Third-wave feminism has become synonymous with sexpositivity and the empowering nature of sexual activity. Sexpositivity has been defined as: “a celebration of sexuality as a positive aspect of life, with a broader definition of what sex means and what oppression and empowerment may imply in the context of sex. ” This emergence of sexual positivity has created friction in the past, with ‘the feminist sex wars’ splitting feminists into liberal and radical camps.
Despite this, the thirdwave and sex-positive movement has continued and has gone as far as to encourage the consumption and creation of ‘feminist porn’ as a loose resource of discovering one’s sexuality. As described by Shine Houston, a founder and producer for Pink and White productions “[W]e are doing what we can to be the site of production of a queer discourse of sexuality.
We offer representations not of the genuine reality of queer sexuality, but of its incredible possibility” which suggests that ‘feminist porn’ is in fact no different from traditional mainstream porn in the sense that it is manufacturing possibilities and fantasies for the audience. With the endorsement of viewing pornography also comes the endorsement of increasingly demeaning sex acts such as anal penetration, deep-throating, and fisting to name a few.
Alongside the consumption of pornography, dominant and submissive relationships are not seen as problematic but the power imbalance can even be seen as empowering – as described in How to be a Healthy and Happy Submissive “feeling a need or desire to be dominated does not mean that you are … not a ‘good feminist”. By looking at three key institutions of sexual behaviour: BDSM, pornography, and sex-work, this project aims to analyse the contrast between third-wave and second-wave feminist politics in relation to these areas in an effort to conclude whether or not third-wave and sex-positive eminism is harming women. While third-wave feminists believe that this behaviour empowers women, modern second-wave feminists disagree and believe that it has the opposite effect; they believe that this type of behaviour harms women and supports patriarchal ideologies rather than working as a force against them. Modern strands of second-wave feminism are often associated with identifying patriarchy as the overarching oppressor, and therefore calling for the destruction of patriarchal society and promoting female liberation from male oppression.
Secondwave feminists believe that the actions that third-wave feminists believe are empowering or liberating are actually oppressive and this is because it harms women on both a micro and macro level. While third-wave feminists support and encourage the consumption of pornographic material second-wave feminists believe that it should be eradicated as a form of entertainment; even ‘feminist porn’ replicates heteropatriarchal ideas of female submission.
Sheila Jeffreys stated that “the new feminist erotica looked a lot like the old antifeminist pornography: it eroticized dominance and submission” showing that even ‘feminist porn’ mimics the patriarchal stereotypes seen in traditional porn and society as a whole. This type of sexual activity is not empowering or liberating for women, and by partaking in these sexual acts women are perpetuating the idea that they are naturally subordinate or submissive.
Not only does pornography replicate gender stereotypes in a dangerous and harmful way it also acts as a way of capitalising on rape culture and sex trafficking; Robert Peters states that “pornography industry insiders note that the production of pornography often matches the very definition of ‘severe forms of trafficking,’ – force, fraud or coercion are used to prompt the performance of those featured in pornography”, and while many sex-positive feminists claim that women choose to enter the adult film industry, there is no way to guarantee that the women in any particular ornographic film has consented to all of the acts that she is carrying out. Any coercion on the producers behalf renders the actress’ consent void. Closely linked to pornography are the dominant and submissive relationships that are left unquestioned by sex-positive feminists; second-wave feminist would regard “sadomasochistic sexual practices as inseparable from patriarchal hierarchies based on relations of dominance and subordination”.
This therefore harms the individual women that are partaking in these sex acts as they can become physically dangerous, but also harms women en masse, as the patriarchal ideology of female submission is perpetuated rather than being dismantled. Encouraging or, at the very least, not critically examining the encouragement of these behaviours harms women physically, mentally, and socially. BDSM (bondage/discipline, dominant/submissive, sadist/ masochist) relationships involve heavy power play, often centred around pain for pleasure or punishment.
Second-wave feminists see these type of sex acts as a replication and perpetuation of the concept that women’s subordination is ingrained biologically and the exploitation of this through BDSM practices can result in serious injury or, in rare cases, death; the replication of these types of sex practices has been evidenced by Dionne van Reenen who stated: “BDSM narratives are mainstreaming, as the media market shows, and material practices of female subordination might entrench themselves in cultural or social formations as an ascendant narrative. Thirdwave feminists, however, argue that “BDSM allows women in these roles and in the dominant or top sexual roles to express and experience personal power through their sexual identities. ” While women acting out the dominant role is subverting the traditional idea of women’s subordination to men it still requires the women to engage in sex acts that may be demeaning or dangerous.
Despite acting out dominant roles, women cannot escape the socialisation of society, “women are still held subjects to heteronormative codes of sexuality and gender that determine their worth. Not only this but frequently the rhetoric within BDSM communities and the sex-positive movement indicates that the submissive party carries all of the control because they can withdraw their submission at any time during the sexual act, or ‘scene’. Because the assumption is that their submission is given freely, there is the indication that the behaviour that they are carrying out is consensual; however, Diane Russell states that “The defence that sadomasochism is consensual behaviour does not make it feminist. Women have been reared to be submissive, to anticipate and even want domination by men.
But wanting or consenting to domination and humiliation does not make it non-oppressive. ” Implying that submissives hold this pseudo-power is deemed as empowering by third-wave feminists, but this can quickly become physically dangerous when the submissive is having her limits ‘pushed by the dominant and feels unable to use the allocated safe word to stop the sex act. The danger that BDSM poses to women is not limited to the perpetuation of damaging stereotypes of women but also manifests itself in other ways. Partners that enter a BDSM relationship often discuss ? imits’ which outlines what both the dominant and submissive are and are not happy to carry out, however “The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) launched a survey… We have 5,000 responses, and over 30 percent of them had have their previously negotiated limit violated. ” These breaches of limits could technically be considered assault and “[p]hysical and psychological power, and the lack thereof, are at the heart of the erotic experience.
As a result, sexual assault can be harder to define and harder to prove. This creates a dangerous atmosphere where the women who have their limits violated, feel as though they cannot speak out against their attacker or play partner. Third-wave feminism often glosses over these details, promoting the ’empowering’ or ‘self-exploratory’ nature of BDSM. This is also true of the BDSM community itself, when “sex-worker activist Kitty Stryker has recently exposed instances of rape and non-consent in kink culture and has risked criticism from the communities for so doing” which poses a worrying trend that negatively effects both the women and men that partake in these relationships.
Whether playing as the dominant or the submissive, women are supporting patriarchal notions of female submission and fetishising female domination which negatively affects women. As well as the performance of BDSM, third-wave feminists also encourage the consumption and creation of ‘feminist porn’. Feminist pornographer Tristan Taormino states that feminist pornography is about “creating a working environment that is respectful, consensual, fair, that people have good working conditions, and that their experience of the sex as sex work is a positive one. Despite this definition of what makes certain pornography feminist, labelling it in this way derails the experiences of people that have worked and felt the negative effects of participating in the adult film industry. This is because it is impossible to say that working environments are “respectful, conceptual, [and] fair” without ensuring that physical, emotional, or economic coercion weren’t in force.
More often than not, women in the porn industry are harmed by their participation and often “effort has been made to silence women who have been hurt in or by pornography. ” It is not just people that are pro-pornography that are silencing women in the industry, it is also feminist pornographers who ignore the pain that is caused during the filming of pornography and also to the women that are viewing it by promoting the idea that the women in adult films are making a choice and that their choice is empowering.
When feminists promote or produce porn they are inherently ignoring the suffering of women. Ex-pornstar, Tanya Burleson openly talks about the drug abuse that is prevalent within the adult film industry and stated that “guys are punching you in the face. You get ripped. Your insides can come out of you… People do drugs because they can’t deal with the way they’re being treated. ” If drugs are consumed at any time during the filming of a pornographic scene then either party cannot fully consent to the sexual acts that they are performing.
Not only this but if women feel that it is necessary to take drugs to dull the pain of the acts that they are performing then there is considerable damage being done to the women in pornographic films that third-wave feminists are ignoring, especially when statistics show that 88% of scenes in porn films involve physical aggression and out of that percentage 95% of pornographic films depicted violence against women by men.