Feminist views on pornography

Anti-pornography feminism

Feminist opponents of pornography—such as Andrea Dworkin, Catharine MacKinnon, Robin Morgan, Diana Russell, Alice Schwarzer, Gail Dines, and Robert Jensen—argue that pornography is harmful to women, and constitutes strong causality or facilitation of violence against women.

Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin had separately staked out a position that pornography was inherently exploitative toward women, and they called for a civil law to make pornographers accountable for harms that could be shown to result from the use, production, and circulation of their publications. When Dworkin testified before the Meese Commission in 1986, she said that 65 to 75 percent of women in prostitution and hard-core pornography had been victims of incest or child sexual abuse.

Andrea Dworkin's activism against pornography during the 1980s brought her to national attention in the United States.

Harm to women during production

Anti-pornography feminists, notably Catharine MacKinnon, charge that the production of pornography entails physical, psychological, and/or economic coercion of the women who perform and model in it. This is said to be true even when the women are being presented as enjoying themselves. Catharine MacKinnon argues that the women in porn are "not there by choice but because of a lack of choices." It is also argued that much of what is shown in pornography is abusive by its very nature. Gail Dines holds that pornography, exemplified by Gonzo pornography, is becoming increasingly violent and that women who perform in pornography are brutalized in the process of its production.

Anti-pornography feminists point to the testimony of well known participants in pornography, such as Traci Lords and Linda Boreman, and argue that most female performers are coerced into pornography, either by somebody else, or by an unfortunate set of circumstances. The feminist anti-pornography movement was galvanized by the publication of Ordeal, in which Linda Boreman (who under the name of "Linda Lovelace" had starred in Deep Throat) stated that she had been beaten, raped, and pimped by her husband Chuck Traynor, and that Traynor had forced her at gunpoint to make scenes in Deep Throat, as well as forcing her, by use of both physical violence against Boreman as well as emotional abuse and outright threats of violence, to make other pornographic films. Dworkin, MacKinnon, and Women Against Pornography issued public statements of support for Boreman, and worked with her in public appearances and speeches. In this instance, both against and pro-pornography feminists recognize that "exploitation and abuse of vulnerable women does sometimes occur to produce some pornography," but situations like Boreman's are viewed by some feminists as preventable and not as an essential aspect of producing pornographic material.

Social effects

Sexual objectification

MacKinnon and Dworkin defined pornography as "the graphic sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures or words". According to Dworkin, the original definition of the word pornography was "the graphic depiction of whores." Whore is a term that has historically been used to describe sex workers. Dworkin believes that sex workers are frequently treated not as human but merely as objects for sexual gratification. Johanna Schorn, writing for Gender Forum, stated that "the very meaning of the word pornography, then and now, seems to point towards the misogynistic and exploitative practices of the industry."

The effects produced by those who view pornography are mixed and still widely debated. Generally, research has been focused around the effects of voluntary viewing of pornography. There have also been studies analyzing the inadvertent exposure to explicit sexual content, including: viewing photographs of naked people, people engaging in sexual acts, accidental web searches, or opening online links to pornographic material. It has been found that most exposure to pornography online is unsolicited and by accident. Forty-two percent of those who view online pornography are ages ranging between 10 and 17; sixty-six percent have experienced inadvertent exposure.

The feeling of anonymity may prompt an individual to disregard social norms and pursue more extreme stimuli. Valerie Webber in her article "Shades of Gay: Performance of Girl-on-Girl Pornography and mobile authenticities" differentiates the sex depicted in porn and personal, private sexual encounters. At first, she argues that performing sex produces normative ideas about what makes sex authentic. These normative beliefs then transfer into personal experiences where people feel an obligation to perform sex as they have viewed it in pornography.

Incitement to sexual violence against women

Anti-pornography feminists say that consumption of pornography is a cause of rape and other forms of violence against women. Robin Morgan summarizes this idea with her often-quoted statement, "Pornography is the theory, and rape is the practice."

Anti-pornography feminists charge that pornography eroticizes the domination, humiliation, and coercion of women, and reinforces sexual and cultural attitudes that are complicit in rape and sexual harassment. MacKinnon argued that pornography leads to an increase in sexual violence against women through fostering rape myths. Such rape myths include the belief that women really want to be raped and that they mean yes when they say no. Additionally, according to MacKinnon, pornography desensitizes viewers to violence against women, and this leads to a progressive need to see more violence in order to become sexually aroused, an effect she acknowledges is well documented.

Rape of children

Gail Dines claims that interviews she conducted with men incarcerated for the rape of a prepubescent child showed that all of the interviewed were at first "horrified at the idea" of raping a child, but started "habitual" consumption of images depicting sexual abuse of minors after becoming bored with regular porn. The sexual abuse then happened within six months.

Distorted view of the human body and sexuality

German radical feminist Alice Schwarzer is one proponent of this point of view, in particular in the feminist magazine Emma. Many opponents of pornography believe that pornography gives a distorted view of men and women's bodies, as well as the actual sexual act, often showing the performers with synthetic implants or exaggerated expressions of pleasure, as well as fetishes that are not the norm, such as watersports, being presented as popular and normal. Catharine MacKinnon echoes these views by asserting that pornography "desensitizes consumers to violence and spreads rape myths and other lies about women's sexuality."

Harry Brod offered a Marxist feminist view, "I [Brod] would argue that sex seems overrated [to men] because men look to sex for fulfillment of nonsexual emotional needs, a quest doomed to failure. Part of the reason for this failure is the priority of quantity over quality of sex which comes with sexuality's commodification."

Hatred of women

Gail Dines said, "'[p]ornography is the perfect propaganda piece for patriarchy. In nothing else is their hatred of us quite as clear.'" Likewise, MacKinnon describes pornography as something that fuels male misogyny by "eroticizing women's degradation." MacKinnon also states that "pornography is violence against women" and is "a civil rights violation" that "amounts to terrorism" against women.

Sex trafficking

MacKinnon argues that the consumption of pornography fuels the prostitution and sex trafficking industry. MacKinnon claims that the production of pornography is "itself a form of prostitution and trafficking." which creates a demand for women to fill the roles in porn, including women who may have been trafficked. According to MacKinnon, the relationship between pornography, prostitution, and sex trafficking is closely related and a central aspect of this relationship relies on the buying of sex with women as an experience, which requires more women, trafficked or not, to produce these experiences and fill demand.

In an article discussing OnlyFans, an online subscription-based platform hosting pornography and sexually explicit content uploaded by creators, MacKinnon writes about the allegations against OnlyFans of allowing rule-breaking content, such as content featuring minors or child sexual abuse, to pass their "inadequate screening process." Similar to the traditional pornography industry, MacKinnon asserts that it is impossible for websites like OnlyFans to know "whether pimps and traffickers are recruiting the unwary or vulnerable or desperate or coercing them offscreen and confiscating or skimming the proceeds, as is typical in the sex industry." MacKinnon also explores the concept of revenge porn and the possibility of pornographic material being sold on websites like OnlyFans without consent from the individual, which MacKinnon refers to as online sex trafficking.

Anti-pornography feminist organizations and campaigns

From the mid-1970s into the early 1980s, public rallies and marches protesting pornography and prostitution drew widespread support among women and men from across the political spectrum. Beginning in the late 1970s, anti-pornography radical feminists formed organizations such as Women Against Pornography, Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media, Women Against Violence Against Women, Feminists Fighting Pornography, and like groups that provided educational events, including slide-shows, speeches, guided tours of the sex shops in areas like New York's Times Square and San Francisco's Tenderloin District, petitioning, and publishing newsletters, in order to raise awareness of the content of pornography and the sexual subculture in pornography shops and live sex shows.

Similar groups also emerged in the United Kingdom, including legislatively focused groups such as Campaign Against Pornography and Campaign Against Pornography and Censorship, as well as groups associated with radical feminism such as Women Against Violence Against Women and its direct action offshoot Angry Women.

Legislative and judicial efforts

Anti-pornography Civil Rights Ordinance

Many anti-pornography feminists—Dworkin and MacKinnon in particular—advocated laws which defined pornography as a civil rights harm and allowed women to sue pornographers in civil court. The Antipornography Civil Rights Ordinance that they drafted was passed twice by the Minneapolis city council in 1983, but vetoed by Mayor Donald M. Fraser, on the grounds that the law's constitutionality was questionable, citing first amendment concerns.

The ordinance was successfully passed in 1984 by the Indianapolis city council and signed by Mayor William Hudnut, and passed by a ballot initiative in Bellingham, Washington in 1988, but struck down both times as unconstitutional by the state and federal courts. In 1986, the Supreme Court affirmed the lower courts' rulings in the Indianapolis case without comment.

Many anti-pornography feminists supported the legislative efforts, but others objected that legislative campaigns would be rendered ineffectual by the courts, would violate principles of free speech, or would harm the anti-pornography movement by taking organizing energy away from education and direct action and entangling it in political squabbles.

Dworkin and MacKinnon responded to the alleged violation of free speech principles by pointing out that the Ordinance was designed with an explicit goal of preventing its misinterpretation and abuse for the purpose of censorship or discrimination against sexual minorities. Their co-authored publication, Pornography and Civil Rights: a New Day for Women's Equality, is a comprehensive description of the law with political analysis of the social conditions which, it argues, make it both appropriate and necessary. There is an explanation of its intended meaning and an articulation of the circumstances out of which they see the law being utilized civilly as a substantive remedy.

Pornography Victims' Compensation Act

Another feminist approach was designed to permit survivors of crime when the crime was the result of pornographic influence to sue the pornographers. The Pornography Victims' Compensation Act of 1991 (previously known as the Pornography Victims Protection Act) was supported by groups including Feminists Fighting Pornography. Catharine MacKinnon declined to support the legislation, though aspects of it were based on her legal approach to pornography. The bill was introduced in the United States Congress, thus, had it passed, it would have applied nationwide.

R. v. Butler

The Supreme Court of Canada's 1992 ruling in R. v. Butler (the Butler decision) fueled further controversy, when the court decided to incorporate some elements of Dworkin and MacKinnon's legal work on pornography into the existing Canadian obscenity law. In Butler the Court held that Canadian obscenity law violated Canadian citizens' rights to free speech under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms if enforced on grounds of morality or community standards of decency; but that obscenity law could be enforced constitutionally against some pornography on the basis of the Charter's guarantees of sex equality.

The Court's decision cited extensively from briefs prepared by the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), with MacKinnon's support and participation. Dworkin opposed LEAF's position, arguing that feminists should not support or attempt to reform criminal obscenity law.

Robinson v. Jacksonville Shipyards

Robinson v. Jacksonville Shipyards was a sexual harassment Federal district court (Middle District of Florida) case. It recognized as law that pornography could illegally contribute to sexual harassment through a workplace environment hostile to women. The court's order included a ban on "displaying pictures, posters, calendars, graffiti, objects, promotional materials, reading materials, or other materials that are sexually suggestive, sexually demeaning, or pornographic, or bringing into the JSI [the employer's] work environment or possessing any such material to read, display or view at work." It is not clear whether the decision was directly attributable to the anti-pornography feminist analysis, if the influence was indirect, or if the outcome was coincidental, but counsel Legal Momentum was historically associated with the National Organization for Women (NOW), a leading feminist organization, suggesting that counsel was likely to have had knowledge of the feminist theory.

Proposed Internet porn ban in Iceland

In 2013, though the production or sale of pornography was then already prohibited in Iceland, Minister of the Interior Ögmundur Jónasson proposed extending the ban to online pornography. Though the proposal was ultimately struck down by Icelandic Member of Parliament and free speech activist Birgitta Jónsdóttir, the ban was supported by many feminist groups including the Feminist Party of Germany, the London Feminist Network, the Coalition for a Feminist Agenda, and others. These groups claimed that legally limiting Internet pornography would promote violence prevention, proper sex education, and general public health.