The Martlet

hy is it still socially acceptable for females to be subordinate and weak to appease the male libido?

In the 2008 documentary, The Price of Pleasure: Pornography, Sexuality and Relationships, by Miguel Picker and Chyng Sun, a scene at a porn convention in Las Vegas shows a man saying women actually want and enjoy being controlled by men.

Regarding anal sex, a man shamelessly remarked, “every time a wife is mean to her husband ... he secretly thinks in the back of his mind, ‘I’d like to fuck you in the ass!’ It’s just a way of getting back at his wife for all the bitching she’s been doing. That’s the attraction to anal.”

Is it really? If I’m confident and assertive, my boyfriend wants to penetrate me anally to inflict harm and teach me to be weak and submissive?

Nowhere is female inequality and sexual violence more glamorized than in the multi-billion dollar porn industry.

Here, men profit from female subordination while women become products, something to be bought and sold.

It’s an industry which sexually stimulates customers with some of the most perverse fantasies imaginable — yet it is accepted, glorified and considered “legitimate.”

Granted, some people are into some kinky stuff. But, such sexual acts as anal, choking, hitting, spanking, gagging, rape, gang-bangs, double penetration, pain and sex with amateurs appear as a specialty on camera.

In reality, what woman enjoys being called “whore” or “slut,” or having some dominating man scream at her: “You’re a dirty little bitch, you are such a fucking tramp.”

What woman wants to be choked or beaten, or even raped?

Violence in porn is frequently committed for the sexual gratification of males at the expense of female dignity. Women are continuously degraded, including subjecting themselves to “dirty” acts like “ATM” (ass-to-mouth).

In many modern pornography movies, taping a woman’s mouth or covering her face de-personalizes the sex as she is spat on, choked, or slapped around like an animal. Is this the way we want women to be viewed?

Imagine this scene: a screaming woman’s arms are tied by the wrists and her head is thrust into a toilet while a man penetrates her. This, and many other real porn scenes, depict women clearly in agony. If they are enjoying it, there is no sign of it. The idea here is male domination — the sickening ability for men to do whatever they want and actually have women accept it.

Consider a porn movie directed by Gregory Dark, in which a black woman gets raped by Ku Klux Klan members. Who visits a website that says in big capital letters “ENTER FOR RAPE”?

Or consider the offensive names of some porn DVDs: Nappy Headed Whores, Latina Abuse, Imperial Pussy, Teen Fuckholes, Ass Destruction and Granny Pussy.

I was shocked to hear one man in the Price of Pleasure documentary proudly boast about a porn he had watched that had a woman get “13 loads on her face ... because she’s so beautiful. It’s like a dog marking its territory.”

On an even sadder note, violence and objectification in the sex industry only exists because there is a demand for it. The reason why most female porn stars subject themselves to this is money (in a world where females still face economical inequalities), because the sex industry seems to be a “legitimate” way to get rich.

However, it is not enjoyable for many people. Former porn star Jersey Jaxin publicly confessed that she left the sex industry after being treated like a “piece of meat.” Men have punched her in the face and “literally ripped [her] insides out.” She has also reported cases where men have inserted scissors into women’s vaginas in the middle of a porn scene.

With the constant degradation noticeable in violent hardcore pornography, women are no longer viewed as human beings. Women are only viewed as objects — sex objects — whose sole purpose is to “fuck.”

Am I, as a woman, less than human?

The Price of Pleasure documentary predicts that porn will become more violent. And in a society full of men who profit off female subordination, I fail to see how the situation can improve.

We have evolved to accept abuse, rape and violence as the norm, but sexism and inequality are still highly prevalent in society. Sexual violence is no longer frowned upon, as shown by the lack of questioning to this sexually-exploitative pornography industry. Over 94 per cent of aggression in porn videos is directed at women — yet such violent acts are legal.

I write this as a feminist (and yes, as a female) and I feel embarrassed and ashamed that it is me against a powerful, male-dominated multi-billion dollar industry. Will anyone join me, so that females can gain back the dignity and respect that is rightfully theirs?