Porn/Sex Industry

Where are porn cinemas on the porn-prostitution continuum? Part I: On the outside looking in

Where are porn cinemas on the porn-prostitution continuum? Part I: On the outside looking in

Although I used to watch lots of porn and was aware of the existence of porn cinemas I never really knew anything about them. Living in the UK, I knew there was at least one in Soho but wouldn’t have been able to say where it was, who visited them or what goes on in them. I assumed porn cinemas were dark spaces with a few rows of seats; sparsely visited mainly on weekends and in evenings by single men. I suppose I thought of the men as “sad” loners. Since I started writing about my experiences surrounding my porn use I became interested in finding out more about porn cinemas and decided to do a little research on porn cinemas in the UK....

Connecting the dots: porn and women’s declining libido

Connecting the dots: porn and women’s declining libido

Dr Bella Ellwood-Clayton, resident anthropologist come sexpert, released her new book this week Sex Drive: In Pursuit of Female Desire. In it she draws attention to something researchers and sex therapists have largely ignored (in this country anyway) and that’s the negative impact of porn on women’s libido. “In any given second, 28,258 internet users are viewing pornography and 372 internet users are typing adult terms into search engines. Every 39 minutes, a new pornographic video is created in the US …The effects of this pornography flood are yet to be fully understood, but it inarguably harms female libido” argues Ellwood-Clayton. We know porn is everywhere – “the wall paper of our lives” as Naomi Wolf puts it – with global sales exceeding 97...

What’s at the core of porn? 14yo posting porn on FB and other news in April

What’s at the core of porn? 14yo posting porn on FB and other news in April

This month my blog is based around one quote from the article ”Is porn hijacking our sexuality? (Part 1)?” “After all, most of us would know pornography when we see it. But there’s no definition of pornography in UK law: “obscenity” is covered by the Obscene Publications Acts (obscene material is defined as that with “tends to deprave or corrupt)… these definitions are intended to be narrow, and there’s obviously a huge volume of material that is pornographic, and yet doesn’t fulfill the criteria for obscenity”. I am no expert on U.K. law but I would argue that in many ways depravity and corruption is at the core of pornography. In the U.S. a letter drafted and signed by 117 member of the House and...

Supply and Demand: Our insatiable appetite for porn is fuelling the exploitation of women

Supply and Demand: Our insatiable appetite for porn is fuelling the exploitation of women

With 13,000 new films per year, 28,000 online viewers every second and 793 million Google hits for the word itself, our demand for porn seems almost insatiable. Statistics indicate that 43% of all internet users view pornography and when in 2009, scientists at the University of Montreal attempted to carry out a study involving men in their 20s who had never watched porn, they couldn’t find any. In an age of increased consumer awareness, where big name shops like Primark, Topman and Marks and Spencer cede to customer pressure, and where persistent lobbying is increasing the range of fair-trade products available, does the average pornography consumer question the willingness of those from whom he is getting pleasure? The problem of sex trafficking is largely...

Panel Discussion Write-up: Mary Whitehouse – Prude or Prophet?

Panel Discussion Write-up: Mary Whitehouse – Prude or Prophet?

Last weekend I went to see a panel discussion on pornography at the Women of the World Festival 2012 titled “Mary Whitehouse – Prude or Prophet?”. The panel was chaired by Helena Kennedy QC and featured Rachel Morris (psychotherapist, author and sex therapist for Cosmopolitan Magazine), Amina Doherty (who is currently setting up FRIDA – The Young Feminist Fund, and has a wide range of experience working with organisations such as the Directorate of Gender Affairs in Antigua and Barbuda, the Caribbean Policy Development Centre and the Feminist Majority Foundation), Dr. Julia Long (chair of Object and anti-porn campaigner) and Jude Kelly (theatre director & producer and currently Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre in London) and was chaired by Helena Kennedy QC. Jude...

EMMA Winter edition. The dream of being a porn star – Part III: Getting out and staying out

EMMA Winter edition. The dream of being a porn star – Part III: Getting out and staying out

This article contains language that some may find offensive In the 2011 Winter edition of EMMA (Germany’s leading feminist magazine in Germany, and the only political magazine in Europe entirely run by women) a large part of the magazine was dedicated to pornography. We’ve translated them into English. Below is the third and final part of ‘The dream of being a porn star’, a detailed account from a survivor of the pornography industry. I had a relationship with a man at the time. He saw me as a human being, because I was a human being with him from time to time. I could talk to him and as long as he did not touch me it was lovely. But from the time when...

Women’s Support Project booklets on sexual exploitation

Women’s Support Project booklets on sexual exploitation

Recently the Women’s Support Project launched a new series of five short information booklets on different aspects of sexual exploitation. The booklets each focus on a different concern within sexual exploitation and provide key information, background reading and also ideas on how to discuss these sometimes sensitive and controversial issues with young people. The booklets cover the following five aspects of sexual exploitation: PORNIFICATION GROOMING SEXTING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION SEXUALISATION The leaflets also contain some valuable tips on how you can help tackle problems created through sexual exploitation, including taking actions on a local / social level. The pornification leaflet for instance points out how you can target TV stations, local supermarkets and DVD shops with regards to their display and sale of pornographic items. The...

EMMA Winter edition. The dream of being a porn star – Part II: The reality of the porn industry

EMMA Winter edition. The dream of being a porn star – Part II: The reality of the porn industry

Warning: this article contains descriptions and/or references to violence and/or sexual assault In the 2011 Winter edition of EMMA (Germany’s leading feminist magazine in Germany, and the only political magazine in Europe entirely run by women) a large part of the magazine was dedicated to pornography. We’ve translated them into English. Below is the second of three parts we will be publishing of The dream of being a porn star, a detailed account from a survivor of the pornography industry. My first shoot was in Berlin, in a garage. It was a film that wasn’t shot for the German market as it was too extreme. The film was for the Dutch and Belgian market, where those things were allowed. But I was told everything...

EMMA Winter edition. The dream of being a porn star – Part I: The road to porn

EMMA Winter edition. The dream of being a porn star – Part I: The road to porn

Warning: this article contains descriptions and/or references to violence and/or sexual assault In the Winter 2011 edition of EMMA (Germany’s leading feminist magazine in Germany, and the only political magazine in Europe entirely run by women) a large part of the magazine was dedicated to pornography. We’ve translated them into English. Below is the first of three parts we will be publishing of The dream of being a porn star, a detailed account from a survivor of the pornography industry. Kim is sitting opposite Alice Schwarzer (Germany’s most prominent feminist and publisher of EMMA) and Chantal Louis (Editor of EMMA) and talks. She talks and talks, for one hour; two. And what she said even dumbfounded Alice Schwarzer and Chantal Louis who did not...

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