unholy demon rhythms: i take huge offense at the term ‘sex positive feminist’. So, what, are...
i take huge offense at the term ‘sex positive feminist’. So, what, are women who dont agree with certain types of degrading and aggressive porn sex negative? what about women who feel that the sex industry as a whole is damaging and degrading? they dont enjoy sex? they’re not like the other…
I’m a sex positive feminist who doesn’t like degrading porn. As someone who knows sex workers - women I recognize as people and as friends - I think there is a difference between recognizing a woman’s agency and respecting male porn producers who get off on abusing women. For me, the term “sex positive feminist” is about recognizing the problematic dichotomy of either pitying or criminalizing sex workers - much like we do, oddly enough, to religious women who choose to veil. I may not agree with the niqab or the burqa, but seeing women who veil as oppressed while simultaneously criminalizing them for their “choices” - even as we refuse to see the veil as a choice - is entirely hypocritical, sexist, and Islamophobic.
The religious element doesn’t play into this discussion as easily, but the complete lack of respect for women and our sexuality does. Porn itself, in my opinion, isn’t the problem; the industry is the problem. The same can be said of any number of industries that reflect and help perpetuate the misogynistic nature of our society. Is the woman who cakes makeup onto her face every morning anti-feminist, or is the beauty industry one that benefits from the exploitation of women? Are “plus-size” women who love fashion participating in their own oppression, or is the fashion industry one that likes to keep bigger women in their place? I think it’s entirely possible for a woman to love beauty and fashion while identifying as feminist, just as it’s possible to recognize the sexist nature of the porn industry while remaining sex positive.
Sex positive feminism is about much more than sex work, too - it’s about realizing we are sexual beings with every right to express our sexuality as we please without being reduced to labels like “slut” and “ho.”
