By Raha Boshra
Pornography and sex have always been topics of discussion, especially with the involvement of feminism. Andrea Dworkin’s work titled “Pornography” offers a brutal deep dive into the world of sex work and how it affects the viewpoint of men towards women, often raising points about rape culture. On the other hand, a chapter titled “The Politicisation and Sexualisation of Black Womanhood” by Audre Lorde, Angela Y. Davis, Bell Hooks, and Patricia Hill Collins expands on the topic mentioned in the title by discussing the relationship between black feminism and capitalism, patriarchy, racism, and, more importantly, gender-based violence. In this blog, I will be comparing and discussing these two works.
Andrea Dworkin’s introduction to “pornography” starts strong, showing that she is not afraid of stating her thoughts and opinions on the said topic while sharing terrifyingly traumatic stories of women and sex workers who were victims of sexual assault at the hands of violent men, either one or multiple of them at the same time.
Pornography is defined as the graphic, sexually explicit subordination of women in pictures and/or words that also includes women presented dehumanized as sexual objects, things, or commodities; or women presented as sexual objects who enjoy pain or humiliation; or women presented as sexual objects who experience sexual pleasure in being raped; or women presented as sexual objects tied up or cut up or mutilated or bruised or physically hurt; or women presented in postures or positions of sexual submission, servility, or display; or women’s body parts— including but not limited to vaginas, breasts, buttocks— exhibited such that women are reduced to those parts; or women presented as whores by nature; or women presented being penetrated by objects or animals; or women presented in scenarios of degradation, injury, torture, shown as filthy or inferior, bleeding, bruised, or hurt in a context that makes these conditions sexual. If men, children, or transsexuals are used in any of the same ways, the material also meets the definition of pornography (Dworkin, 1981).
It is a serious problem that pornography glorifies these painful tragedies of women, as there have been instances of victims stepping forward on various social media platforms about how some porn websites have videos of their assault on full display, no matter how many times they have reached out and told the company to take them down. People’s traumatic experiences turning into nothing but material for pleasure, while encouraging violence, rape, incest, and any form of sexual trauma as pleasure, only brings down the victims of these instances, while encouraging violence.
On the other hand, Lorde argues that despite its power, the erotic has been devalued and suppressed in patriarchal Western capitalist societies through the reduction of work to the sum of our tasks and duties, and good to profit and not human need. The suppression of the erotic has also affected men: patriarchal societies have misrepresented the erotic as a sign of female inferiority and taught men to fear the possibility of non-rational knowledge within themselves (Lorde, 1984). Then, Angela Davis expands this topic with the history of black women and sexual violence in slavery, stating that sexual violence against enslaved black women was an expression of white male capitalist power since it was a racist and sexist act, which unfortunately did not stop even after the end of slavery. History shows that acts of sexual and gender-based violence committed by the ruling classes in capitalist societies occur frequently and go largely unchallenged (Davis, 1981).
Both of these articles expand on the topic of sexual violence and how glorifying eroticism and sex could lead to the glorification of sexual trauma while encouraging rape culture. As explained by a website titled “Rape Crisis: England and Wales”, Rape culture is a culture where sexual violence and abuse are normalised and played down. Where it is accepted, excused, laughed off, or not challenged enough by society as a whole. This organization believes that rape culture exists because our society sees women and girls as less important and less deserving of respect and power compared to men and boys. These all reflect the points that both readings have tried to make.
Nowadays, some people often believe that being anti-porn is being anti-sex work. It is understandable that if someone wants to do it, it is their choice and decision. But those who have been assaulted, raped, beaten, while being filmed did not consent to this. It was not their choice, and they were forced. That is the sad reality that many need to realize.
References
Dworkin, A. (1981). Pornography: Men possessing women. Plume/Penguin Books. [PDF]
Duvenage, A., Lorde, A., Davis, A. Y., Collins, P. H., Bell Hooks. (2024). Roads to Decolonisation: The Politicisation and Sexualisation of Black Womanhood. Chapter 5. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003468400-8
What is rape culture? Rape Crisis England & Wales. https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/about-sexual-violence/what-is-rape-culture/
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