XXX: A Woman's Right to Pornography (18 page)

THE FLAW IN LIBERAL FEMINIST ARGUMENTS

Those liberals who defend pornography do not generally address the ideological underpinnings of the onslaught against it. They continue to view antiporn feminists as fellow travelers, instead of seeing them as dangerous companions.

One reason for this is that liberal feminists share many of the ideological assumptions underlying the radical feminist attack. For example, both liberal and radical feminists condemn the free market for making a profit by using women as "body parts." Both believe that the commercialization of sex demeans women. In an essay meant to defend the rights of pornographers, Lisa Steel comments: "Sexist representation of women ... is all part of the same system that, in the service of profits, reduces society tòconsumer groups.' And marketing is every bit as conservative as the military ... we pay dearly for thèrights' of a few to make profits from the rest Of us." [4]

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Is this a defense or an attack?

Liberal feminists also tend to use the radical feminist definition of pornography-a definition tremendously slanted in favor of censorship. Once women accept the antipornography definition, it is difficult to arrive at any position other than censorship. The Canadian sociologist Jill Ridington argues for free speech. Nevertheless, she defines pornography as: ". . . a presentation ... of sexual behavior in which one or more participants are coerced, overtly or
implicitly,
into participation; or are injured or abused physically or psychologically; or in which an
imbalance of power is
obvious, or
implied ...
and in which such behavior can be taken to be advocated or endorsed." (Emphasis added .) [5]

By this definition, what isn't pornography? What can't be interpreted as an imbalance of power?

Since almost every sexual presentation is capable of causing psychological harm to someone, almost every presentation can be considered pornographic. Pornography needs stauncher advocates. Fortunately, it has them.

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A TRUE DEFENSE OF PORNOGRAPHY

Individualist feminism provides the best defense of pornography because its ideology is the mirror image of radical feminism, from which the most effective attack on porn is coming.

Individual feminism insists on the principle of self-ownership: a woman's body, a woman's right.

It insists that women be free to choose, regardless of the content of their choices.

The key concept here is choice, which is present whenever a woman acts without physical coercion. Certainly, it is present whenever the woman herself says the actions are voluntary, because she is the only person truly capable of judging that claim. The peaceful choices of every woman must be respected; the voice of every woman should be heard.

This is a profoundly individualistic approach, which leaves little room for class analysis as presented by antiporn feminists. Such feminists view individual rights and personal preferences as irritating bumps on the road to the greater good of class interest. To them, "the personal is political."

To individualist feminists, the personal is personal. There is a political door that closes to separate and protect individuals from society. People call this protection by different names: the Bill of Rights, self-ownership, individual rights, or natural law. In the shadow of this protection, individual women make decisions about matters that concern them and them alone. For example, they decide about sex.

This is not to say that one woman's sexual choices cannot have implications for another woman, or an impact upon her. Every action you take and every word you utter can impact upon another human being. Exhaling can have an impact, especially if you have a cold or some other contagious disease. The question is: At what point does another woman have a right to restrict your actions on the grounds of self-protection?

Individualist feminism answers: When, and only when, those actions involve physical force, threat of force, or fraud. In the absence of force, women should be free to make any and every sexual choice they wish.

I may not personally approve of their choices. I may find their choices distasteful. Nevertheless, every choice a woman makes enriches me because it expands my range of alternatives-even if it is an alternative I can't imagine ever pursuing myself.

The nineteenth-century individualist feminist Lillian Harman made a similar point: I consider uniformity in mode of sexual relations as undesirable and impractical as enforced uniformity in anything else. For myself, I want to profit by my mistakes ... and why should I be unwilling for others to enjoy the same liberty? If I should be able to bring the entire world to live exactly as I live at present, what would that avail me in ten years, when as I hope, I shall have a broader knowledge of life, and my life therefore probably changed. [1]

To repeat: the key is choice. With regard to pornography, this means let individual women decide for themselves. Let them weigh the evidence and come to their own conclusions.

But what of the women who are upset by the mere fact that pornography exists? Aren't they "forced" to live in a pornographic world? In a word, yes. Women who like pornography force others to live in a pornographic world in the same manner that women who lack taste in clothes 73

force others to live with their fashion sense.
Every
peaceful act can affect someone else. Again, the question is, do the effects deny to anyone what they have the right to demand?

The answer is no. My decision to consume pornography in no way infringes on another woman's ability to walk right past it. She can express her disapproval-through speaking out, picketing, and boycott. What she must not do is introduce the force of law.

The mere fact that some women are upset by the presence of pornography tells us very little. It tells us nothing about whether porn is right or wrong, valuable or useless. After all, feminism distresses a great many people. Yet feminists would argue that the movement should not only be tolerated, it should be nurtured. They consider women's rights to have a positive, rather than a negative effect on society-even if it causes distress. Perhaps the same is true of the graphic depiction of sex.

This is the position I maintain. I argue that the benefits pornography provides to women far outweigh any of its disadvantages. But, at its root, the argument for pornography is not utilitarian.

Pornography should be defended out of respect for women's choices and for human sexual diversity.

AN INDIVIDUALIST FEMINIST DEFENSE OF PORNOGRAPHY

Pornography and feminism have many things in common. They both focus on women as sexual beings. Pornography dwells on the physical act of sex itself; feminism examines the impact of sex upon women-historically, economically, politically, and culturally.

Pornography is one of the windows through which women glimpse the sexual possibilities that are open to them. It is nothing more or less than freedom of speech applied to the sexual realm.

Feminism is freedom of speech applied to women's sexual rights.

Both pornography and feminism rock the conventional view of sex. They snap the traditional ties between sex and marriage, sex and motherhood. They both threaten family values and flout the status quo. Because of this, when conservatives look at both feminists and women in porn, they see home wreckers, harlots, and sexual deviants.

In other words, pornography and feminism are fellow travelers. And natural allies.

It is time for the feminist movement as a whole to become "improper" and so outrageous as to suggest that sex can be fun and fulfilling. It is time to take sex out of politics and to put it back into the bedroom, where it belongs. Sex is a private choice, and not a political matter open to a majority vote. It is a rebellious process of self-discovery. And feminists should be adamantly defending those women whose sexual choices are under attack. They should be defending women in pornography.

Modern feminism needs a little less dogma and a lot more heresy.

The starting point of this heretical rebellion is to provide a true defense of pornography.

Pornography is now the front battle line where the war between sexual correctness and sexual liberation is being waged. The outcome may well define what sexual choices you and I-and our daughters-will be able to make.

I contend:
Pornography benefits women, both personally and politically.

It benefits them
personally
in several ways: 1. It provides sexual information on at least three levels: it gives a panoramic view of the world's sexual possibilities; it allows women to "safely" experience sexual alternatives; and, it provides a different form of information than can be found in textbooks or discussions.

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2. Pornography strips away the emotional confusion that so often surrounds real-world sex.

3. Pornography breaks cultural and political stereotypes, so that each woman can interpret sex for herself. .

4. Pornography is the great leveler of shame.

5. Pornography can serve as sexual therapy.

Pornography benefits women
politically
in many ways, including the following: 1. Historically, pornography and feminism have been fellow travelers and natural allies.

2. Pornography is free speech applied to the sexual realm.

3. Viewing pornography may well have a cathartic effect on men who have violent urges toward women.

4. Legitimizing pornography would protect women sex workers, who are stigmatized by our society.

Let's examine the remaining arguments one-by-one:

Personal Benefits

1. Pornography provides sexual information on at least three levels:
It Gives a Panoramic View of the World's Sexual Possibilities. Pornography provides women with a real sense of what is sexually available to them: masturbation, voyeurism, exhibitionism, sex with a stranger, in a group, with the same sex, as an act of revenge ... It has been called "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Sexual Galaxy." In times of repression and shame, it is sometimes the only source of sex education for the curious, and of sexual validation for the isolated.

It is how-to literature for those who lack real-world experience, as everyone does in the beginning. Consider just one of the dilemmas of inexperienced women. We all hear about oral sex, but what is it? More specifically, how do you give a man a blowjob? What about your teeth?

Where do you put your hands? Are the testicles involved? How deep is deep throating? Are you supposed to swallow? How long should it last? Is it foreplay, or a separate sex act?

Men don't have a monopoly on performance anxiety. Although how-to sex manuals may give descriptions of oral sex, the most accessible and graphic source of information is pornography.

By watching videos, you can vicariously experience the techniques of dozens-even hundreds-of women. You can decide which aspects of oral sex appeal to you and which, if any, you find unsavory.

The same is true of most other forms of sexuality, including masturbation. This form of sexual play seems to come less naturally to women than to men, perhaps because men's sexual organs are more exposed. It is not uncommon for women to reach adulthood without knowing how to give themselves pleasure.

Pornography Allows Women to "Safely" Experience Sexual Alternatives.

One of the most benevolent aspects of pornography is that it provides women with a
safe
environment in which they can satisfy a healthy sexual curiosity. The world is a dangerous place.

It is a cold place. Reaching out for real-world experience often involves putting yourself at risk.

The world is especially dangerous for young inexperienced women who are curious and who want to explore-or push the boundaries of sex. Real-world sex carries the risk of real world violence at the hands of a stranger. Or at the fists of a man you thought you knew-until the two of you were behind a closed door, or until he was drunk, or ...

Rape, domestic violence, sexual battery-the list of dangers is long.

By contrast, pornography can be a source of solitary enlightenment. Pornography presents women with their wildest fantasies-from voyeurism to wearing Bo Peep costumes to mock rape.

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This cornucopia is served up in the privacy of a woman's own bedroom, on a television set that can be turned off whenever she has had enough. She does not have to defend herself against persistent advances, or "give in" rather than be hurt by a man who will not take no. She is in absolute control of the timing, the content, the duration, the climax.

Pro-pornography women are sometimes accused of not caring about the sexual dangers that face women. I care deeply. I suspect there are few women who have experienced more sexual violence than I have. It is precisely because I know how dangerous the world can be that I have a benevolent view of pornography.

It is because I know how brutal sex can be that I insist on reminding women that they also live in a world of sexual possibilities and pleasures. Sex is too important to surrender. I remember the "sexual revolution" and "women's liberation." Women like me who believed in its promises have been left dazed and wondering where the joy in feminism has gone. The sixties were a period when women were encouraged to enjoy-indeed, to demand!-the bounty of pleasure hidden away within their own bodies.

Many things have happened since then. AIDS and a constellation of other perils have changed sexual mores for us all. But the devastation of AIDS cannot explain the current feminist backlash against the "safe sex" practice of enjoying pornography.

Pornography is
safe
sex. No diseases. No violence. No pregnancy. No infidelity. No one to apologize to the next morning. Pornography is one of the most benevolent ways a woman can experience who she is sexually.

Pornography Provides a Different Form of Information than Textbooks or Discussion.

Pornography is more than just an encyclopedia of sexual alternatives. It provides women with a different type of information than they can get from a textbook. It offers the emotional information that comes only from experiencing something either directly or vicariously. It provides us with a sense of how it would "feel" to do something.