About

About the Project

The Anti Porn Men Project is an online space for (mainly) men to write about and discuss anti-porn issues. The Project also provides and sign-posts anti-porn resources and news concerning pornography.

It is the general opinion of those involved in The Anti Porn Men Project that pornography is one of the most important social issues that we face in tackling both violence against women and wider gender inequality, as well as an important personal issue in the lives and relationships of many people. It is for these reasons -and not out of any conservative or religious sentiments- that The Anti Porn Men Project is anti-porn.

Our mission is to help develop a wider knowledge and recognition of the harms of pornography. We hope this will help bring about a greater level of both personal and public questioning of pornography.

What we are

- Pro-sex. One of the reasons why we are anti-porn is because we are pro-sex. Porn is not sex, but in fact can play a very restrictive and damaging role in peoples sex lives and the forming of people’s sexuality.

- A collective whose members do not always share the same opinions.

- A source and platform for people who wish to critically explore pornography by genuinely engaging with anti-porn arguments and ideas.

What we are not

- Anti-sex. One of the reasons why we are anti-porn is because we are pro-sex. Porn is not sex, but in fact can play a very restrictive and damaging role in people’s sex lives and the forming of people’s sexuality.

- A group with a strict ‘party line’.

- A place to debate with organised or committed pro-porn activists.

What we mean when we say ‘Pornography’

As The Project is a joint effort between several contributors there is no single definition of pornography to which everyone involved subscribes.

However, generally speaking, the ‘porn’ in The ‘Anti Porn Men Project’ refers largely to the ‘porn industry’, but often also to sexually explicit material that is characterised in some way by cruelty, humiliation, or degradation of women. This kind of material constitutes the vast majority of so-called ‘mainstream pornography’ (Bridges et al. 2010).

A definition that we find useful is that pornography is that which ‘sexualizes hierarchy, objectification, submission, and violence’ (Andrea Dworkin, 1988).

“Not all pornography contains all these components, but all these elements are present throughout contemporary pornography” (Robert Jensen, Getting Off. 2007).

Content which possibly lies outside the above characterisation but that nevertheless can be referred to as pornographic is content that reduces women to objects, prioritises male demands and pleasure, and implies female pleasure is about pleasing men.

On the difference between pornography and erotica:

“Pornography” begins with a root “porno”, meaning “prostitution” or “female captives”, thus letting us know that the subject is not mutual love, or love at all, but domination and violence against women. (Though, of course, homosexual pornography may imitate this violence by putting a man in the “feminine” role of victim.)….[The] pornographic: its message is violence, dominance, and conquest. It is sex being used to reinforce some inequality, or to create one, or to tell us that pain and humiliation (ours or someone else’s) are really the same as pleasure. If we are to feel anything, we must identify with conqueror or victim.” Gloria Steinem, Take back the Night: Women on Pornography (1980).

“[E]rotica” is rooted in “eros” or passionate love, and thus in the idea of positive choice, free will, the yearning for a particular person. (Interestingly, the definition of erotica leaves open the question of gender.)….[The] erotic: a mutually pleasurable sexual expression between two people who have enough power to be there by positive choice. It may or may not strike a sense-memory in the viewer, or be creative enough to make the unknown seem real; but it doesn’t require us to identify with a conqueror or a victim. It is truly sensuous, and may give us a contagion of pleasure.” Gloria Steinem, Take back the Night: Women on Pornography (1980).

“I define “pornography” as “material that combines sex and/or the exposure of genitals with abuse or degradation in a manner that appears to endorse, condone, or encourage such behavior”….”Erotica” refers to “sexually suggestive or arousing material that is free of sexism, racism and homophobia, and respectful of all the human beings and animals portrayed”. Diana Russell, Against Pornography: The Evidence of Harm (1993).

Commenting on posts and articles

The Anti Porn Men Project welcomes contributions through posts and comments that are -at the very least- polite and that show a willingness to respectfully and genuinely engage with anti-porn thought. In comparison to the overwhelming amount of pornography that is consumed there are few voices that speak against it and they have a relatively limited presence. As such, there is a need for more voices speaking against pornography if people are to have the tools and awareness with which to seriously think about pornography. The Project hopes to join those voices speaking against pornography and therefore does not wish to engage in online debate with organised pro-porn activists or organisations. If you want to have a debate online, start your own website and present your opinions there, we may or may not comment on them.

On resources found on the website

Inclusion of a resource on this website does not constitute endorsement of, or agreement with, all of the content of that resource. If you are the copyright owner of any content on this website and you have an objection to it being available on this site, please contact us via the form on the ‘Contact’ page.