[lbo-talk] Porn: By Men for Men

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

> Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
> > I count myself as a "pro-porn feminist," in that I think porn  
> played  a
> > useful political function in the transition from feudalism to
> > capitalism (cf. Lynn Hunt), that GLBT porn (like GLBT bars, discos,
> > etc.) probably has helped many young GLBT teens (especially for  
> those
> > who are stuck in conservative families and communities), and  
> that  porn
> > as a genre has a lot of potential, aesthetic and political.  But  it
> > must be admitted that much of straight porn is made by male   
> capitalists
> > for male consumers, most women in the industry just non- union  
> workers
> > whose jobs are drudgery like most jobs (rather than  female
> > libertines).  The only attraction for women workers in the  porn
> > industry (as well as other sorts of sex industries) is that they   
> get
> > paid far better than working Wal-Mart and the like (and in this
> > industry actresses get paid better than actors).
>
> The problem with porn work is the same as the problem of any type  
> of work in a capitalist society: alienation.  Workers are  
> economically exploited to produce surplus value for the capitalist  
> class.  Of course capitalists produce porn that appeals to male  
> consumers, just like they produce TV shows or deodorant or cars  
> that appeal to male consumers!
>
> Male centered porn's not the problem; it's just an obvious symptom  
> of a fucked up thoroughly capitalist society.
>
> Miles

Even under capitalism, I don't see any reason why pornographers can't  
cater to more women.  While car ads can and do sometimes feature  
sexist imagery, cars in themselves can be and are driven by men and  
women.  Women probably have a wider range of choices in clothes  
(women can wear clothes for both men and women, while culture tells  
most men to stick to men's clothing only).  As for TV consumption,  
men do watch more TV than women in America (cf. 2.57 hours for men  
and 1.96 hours for women in households with no children under 18:  
<http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/atus.pdf>) since men have more  
leisure, but there are lots of shows that cater to women, and there  
isn't a radical gender difference in consumption of TV that you see  
in consumption of porn.

The gendered division of labor predates capitalism, and it won't  
necessarily get better for women after capitalism.  The same goes for  
a gendered division of cultural production and consumption.  Male- 
centered porn is a problem.

Yoshie Furuhashi
<http://montages.blogspot.com>
<http://monthlyreview.org>
<http://mrzine.org>