It is generally accepted that the pornography business is a male-dominated industry, and women’s only place in the porn world is to take her “rightful place” as the object of lust in the gritty, explicit videos. However, an article by Nora Underwood in the February 14, 2010 issue of the Toronto Star entitled, “What women are starting to want” highlights Samantha Linton, an award-winning television producer and 42 year old mother of three, who just released “Man of My Dreams, her first sensual DVD for women.” Linton decided to produce Man of My Dreams as soft-core, non-explicit scenarios with no dialogue for women between 30 and 40 years old. She wanted to give these women in particular because they are “maybe curious about dipping their toes into the adult entertainment waters but who have been put off previously by some of the choices out there. [She is] providing them with a safe way in." Moreover, since the pornography industry is so dominated by men, the videos are often far too distasteful, demeaning and off-putting for many women; thus, Linton thinks that there is a sever lack of female-friendly erotica that women could enjoy or get pleasure from, and “that women deserve to have choice. We can't just present one type of sexy to the world's women.”
Author Underwood explains that women are no longer afraid to admit that they are fans of erotica or casual viewers because of the “boomers' more liberal attitude toward sex (thanks, in part, to the early feminist movement's belief in a woman's right to a full, fulfilling sex life)” and the creation of the home video – women do not have to feel ashamed or embarrassed entering into the local XXX theatre to watch hard-core porn; instead, if they desire to watch erotica, they can do it in the comfort of their own homes. Similarly, the University of Amsterdam conducted a study whereby 47 women watched man-made hard-core pornography, and then viewed woman-made erotica. The results were that the women responded very differently, both physically and emotionally, to the two vastly different scenarios depicted in each of the videos. The women described the man-made videos as “brothel-like,” “obscene, “ludicrous,” and “banal,” whereas they thought the woman-made erotica was “beautiful,” “arousing,” “sensual,” and “real.”
This article relates specifically to three readings we have studied so far in the course. First, Ariel Levy would fully support Samantha Linton’s decision to produce woman-made, female-centric erotica with the purpose of making women feel more comfortable about sexuality; as a result of Linton’s efforts, women are not forced to watch the gritty, rather disgusting imagery of man-made pornography and potentially feel put off by an inherent part of being human: their sexuality. Linton’s video is not an example of raunch culture, because to Levy, raunch culture is nothing more than “endlessly reiterating one particular—and particularly commercial—shorthand for sexiness” (Levy, 30). Linton’s video has the intention of “opening [women’s] minds to the possibilities and mysteries of sexuality” (Levy, 30), which is something that Levy can empathize with and appreciate. Linton found that women were generally put off by the cheesy, graphic nature of man-made pornography films, and instead “yearned for great love scenes with plenty of sexual charge but not necessarily explicit action” (Underwood). Thus, Man of My Dreams was not produced with the purpose of being just another “glossy, overheated thumping of sexuality in our culture” (Levy, 31); it was meant to make women feel like they can be sexy at any age, and disprove “the myth that sexiness needs to be something divorced from everyday experience of ourselves” (Levy, 44).
Second, because this article focuses on the predominantly male pornography industry, there is a strong connection to Allan Johnson’s excerpt, “Patriarchy as a System.” It is not secret that the porn industry is a boys club; the purpose of girls in the business is to look sexy and feign pleasure so that male onlookers can get aroused while they ogle these women and fantasize about them. This industry plays to the desires of men – girl on girl action, threesomes, and beautiful women: what more could a guy want, right? Johnson would say that throughout history, both men and women have accepted the porn industry as a male-dominated business, and therein lies the problem. The porn industry is a microcosm of the more expansive system that is society; both men and women participate in the industry, and are therefore both stakeholders. Since they are both stakeholders in this system, they can both try to reform the system as they see fit. Most men probably would not see a need to reform the system, given that they get pleasure from pornography as is. Women on the other hand likely would like to see a change in the demeaning XXX videos that are produced by the men in the porn industry. As a participant in the system, Johnson would say that Samantha Linton is “empowering [herself] to take [her] share of responsibility for the patriarchal legacy that we’ve all inherited” (Johnson). By producing Man of My Dreams, Linton is changing the way she participates in the system of the porn industry, by giving women a choice in the matter The passion that had been absent from all XXX videos and man-made pornographic films seems to have been revived by Linton. She wants them to be comfortable with sex, and sexuality, and be passionate about sex, without having to feel like they are nothing more than objects of male fantasy and lust; she wants women to feel like complicit participants in sexual activity. In doing so, she is not only “changing [herself], but the world that shapes our lives” by changing the female perception of erotica and of sex, making it something inherently human, and beautifully real.
Third, Peggy McIntosh’s article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” is closely related to Samantha Linton’s venture, not so much in content, but in perspective and purpose. McIntosh wrote her article from personal experience and from positive of power. It feels much more like an anecdote, or a conversation than anything else. She is not trying to act like the almighty or definitive authority on the matter of white privilege by any means, but she does make it clear that as a white woman, she is highly aware of privileges inherent in being white. Similarly, Samantha Linton is clearly not the authoritative voice on human sexuality; she’s a 42 year old, married mother of three who has won a few awards as a television producer. Most people would say, “Big deal. Who is this woman to tell me what sex is all about?” McIntosh would put down these naysayers in a way similar to Johnson, and declare that Linton is doing here part in reforming the existing system. As an award-winning television producer and freelance television executive, she does hold a lot of power; she has a lot of privilege. In turn, she is putting her privileges that she gets as a result of her career to good use. She has realized the way that sex is perceived by a lot of women her age, and wants to change these negative views. Sex is not a taboo; sex is not a bad thing. It is a fundamental right of being human and Linton wants to highlight that point with Man of My Dreams. She wants to bring the passion back to sex, especially for women her age; she wants to reignite the flame where it may have burnt out recently. Thus, McIntosh would support Linton in her efforts to “use…[her]…power to try to reconstruct power systems on a broader base” (McIntosh). In other words, Linton’s pursuit is driven by her desire to make sex something for everyone; she is giving a women a choice, opening them up to the possibilities and broadening their horizons in showing them that sex is not just for men, it is their right too.
No comments:
Post a Comment