Empowering
Meghan Murphy at Feminist Current a c0uple of weeks ago:
Pornhub, the biggest pornography site on the entire internet, recently announced they would be launching a clothing line to “support victims of domestic violence.” The company is partnering with porn star, Christy Mack, who went public about the extreme violence she faced at the hands of ex-boyfriend and MMA fighter, War Machine, in 2014.
“The exclusive clothing line will consist of a limited run of gear set to be sold on Pornhub’s newly created Pornhub Apparel e-commerce site, with 100 per cent of the profits to be donated to a yet unnamed domestic abuse charity of Mack’s choosing,” the site announced on Wednesday.
Corey Price, Vice President of Pornhub said, “Domestic violence impacts women, men and children across the United States each and every day. Nearly one in four women and one in seven men have suffered severe physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner. Here at Pornhub, we want to be part of the solution and help stop the cycle of domestic abuse.” He added, “We’re hoping our new partnership will raise necessary awareness around the issue and contribute to sparking meaningful discussions on the subject within our community.”
But…what about the violence in porn? I know the claim is that that’s fantasy, not reality, but I don’t buy the underlying assumption that those two things are sharply distinct and never mess with each other.
So, business as usual, I suppose. I mean, Pornhub quite literally sells violence against women. If you Google, “Pornhub domestic violence,” the first thing that comes up is a link to the endless videos on their site tagged “domestic violence,” the second is a link to their “sexual abuse” videos. The third, ironically, is a link to Pornhub’s announcement that the company “cares about ending domestic violence.” Oh yeah. They care so much they’re willing to sell it to men as masturbatory material.
But it’s fantasy. It’s kink. Anybody who doesn’t agree is a prude. Everybody hates prudes. We all know what they look like, right?
Of course we do. Nobody wants to be that. Bring on the sexual abuse videos!
Liberals and so-called “sex positive feminists” have called the line “an incredible, empowering collection,” apparently mixing up the words, “infinite levels of amazing,” with “disgusting, opportunistic, manipulative effort to capitalize on women’s suffering for their own gain.” The Frisky, renowned for its valiant efforts to sell violence against women as sexy and empowering, has also jumped on board, encouraging women to support this “important cause.”
Empower this.
If people really care, donations and volunteer work for shelters and centers that help victims of domestic violence would be much more effective than buying stuff and hoping that 10% of the profits off of the item is a significant contribution.
To be fair, 100% of the profits are going to a DV charity. Not 10%.
It’s the Jimmy Saville method for buying respectability – become a charity donor and make sure everyone knows about it – being associated with charities is a sure fire way for unsavoury characters to acquire a good reputation. I resigned as a trustee of a Children’s charity once because it seemed more concerned with raking in money for its cause than worrying about where the money came from. And, before you ask, Jimmy Saville was one of the larger donors and was one of the people I was worried about. I had no evidence of any kind against him at the time but I found him slimy and creepy.
There have been countless studies into links between porn and other violent imagery and real-life violence. Have any of them shown any sort of correlation? Any?
Yes
If pornhub cared about “domestic abuse” (I hate that phrase, as a euphemism it hides the reality of domination, subjugation, violent means) at all, it would go out of business or turn into an honest business. One can be “sex positive” and a feminist, though the lying liars say otherwise. Perhaps, though, the term “sex positive” has been distorted and/or coopted for commercial expediency.
If someone labels me a prude, I’ll take it. I am a prude, especially when I’ve watched extreme violence, sexual violence, sports violence, kiddie porn spread across every screen. A football player slugging his wife on an elevator, knocking her out. Dancers and actresses who have to twerk to get any notice. For that, I’m a prude and a proud one.