While well over a thousand feminists were gathered in London for UK Feminista’s FEM 11 conference a few weeks ago I was sat at home following the happenings of the event as best I could on Twitter. After trending for much of the day the FEM 11 hashtag caught the attention of what seemed like a fairly organised group of misogynists.
Tweets like “National gathering of sandwich makers on Euston Road” and “Who’s let all these women out? Shouldn’t they be tied to a kitchen sink somewhere?” started infiltrating the #fem11 twitter stream. Whether these were just trolls or not, the aim was to offend and they knew quite well what to write to get their result. They knew what was misogynistic, they recognised sexism and they used it to be abusive and offensive.
After the initial deluge of abuse, ‘jokey sexism’ and plain old misogynistic hate-speech, around mid-afternoon the tweets began to change. There appeared tweet after tweet consisting of little more than the FEM11 hashtag and a link to a porn site. The tweeters of these were faceless users with no info at all about themselves, just phoney accounts presumably created specifically to infiltrate the conference’s twitter stream and push pornography on the thousands of feminists both at the event tweeting and those following it online.
And why the links to the porn sites? Why would these trolls who are actively trying to be sexist be tweeting links to porn sites? The answer is simple: because porn is misogynistic.
Not because these sexist idiots have researched UK Feminista or some of the speakers at the conference (including a couple from this site) who oppose the ‘sex’ and porn industries, and wanted to specifically oppose their views. More likely they didn’t look past the fact it was a feminist conference. They posted links to porn simply because they know that images and videos of women with their mouths aggressively stuffed with penises and presented like animals or pieces of meat with ‘fuckholes’, is misogynistic. 
It is hate-speech, maybe not as literal as images of lynching or as slogans explicitly instructing people to go out and commit violence or be disrespectful and discriminatory against a particular group, but it is hate-speech nonetheless. Like racist cartoons of black people portrayed as savages or smiling idiots, porn deals in stereotypes and simple long-standing patriarchal messages. “It is a woman’s essential nature to be fucked, to be used by men, to please men. Women always want sex, from whatever man, in whatever way. And if this isn’t clear to them straight away it becomes apparent after the use of some force. Women can be tricked, conned, or forced into sex… but it’s ok, this is what they secretly want. And at the very least, they’re only women.” These are the messages that are found in porn.
Contrary to what Susannah Breslin wrote in Forbes the other day, porn is misogynistic. Her article argues that when you “watch a porn movie… you’re seeing male fantasies projected onto a screen”. Yes and many men are misogynists. Their sexualities may have been influenced by all sorts of things, their upbringing, messages about sex and women from TV, movies, porn-itself etc. but the fact remains that if we are living in a sexist culture (which is a whole other post, but I hope most people here can agree on) then we can only expect many people to be sexist – including when it comes to their sexuality. As a man, this is something I have come to recognise about myself and that I have tried to reduce and hopefully eradicate from my own sexuality for several years now.
Breslin finishes by stating that porn isn’t misogynistic, but human. The very sad fact of the matter is that these are not mutually exclusive; humans are often misogynistic. I don’t have the answers to what to do about this, but it can’t be a bad start to call out misogyny where we see it, and misogynists themselves –including those tweeting about FEM 11- see it clearly in porn.
No related posts.
Good article though some of the language is a little rough. And I happen to agree that it is about misogyny…because after all…we are just women and we’re meant to be used….right? Unfortunately, this mind set runs far too rampid! And far too many males believe it.
Sorry for the rough language (I’m pretty sure I know what you’re referring to). I do think it can be helpful in getting across the message of what porn is like/saying though.
I recognise that language and have used exactly that phrase myself and we have not met!-ie the meatslab with orifice reference. Yes it is rough language, but describes an even rougher attitude. Excellent article.
Whilst we put ‘trigger warnings’ on appropriate posts we don’t have any procedure for swearing or ‘rough’ language. Would be happy to take suggestions though.
So simple, but I really think this is one of the best posts on this site.
“And why the links to the porn sites? Why would these trolls who are actively trying to be sexist be tweeting links to porn sites? The answer is simple: because porn is misogynistic.” Eat your heart out, sex-pozzies.
Said perfectly.
…women also, not just men.
Great article, very well-written. I just went to the Forbes article and that is among the most idiotic arguments I’ve ever read. Basically, porn isn’t misogynistic because it’s what men want to see. Huh? So was Birth of a Nation not racist because it’s what white people wanted to see?
It was time somebody pointed out that calling porn ‘human’ just doesn’t allow any excuses for its contents. Those simple logic fallacies work as basis for too many discourses aimed at some kind of justification. Including an object into a wider set says very little about its peculiarities. Funny how nobody would ever justify murder by saying that it’s ‘human’. And it’s exactly the same logic.
Porn is not human at all. It’s inhuman and inhumane.
And why the links to the porn sites? Why would these trolls who are actively trying to be sexist be tweeting links to porn sites? The answer is simple: because porn is misogynistic.
I completely disagree. The reason these sexist trolls post this stuff is because they assume (without even reading the material) that all feminists are not only anti-porn but also extremely upset by it. Yes, it’s a misogynistic act of aggression and I’m sure many of them will make a point of picking scenes that more easily serve such a purpose but that doesn’t mean you can define all porn as misogynistic.
It seems to me that internet misogynists and anti-porn activists are equally invested in the idea of porn as a weapon and form of abuse.
Susannah Breslin’s emphasis on male fantasies is unfortunate because it makes her article easy to patronisingly dismiss as the musings of a woman who is invested in male power and therefore missing the point. I appreciate your effort to address sexism within your own sexuality but would suggest this effort loses its impact if it isn’t coupled with an effort not to paternalistically tell women you know best. (This may be a slightly harsh thing to level at you on the basis of this article but it’s something I see in anti-porn men a lot and, as a woman, I have a problem with it.)
I agree that the fact that internet misogynist’s use of porn to misogynistically abuse feminists does not by itself entail that all porn is misogynistic. But thankfully the anti-porn feminist analysis of porn and anti-porn position doesn’t at all put any weight to such an argument.
This post is mainly just saying that misogynist users of porn themselves recognise that porn is sexist. It isn’t meant as a comprehensive proof that all porn is misogynistic.
I also think that I should be able to disagree with Breslin, without it being deemed as me paternalistically telling her what’s what. I only mention my own experience as an aside after saying:
“many men are misogynists. Their sexualities may have been influenced by all sorts of things, their upbringing, messages about sex and women from TV, movies, porn-itself etc. but the fact remains that if we are living in a sexist culture… then we can only expect many people to be sexist – including when it comes to their sexuality.”
I don’t think that’s a controversial thing to say that requires me to assert the fact that i’m a man to make it valid. My personal experience as a man isn’t an important part of what i’ve said in the post and so am not quite sure how I have come across as “paternalistically telling women I know best”.
““many men are misogynists. Their sexualities may have been influenced by all sorts of things, their upbringing, messages about sex and women from TV, movies, porn-itself”
Many men have probably watched lots of porn before they’ve ever read a novel!
I get where you’re coming from, but what about the women who comprise the vast majority of anti-porn feminism and make the same argument? That’s obviously not coming from a place of male privilege.
To be fair, you did make a reference to addressing that sexism “as a man” but I appreciate this may have had more to do with recognising privilege than attempting to use your gender to validate your view. I’ve seen the latter too many times: an anti-porn guy pointing out he’s a man and therefore knows how men think/sexism works etc (i.e. it’s in women’s best interests to believe what he says).
I have to say I’m still not convinced that the article doesn’t imply all porn is misogynistic. True, you didn’t use the word “all” but “what porn says” as a whole was referred to in the title. You also state in the piece that “the answer is simple: porn is misogynistic.” That seems like a fairly damning and conclusive statement to me. At the very least, it seems a long way from “not putting any weight” to the argument that all porn is misogynistic.
I think it’s true that misogynist users of porn themselves see porn as sexist. It seems to me that they desperately want it to be because if it isn’t then the power it has for them to use as a sexist weapon is vastly reduced.
“I think it’s true that misogynist users of porn themselves see porn as sexist. It seems to me that they desperately want it to be because if it isn’t then the power it has for them to use as a sexist weapon is vastly reduced.”
HUH
P.S Pornography is hate speech
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Pornography is the training manuel for the rape and murder of women. However the ACLU defines porn as “speech” OK then. How about prosecuting pornographers for hate speech against women? Well that wont happen since men control the ACLU
Trolls are present everywhere on the internet. You can find them everywhere, and they will try to trample almost everything. A bit like you. If you cannot take freedom of speech, then I would advise you do not post in areas where free speech reign. If you can pump out intellectual garbage like this, then other people can also respond to you.
People weren’t posting porn links because they share your opinion.
They were doing it because they know that it would pi$$ you off.
As a female sex worker, I take serious issue with what you say. I find your judgements and assumptions about pornography much more degrading than what you judge as degrading – yours is a hideous guise of telling women that they are being perpetually degraded.
Why this need and desire to assume that women cannot think for themselves when judging which area of work suits them?
Do you really believe that women, by default of their gender, are so incredibly inept and unable to make their own decisions, that it must be left up to people like you to judge for us all?
As a human being, with her own sexual tastes, I know what I like.
And you know what? I adore brutal sex. I like it rough, ready and passionate. Why should I need anyone to look at my catalogue of sexual desires and assume that I must have been victimised on account of them? Or that my sexual desires are in fact NOT mine, but a product of being brought up in a patriarchal society? Poor me.
No. I know exactly where my sexual desires come from and accept them as healthy and wonderful.
What arouses some, will not arouse others. Not all porn is everybodies taste, because everybody has different tastes in what they find arousing. However, you don’t get to tell other people that they shouldn’t find something arousing, because even if you DID tell them, that isn’t going to change them.
Your inability to let women choose for themselves if they enjoy being slapped, spat upon or whatever else during sex, is NOT up to you to police.
You don’t have to enjoy porn that represents those things. But just because you don’t like it and find it degrading does not mean that SHE didn’t like it or find it degrading whilst she was doing it.
Oh wait, I forgot, we’re only women – why should we think for ourselves?
Freedom of speech is a cloak behind which it is easy to hide. It is giving away responsibility and accountability for one’s actions and their consequences.
If you want to live in a society, people will have different opinions. In order to make the world as safe as possible, certain things will need to be policed – e.g. drugs, alcohol, weapons as well as the sex industry. You may not like it but legally you are closer to drug and alcohol manufacturers than you are to Costa Coffee.
So you love appearing in pornography; which I don’t think was denied anywhere in this article. Do you ever consider what the implications of the product you make are, once you’ve finished your pleasurable job?
Do you consider for instance that the industry in which you work supplies graphic material to an ever growing number of young children and adults? Young boys, who are still finding out about their sexuality and are not able to deconstruct and critically analyze the messages in porn and wind up simply copying behavior they see. Do you think about the fact that you normalize sex without condoms, when young consumers don’t have access to monthly STD screenings like you and the impact this may have on teenage pregnancy and STD rates? Not to mention on specifically young men’s views about relationships and what they want in a partner.
It doesn’t sound like you do. Perhaps you’re just in it to do what you love leaving others to worry about the potentially destructive consequences.
You are blind beyond a very narrow field of vision. You’re the equivalent of someone making chemicals in a lab, not caring your company will use these to enhance the addictive qualities of crack and heroine or create more destructive pesticides and biological weapons.
I am not, and should not, be held responsible for the actions of other people. Everybody is responsible for their OWN personal well-being, and every parent is responsible for their child. NOT me. I cannot be blamed for how any parent may choose to teach their child about porn or sex, or how a child may feel about asking his or her parent about something they may have seen or stumbled across.
I am firm believer in good sex education, and to encourage an air of openness (WITHOUT the intense damages that guilt or shame can wreck upon a young persons psyche) when it comes to addressing any sexual matters to young people who express a curiosity towards it.
What you are saying is akin to telling a company selling work tools, how they feel about people who abuse the products they are selling. “So you make hammers for a living. Well what about people who buy these hammers you make, and use them to harm people? Do you ever stop to consider the implications of the the product you make, once you’ve finished your pleasurable job?”
And just to make it clear to you that I don’t correlate the nature of porn itself with something like a hammer, this logic can be applied to anything with the potential to misuse. In fact, this logic can be applied to anything *pleasurable*. One can over-indulge in anything fundamentally pleasurable, and anything pleasurable can become an addiction.
I am responsible for my health, the same as other person. If I were to involve myself in a position whereby I was not entitled to any protection, or that protection was actually discouraged, potentially putting my life at risk, it’s quite simple: I would not work there.
I am not responsible for teen pregnancy rates or the STDs other people may get, because I am not telling them to have unprotected sex.
We may as well throw education and ethics teaching out of the window then if everybody is only responsible for themselves.
Would in this view the legalization of prostitution be desirable, even though it has been shown that “legalized prostitution increases human trafficking inflows”? The men who do the trafficking are after all choosing this, the men who rape the traffic victims choose to do that too. The traffic victims could choose to run away or murder their exploiters. Your free speech and free choice is a blanket ban for any rules and restrictions.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1986065
I was talking about pornography to a friend the other day. I said I disliked it, because I was given a choice to identify between a violent male and a degraded female. Either option leaves me feeling dirty. He said: “It had never occurred to me to identify with the woman.” That is the problem of porno.