A “system of killing women for profit”. This is how the High Council for Equality presents the pornographic industry in his report submitted this Wednesday in government. In the process, the Minister responsible for Equality between women and men Bérangère Couillard estimated that “violence in pornography continues to increase”. It’s a perpetual refrain when it comes to porn. The porn industry is a pure concentration of sexist and sexual violence. It would be inherently more aggressive and more sexist than any other environment. And every year it would become more brutal, more violent, more dehumanizing.
“There are probably more hardcore practices than there were thirty or forty years ago, I’ll admit. But that’s a fool’s errand: there is no serious study over the last twenty years, for example,” underlines Ludi Demol Defe, researcher in Information and Communication Sciences at the University of Paris 8 Vincennes Saint- Denis and specialist in pornography. One of the rare studies on the question tends to go against this cliché. Published in 2018 and based on nearly 300 Pornhub videos (the most popular but also some chosen randomly), it shows that violent practices have tended to decrease slightly since 2008.
“Violent and discriminatory representations towards women”
Practices deemed violent, however, still take the lion’s share. Olympe de Gê, director specializing in porn, easily recognized in his blog that the porn industry broadcasts “representations of sex which are violent and discriminatory towards women” as well as other minorities and recalls that in “95% of these scenes of violence, it is the women who are attacked.”
But in the HCE report “there is confusion between, on the one hand, gentle sex – nicknamed vanilla sex – and the staging of a relationship of domination and, on the other, consensual or non-consensual sex. Staging a relationship of domination is not necessarily violent sex,” warns Florian Vörös. However, “sodomy is considered violent by the HCE” in its relationship to vitriol, criticizes the researcher specializing in questions of pornography and sexuality education.
Taxing certain practices as violence
Looking through the report, we actually see that among the key words identified by the body to determine violence in pornography is “anal” (in appendix 1 of the report). Although no explicit link is made between sodomy and violence throughout the pages, it is nevertheless associated with words considered fetishizing (for example “Beurette”), incestuous (for example “sister”) or violent (for example example “slut”).
The association of sodomy with an intrinsically violent practice therefore poses the risk of targeting sexual practices considered deviant, a word that has long been used to discriminate against sexual minorities. “If we pull the thread, we can achieve regulation of sexualities as we see in certain American states and it is the minorities who will suffer first,” warns Florian Vörös. The issue of sex and violence is delicate. Researchers specializing in pornography are almost unanimous: it is a misogynistic and violent environment. However, isn’t it a reflection of our society?
“Rape culture is everywhere”
“Obviously pornography is sexist and violent. But the story of the princess who offers her body and her heart in exchange for the strength and courage of the brave knight is not new! », exclaims Ludi Demol Defe. Thus, in cinema, gender stereotypes are well anchored and scenes where the consent of a female character is cheerfully trampled on are legion. This is the case of the kiss that Han Solo gives to Princess Leia without her consent but also of the Snow White or Sleeping Beauty cartoons – as we recall, a sleeping woman cannot say yes. “Rape culture is everywhere, it is present in films, in cartoons, in prestigious literature…”, lists Florian Vörös.
If the porn industry is no exception, presenting it as the cradle of violence against women could have a deleterious effect in the fight against this abuse. “By equating porn and violence, we make pornography a scapegoat and we lose the possibility of analyzing what violence is,” believes Ludi Demol Defe. If the entire porn industry is considered violent, it is indeed difficult to attack specific things. In porn, there are cases of incredible violence, like that of “French Bukkake” where aggravated rape, human trafficking and even pimping are intertwined. But the environment is vast and many initiatives seek to clean it up. A host of voices – particularly female – are being raised to tackle sexism and sexual violence in this area.
Listen to all tracks
By stigmatizing the entire industry, public authorities close the door to dialogue. In its report, the HCE also criticizes family planning for not insisting on banning access to porn for minors when it offers spaces for discussion on the issue. Olympe de Gê calls for “an open, public conversation on sex and its representation” in order to “help us access a sexuality free of violence, healthy, and egalitarian”. By considering the porn industry as a monster made of brutality and hatred of women, we refrain from considering it as a “normal” environment which can be governed by clear rules.
“Let us instead authorize porn actresses to unionize, to have agents to verify their contracts and enforce them,” suggests Ludi Demol Defe who regrets that women are “not sufficiently protected on pornographic sets today.” “There are many of us who are not comfortable with the panorama of the most accessible pornography. But rather than bashing feminist directors, we could on the contrary give them more power,” suggests Florian Vörös. And thus give a little more space to productions where women are less seen as objects, where the consent of the actresses is respected, where cunnilingus is present and the (real) pleasure of women is no longer invisible, where the Eroticism is expressed through voice… At the very least, we must rationally explore the different avenues that are emerging to clean up an environment still crippled by sexism and violence against women.