This essay is the next part of my research on g.m.p. Please watch the video posted previously before reading this essay!
The
Problem with Gay Male Pornography
Introduction
For decades anti-pornography feminist theorists have been
articulating how pornography is problematic. A plethora of books, journals, and
popular articles have been written concerning pornography and the harm that it
causes in regards to women and men. These writings often analyze pornography
through the lens of the heterosexual hominid being. Little is discussed when it
comes to pornography that is produced for a gay audience; because of this one
may believe that, unlike heterosexual pornography, gay pornography is
unproblematic.
Identifying as a feminist and student of women’s studies,
I have been involved in many conversations on the topic of pornography. During
these discussions it seems that gay pornography is never brought up for
conversation. It almost appears that gay pornography receives a free pass when
it comes to feminist analysis and there is an unspoken agreement that gay
community is oppressed enough so just let them have their pornography. This
train of thought is problematic because it stems from the socially constructed
idea that members of the gay community are hyper sexualized—as if for some reason
they need the pornography more than heterosexuals—as if it liberates them in
some way. Pointing out problems in gay pornography seems taboo.
The
focus of my personal research is to examine, reform, and redefine masculinity.
My research has allowed me to discover not only how pornography is harmful to
women but to men as well. When the subject of gay pornography comes to mind, I
must ask the question: Is gay male pornography problematic and if so, how?
Understanding
that there are many genres and types of gay pornography, I have decided to
focus on the most popular form—mainstream gay male pornography. I chose to
narrow my research to one genre and type because it is the most popular and
financially successful, therefore affecting the most people. I also found that
it would be difficult to examine lesbian pornography and its effect on lesbians
because most lesbian pornography is made by men for men, with lesbian
pornography made by lesbians for lesbians remaining at the bottom of the porn
hierarchy.
I
propose that gay male pornography is problematic. Gay male pornography provides
a false portrayal of gay male sexuality, going as far as using straight actors
in the majority of gay pornographic films. Gay male pornography provides a
stereotypical image of what a man should look like while simultaneously
enforcing heteronormative masculine behaviors and actions. Although women are
absent, gay male pornography succeeds in enacting and enforcing a misogynistic
view of all things feminine. Gay male pornography creates conflict in gay male
relationships and may be responsible for the destruction of a gay male’s sexual
selfhood. When you wrap all these “little” problems up and present them in one
big package of gay male pornography, you end up with a big problem that needs
to be addressed. Gay male pornography is problematic and its time that we lift
the taboo of discussing and pointing out these problems.
The False Depiction
Two rugged yet well groomed, perfectly chiseled, and
stereotypically handsome men catch each other’s eyes. The camera pans up and
the scenery changes from the bar to the bedroom. Suddenly the rugged yet well
groomed, perfectly chiseled, and stereotypically handsome men are wildly making
out. Abruptly they are engaged in sexual intercourse. Their penises are
abnormally large—that’s all you can see. The sex ends, the scene ends, and
that’s a wrap. Does this scene accurately portray gay male sexuality? Do the
actors accurately portray all gay men? Do all gay men have abnormally large
penises?
Gay male pornography provides and supports the idea that
gay male sex is spontaneous, with no strings attached, with always two
strangers “hooking up”. Radical feminist John Stoltenberg in his book Refusing to be a Man states:
Like almost all sex films, gay
male sex films represent sex that has no past (the couplings are histroyless),
no future (the relationships are commitmentless), and virtually no present (it
is physically functional but emotionally alienated). In a real sense, gay male
sex films cross over the “sexual orientation” line because they epitomize those
qualities of voyeurism and self-involvement in sex that straight men also
aspire to. (Stoltenberg 94)
The stereotype that gay men are
never committed to one another and only interested in historyless and
emotionless sex is strongly enforced in gay male pornography. Only ignorance
allows one to believe that gay men do not form romantic sexual relationships.
Gay male pornography therefore does not portray gay male sexual encounters
accurately. Of course in life there are times when gay male sex is casual and
random, but in gay male pornography there is no representation of anything
other than that. The presentation of gay
men in gay male pornography is very similar to the presentation of homosexual
subjects as exemplified by Nan Alamilla Boyd who illustrates that early science
fiction novels relied exclusively on stereotypes (Boyd 163). An example is—just
as hetero pornography displays all men as having abnormally large penises, this
pattern is the same in gay male pornography.
The majority of actors in the gay male pornography
industry are heterosexual men that only have sex on camera for pay. This is
known as “gay for pay”. Upon realizing the previously portrayed inaccuracies of
gay male pornography, how can straight men accurately portray gay male
sexuality? Gay for pay actors receive higher compensation for gay male
pornography. Many heterosexual pornography actors are willing to have sex with
women on camera for little to no pay. Gay for pay actors often prepare for gay
sex scenes by taking Viagra and watching heterosexual pornography in order to
maintain erections. This cannot be an accurate portrayal of gay male sexuality
since real gay males are actually sexually attracted to one another before
engaging in sexual intercourse. In our society it is not acceptable by many to
be a gay male. The pornographers, who subscribe to the “patriarchal code”, use
straight actors to support and enforce the message that gay male sex is more
acceptable if it is done by “real” men for pay. It is also worth addressing
that gay for pay actors more accurately reflect the straight male and female
voyeurs of gay male pornography who have been conditioned to be disgusted by
what should be an accurate portrayal of gay male sexuality. This argument is
obviously present when examining lesbian pornography made by men for men, which
almost always features two or more women who are “gay for pay”. Portraying an
accurate picture of gay male sexuality using men with a gay identity could
decrease sales by making the straight voyeurs uncomfortable—forcing them to
confront their own internalized homophobic thoughts.
Another reason why straight men and masculinity are
involved with gay pornography is because in our society like most, men who are
feminine are simply unacceptable. In reference to gay male pornography,
Stoltenberg states, “As artifacts of a heterosexist culture that is rigidly
polarized by gender, gay male sex films exhibit the apotheosis of male sexual
functioning as imagined by men who, not unlike straight men, dread the taint of
feminization” (Stoltenberg 96).
Don’t
Lose that Manhood
In addition to falsely portraying
gay men is the enforcement of heteronormative patriarchal masculinity. When the
average straight person is asked to think of a gay man, they picture the
stereotypical feminine male or perhaps even a drag queen. The feminized male is
present in our minds and in reality, although the feminine male does not
describe all gay men. Feminization in men is not acceptable, so gay male
pornography attempts to erase it from existence. By using straight and
stereotypically masculine looking and acting men, gay male pornography is
telling gay men that they need to look and act like a stereotypical straight
and masculine male. Gay male pornography tells gay men that if they are going
to be gay, they need to still be a “man” and assimilate. This provides the
message that one’s effeminate gay male identity is wrong. This is problematic
because gay men are expected to assimilate into being gay men who look and act
like straight men, providing the message that it’s ok to be gay as long as no
one can tell you are gay. As Nikki Sullivan “gestures” in her book A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory,
instead of assimilation we should move towards increasing emphasis on
differences that pervade sexual and gender based utopian visions (Sullivan 35).
Gay male pornography does not make this same gesture.
To understand how this sexually based assimilation into
heteronormative masculinity is problematic, one must examine how straight men
are being conditioned to act and be. What does it mean to be a “man” in our
society and culture? Men are conditioned to be stoic, aggressive, competitive,
and most importantly not female. This conditioning of masculinity is thriving
in gay male pornography. When gay men and straight men have the same values,
then patriarchy is alive and present in all men, allowing the continued
oppression of all those not “male”. Stoltenberg explains this concept
impeccably by arguing:
The values in the sex that is
depicted in gay male sex films are very much the values in the sex that gay men
tend to have; they are very much the values in the sex that straight men tend
to have; they are very much the values that male supremacists tend to have:
taking, using, estranging, dominating—essentially, sexual powermongering.
(Stoltenberg 97)
Simultaneously gay male
pornography reinforces our society’s obsession with phallic importance. The
films focus on what the penis is doing to something else. Stoltenberg comments
on this phallic obsession by explaining that all you see is “the action”,
progress, and status of the penis (Stoltenberg 95.) Gay male pornography
enforces upon gay men that if you do not have, want, or identify with the penis
not only are you not a man, but that you are not a gay man. In regards to this
issue Stoltenberg also explains, “It’s as if men don’t really feel their male
identity unless they’re experiencing their own body in a way that is
explicitly, culturally, sexually phallic” (Stoltenberg 97). This type of
conditioning is evident when gay male Dick Leitsch of the Mattachine society is
quoted saying in an interview, “We have sex as often as possible to prove to
ourselves that we’re men because men are supposed to have a lot of sex”
(Interview).
Gay male pornography problematically enforces
heteronormative masculinity, the importance of having a penis, and misogyny.
Misogyn-ography
In gay
male pornography there are no women present—so how can it be misogynistic? In
order to answer this question one must examine the lack of femininity and
treatment of femininity found in gay male pornography.
In the
majority of gay male pornography there are no signs of femininity. As discussed
earlier, the hiring of straight male actors helps to ensure that no feminine
males will be displayed in any positive light, which sends gay males the
message that being female is not acceptable. Simultaneously, eliminating
femininity from the screen also instills the patriarchal idea that women are
bad and that men should hate women. In gay male pornography this message is
more evident because femininity is not allowed, unlike in hetero
pornography—which tells it’s viewers that femininity is at least good for
objectifying and sexualizing. Stoltenberg explains it best when he states:
The picture pornography exposes
is not a pretty one; pornography reveals in the sexuality of the men for whom
it is made an addiction to force and coercion for arousal, eroticized racial
hatred, a despisal of the female, a fetishizing of erection and devotion to
penetration, an obsession with interpersonal power differentials, an eroticized
commitment to violence- and through it all an ugly striving to assert
masculinity over and against women. (Stoltenberg 106)
During my research, on the rare occasion that I
encountered a feminine male present in gay male pornography, he was often the
victim of a gang rape enacted by heteronormative masculine “gay” males. This
assault and attack towards feminine men says that femininity must be destroyed
and dominated by whatever means necessary—a message of true misogyny.
Stoltenberg states, “Pornography tells lies about women. But pornography tells
the truth about men” (Stoltenberg 107). Pornography tells lies about people of
the LGBTQ community as well.
Partners
Divided and the Loss of One’s Sexual Selfhood
Aside
from promoting misogynistic actions and thoughts, there are problems derived
from pornography that may affect gay men on a more personal level. In an
article for New York Magazine entitled The
Porn Myth, Naomi Wolf argues that pornography turns men off from having
real sexual intercourse. She explains that mass exposure to women in
pornography makes it difficult to find a woman in real life who is
“porn-worthy” (Wolf). I believe that this can be applied to gay male
relationships as well, conditioning the voyeur to be aroused by “perfect”
muscular men. On top of being incapable
of being aroused by a real gay male, the gay male who achieves orgasm via
voyeurism is now suddenly in a position where his brain does not associate
having an erection—the position of the person who is actually practicing
intercourse. This leads to erectile dysfunction.
When two people are involved in an intimate relationship,
pornography can be quite problematic. In my personal life I could not tell you
how many times I have seen couples torn apart by pornography. Most people do
not feel comfortable with the fact that their partner is masturbating secretly
to other men, instead of just having sexual intercourse with them. For obvious
reasons that strike at people’s insecurities, physically and emotionally, this
always causes conflict in a relationship. Often these men become incapable of
being aroused by their partners and begin to see intercourse with them as a
chore. When men look at pornography they destroy what they could be
experiencing sexually with another person. Stoltenberg explains this type of
situation when he states that:
What a camera can see is not
remotely equivalent to what a person can express and perceive with another
person during sex. But if what a camera can see becomes a man’s operational
standard for “good sex”—If a man models his sexual behavior after that which is
displayable on a screen and if, in addition, he becomes like a camera in
relation to the person he is with –then a crucial potential for erotic
communication has been occluded. (Stoltenberg
98)
What the camera sees is what the
viewer sees. No emotions, just a chemical surge than you can turn off and on at
will, a version of sex that you can turn off and file away, and therefore not
deal with any aftermath. It’s the equivalent of having sex with someone and
then throwing them out and locking the door.
Gay male pornography continues to teach us how to “appropriately”
have sex while providing conflict in romantic partnerships by playing off
insecurities and destroying erotic communication. Gay male pornography causes
erectile dysfunction in men and the inability to be attracted to real and
natural gay men. These are just some of the problems with gay male pornography
that can destroy what could be a healthy relationship along with one’s sexual
selfhood.
Waking
Up
Gay
male pornography is not only problematic for gay males but for all men and
women. Gay male pornography portrays gay male sexuality inaccurately and
enforces heteronormativity. Pornography destroys gay male relationships by
dismantling communication and creating a false sense of what a man perceives as
sex. Pornography is instilled into our brains as a normal part of society and
we are conditioned by the media to accept it. Gay male pornography like all
pornography is truly problematic. Simply calling for a ban of pornography could
only make the matter worse, with bootlegging and underground snuff films. As
the research by Larry Baron in his scholarly article Pornography and Gender Equality: An Empirical Analysis states,
regulation of pornography is not a solution to oppression. I would suggest
better education for our future generations. Perhaps implementing gender and
queer studies into our public education could help future generations begin to
understand concepts and ideas that children of today are simply not exposed
to. In a world where members of our society
are actually equipped with educations on gender equality, pornography may fade
away; I would like to believe that when most people are well informed they make
the right decisions. But before we can truly make any changes, we must realize
whose world we are living in and what we must do to take it back. In his book Getting Off: Pornography and the End of
Masculinity, Robert Jenson leaves us with this thought:
At the
moment, it’s the pornographers’ world. They are the ones telling the most
influential stories about gender and power and sex. But that victory is just
for the moment, if we can face ourselves and then build a movement that
challenges them. We have a lot of work to do. So, before we debate the meaning
of the First Amendment, let’s discuss the meaning of a double penetration.
Before we look at the law, let’s look in the mirror.
Works Cited
Barron, Larry. "Pornography and Gender Equality: An Empirical
Analysis." The Journal of Sex Research. Part 2 27.3 (1990): 363-80.
JSTOR. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.
Boyd, Nan Alamilla. "A Queer Ladder of Social
Mobility." Wide-open Town: A History of Queer San Francisco to
1965. Berkeley: University of California, 2003. Print.
"Interview with a Homosexual Spokeman." Interview.
Print.
Jensen, Robert. Getting Off:
Pornography and the End of Masculinity. Cambridge MA:
South End, 2007. Print.
Stoltenberg, John. Refusing to Be a Man: Essays on Sex and
Justice. Portland, Or.: Breitenbush, 1989.
Print.
Sullivan, Nikki. A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory.
New York: New York UP, 2003. Print.
Wolf, Naomi. "The Porn Myth." New
York Magazine. New York
Media LLC. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.
