to women’s tastes?

With writers such as Anias Nin, Pauline Réage and the recently exposed Belle de Jour, there has always been a market, admittedly a small one, for women’s erotic fiction, however porn, or adult movies have generally always been made by men, for men. Much of this was due to an early 20^th century study (since disproved) by Doctor Alfred Kinsey entitled ‘Sexual Behaviour in the Adult Female’ it concluded that the majority of women showed no response to visual stimulation.

Candida Royalle's Femme

However the 1970’s saw an emergence of liberalised attitudes towards women’s erotica with the publication of the first near naked centre fold in Cosmopolitan and Nancy Friday’s erotic work My Secret Garden, yet still the film industry remained focused on male needs and fantasies. But in 1984, former porn actress Candida Royalle broke new ground with the production of Femme, the first adult film aimed at women. The film broke away from the male genre by refusing to show cum shots, as well as including fewer close ups of genitalia and focusing more on plot development and emotional attachment in the build up to sex scenes.

Since Candida Royalle’s first female friendly production, numerous other women have tried their hand at directing for their gender causing the industry to grow, and their achievements in arousing women are recognised at the ‘Feminist Porn Awards’.

Can You,  Me and Porn form a threesome that leaves both of us satisfied?

Porn is, and has always been, about voyeurism and the fulfilment of fantasies. It allows us to view acts that we might never dream of indulging in ourselves, whether they are sex in a public place, with strangers, multiple partners, or bondage; pornography allows us to explore these fantasies in complete safety. Watching porn as a couple might serve to rekindle a flagging sex life, encourage us to attempt sexual techniques with our partner that we had never even dreamed of before, or maybe lacked the flexibility to carry out, or porn might act as a medium to breaching that question that we had always wanted to ask but had never dared, ‘darling, would you be interested in…?’

Perhaps though watching porn as a couple might simply allow you to get to know your partner better, to experience their fantasises with them and allow them to experience your fantasies with you. To quote porn reviewer Violet Blue: “Porn is one more pleasure to add to life’s sexual buffet, one that can be enjoyed with a partner or alone.”

You, me and porn could form a ménage-a trois that strengthens our relationship as we explore our deepest sexual fantasies together, and what is more erotic than that?

For a list of adult films aimed at women, see online here.

Websites aimed at women or couples – have a look at this website.

Find out this year’s nominations for ‘The Feminist Porn Awards’ here.

For a history of adult films aimed at women, check out this blog.