Rosalee

Why I think the Proposed New Law on Violent Porn is Bad News for Women>

This article challenges the government's patronising approach to female sexuality and explores the appeal of "violent pornography" to the female viewer.

The government says that a ban on the possession of extreme pornography will protect women. But is this true, and how do women feel about it?

When I read through the original consultation paper on the government's extreme porn proposals I found much to be concerned about. Here was a proposal for a new law based on nothing more than the authors' own prejudice and taste and a complete lack of any concrete evidence that viewing any kind of porn leads anyone to commit violent sexual crime. From a civil liberties and censorship viewpoint I thought it was a bad idea. It would make criminals out of otherwise law abiding people. However, one of the things that struck me most about the paper was its attitude towards women, which I felt to be sexist and patronising. I felt it was an attitude that disempowered and infantilized women. The government's summary of the consultation process and its responses has done little to alleviate this feeling.

There is an assumption underlying these proposals that women are the victims of porn. They are coerced into taking part in the production of it. They risk becoming the victims of violent sexual crime at the hands of the men who view it. And it seems it is always men who are assumed to be the viewers. But what about those women who consent to take part in the acts depicted? Have they asked the women involved how they would feel about being put out of a job? What about those women who enjoy viewing extreme porn and fantasise about being the 'victims' of these acts, within a consensual context? The women who fantasise about performing some of these acts, within a consensual context? Traditionally such women have been labelled 'mad' or 'bad'. And also, traditionally, within a patriarchal society, women have been discouraged from openly exploring their sexualities. The proposed new law will not help this. Nor will the attitude of some of the supposedly pro-women groups who responded to the consultation. For example, the Child and Woman Abuse Study Unit at London Metropolitan University said:

"Adult porn in its extreme forms should be considered in the same way that child porn is - a record of sexual abuse"

They seem to have no consideration of the notion of consent. And why the lumping of women with children?

I am a woman who likes some violent porn. Why do I like it? As well as being a general turn on, I find it cathartic. I am able to explore some of my biggest fears (eg rape, degradation, death). For me it's partly about overcoming those fears and about empowerment. Perhaps like anyone with a minority sexuality, I have found it hard at times to accept my sexual fantasies. This is not helped by being told that they are sick and vile and so, by extension, must the fantasisers be. Having a minority sexuality can be hard enough without the state telling you that you are wrong and bad too. To acknowledge, accept and explore my masochistic feelings allows me to take back some power and to dispel fear and shame. I find to face my fears head on in a safe and consensual way can be hugely liberating. There is a whole world of difference between fantasy, and the consensual acting out of some of these fantasies, and sexual assault. In the former, I'm the one ultimately in control; in the latter I am not in control at all.

The implication of the proposed new law is that I am vulnerable, don't know my own mind and am in need of protection. All of this serves only to disempower me and to deny me the right to explore my own sexuality and to make my own choices about how I choose to express it. And women who feel disempowered and made to feel ashamed of their sexualities become more vulnerable to real exploitation and abuse.

I think that rather than protecting women, or anyone else, one of the negative effects of these proposals, should they become law, would be to stifle a free exploration and expression of female sexuality.

I would like to see more porn made by, and chiefly for, women. I believe this would give women greater control over how they are represented sexually and would encourage a fuller exploration and acceptance of all female sexualities. I did a little experiment recently. I imagined that I was a pornographer and thought about what I would like to include in any porn I made. I made a list. Much of it would fall foul of this proposed new law.

I believe the government should abandon these proposals altogether and instead attempt to get to the root of the real causes of rape, domestic violence and sexual assault. They should allow porn generally to become more acceptable so that when real instances of abuse and coercion occur, the victims of this will find it easier to come forward and complain about it. They need to recognise the difference between real violent crime and consensual acting out and depictions of violent fantasies. The crucial difference is where the acts are consensual, no one is being abused or killed and the woman (or man) who appears to be the victim remains ultimately in control.

The government needs to come up with real strategies for preventing violent sex crime. And they should recognise that most people, including women, who have sexualities that are outside of whatever is considered the norm are not sick, potentially dangerous or in need of protecting from themselves. They need to recognise that women have the right to say 'yes' as well as 'no'.

back to the main womens' views page