*This article was originally published in the November 20 print issue of The Roosevelt News. Due to an unexpected error, the full contents were not printed in that issue, so the article, in its entirety, is below.
Let’s face it. We love porn. With hormones raging through our pubescent bodies, masturbation is a perfectly healthy and normal way to relieve stress. In a recent survey conducted by RHS News, of 105 Roosevelt and Seattle highschool students, 70% reported to have watched porn and it makes total sense; sexual fantasies are a product of being human, however, with the adult entertainment industry being worth upwards of 3.9 billion dollars according to Forbes in the US alone, production companies have capitalized off of our deepest prejudices.
In an article published by Complex, “Lesbian” is the most popular search in 42 states according to Pornhub’s 2017 insights. This data also showed nearly 88% of porn searches across the US are “Black,” “Lesbian,” or “Asian.” In a nation full of polarizing political debate and surfacing bigotry, it is interesting that the most popular fantasies people seek star people of minority and marginalized backgrounds.
According to Femme Magazine, fetishes can be characterized as sexual fascinations with things that are not inherently sexual: leather, lace, toes, you name it. Think of something and there is someone out there who is into it. Also, having a fetish is completely okay. Who are we to judge what other people enjoy in the bedroom? With that being said, the fetishization of people based on race, ethnicity, ability, sexuality, or gender is where these fascinations get inappropriate. By this I mean, when said obsession works to dehumanize and objectify the person, or persons, being fethishized, the fantasy turns into an oppressive instrument able to perpetuate systemic ignorance. This objectification results in men seeking lesbian porn because it’s “hot”, or women wanting “Big Black Cock” whilst completely disregarding the active institutionalized disparagement of these groups. This sort of dehumanization allows viewers to ignore the lack of legislative and social equality these marginalized people starring in these films are awarded.
Oftentimes, people of color are stereotyped in pornography leading to the misconception that all people of a certain ethnicity will be a certain way in bed or in a relationship. As an anonymous poller states, “Women of color are so often reduced down to their race in the porn industry, it’s awful.” For example, the ability to look at a Japanese woman as nothing more than a school girl character erases the fact that stereotyping asian women as being submissive is damaging, further finding its way into mainstream media where strong Female Asian-American roles are incredibly scarce. Maggie Mae Lemaris of the Whitman College publication, the Whitman Wire, says, “Pornography removes the inhibition against sexual censorship by making it a private choice of what image will arouse you. Porn habits mirror the images of race we desire.”
When these marginalized groups are fetishized, we develop an implicit bias. This is an unconscious attribution or stereotype of specific qualities individuals in a group possess. For example, the subconscious belief that all gay men are weak is an implicit stereotype. Porn bolsters our implicit bias, subconsciously assigning minority people a certain way of “being”. Dismantling all the “-isms” that put so many people at a disadvantage requires intersectional efforts to reduce the way we alienate people in all aspects of life. And doing so is easy: when imagining your most erotic fantasies, realize if it is honoring the humanness of said sexual counterpart. In doing so, you will continue to help the deep seated bigoted thought processes we all possess surface, leaving our prejudice and ignorance in the porn of the past.
Graphic by Ellen Lee
