Dude, did you take a picture of yourself ****ing a pizza?

[seabeyond]

I’m a half-assed vegan. That means I edit the list of things I will and won’t eat at will, and that I do so frequently. But, because I sometimes stick to the rules, I’ve got a few vegan cookbooks. One of those cookbooks is Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. She apparently has or had some local access show in New York called the Post Punk Kitchen (What does that even mean? Does she imbue her dishes with the spirit of Sonic Youth and The Jesus Lizard or something?), and she’s got a related website. One day I happened upon a section of the website’s forums called “Food Porn XXX.” Say what? I seriously thought for a second that I might find images therein of people committing lewd acts with seitan (Satan!). I know, I’m a dork. What it really is is a collection of photos people have taken of edible items they’ve cooked, usually based loosely on Moskowitz’s recipes.

Then, a few years later, I came across some link on some stupid website (I’m sure it was something owned by Gawker) that was categorized as “hotel porn.” Apparently people are creaming their shorts over images of $950-a-night hotel rooms. That shit was weird enough, but what really blows my mind is “puppy porn.” You know, photos of puppies for people who really like to squeal over cute shit. I’ll admit that I don’t give a shit about puppies, but it struck me as odd for several other reasons as well. First, why are we using the word “porn” to refer to images that have nothing to do with depictions of sex (whoops, I mean prostitution)? And second, as “pornography” is basically synonymous with “obscenity,” does it really make sense to use the term to refer to pictures of lentil loaf and baby dachshunds? Third, doesn’t using the term “porn” in connection with innocuous, fairly wholesome things like vegan snacks and pets (puppy mills notwithstanding) lessen its impact and help normalize the consumption of real pornography in mainstream daily life? Actually, I think the fact that we’re using the word “porn” in so many contexts means the work of normalizing porn culture has already been done, that the acceptance of rampant porn use as a matter of course is already taken for granted.

Greek: porne = slave prostitute, raped daily in the public brothels of Athens, graphe= from graphos = I write, depict.

‘Whore’/ ‘porne’ is a misogynistic term, applied to women whom men can abuse with impunity, and near impunity. It comes from the sexual, political and economic subordination of women.

When we look at “puppy porn,” we are not looking at the graphic representation of a cultural hatred of puppies. When we look at “food porn,” we aren’t seeing burritos degraded, we aren’t absorbing the message that dumplings are filthy sluts that deserve to have their heads shoved into toilets and their faces ejaculated on. No one is attempting to assert their power over fancy hotel rooms by making hotel rooms suck a dick that’s already been in the hotel room’s ass, all while calling the hotel room a whore and slapping it around. And no beagle, quiche, or deluxe suite has had to pretend it enjoys undergoing serious abuse in order to excite a lascivious audience of “porn” lovers.

I don’t mean to be gross, but I think people need reminding about what actually goes on in porn, and I think people need reminding that we ought to reserve the use of that word for describing real, actual pornography. I have a step-daughter. She likes pictures of puppies. I don’t want to hear that her desire to look at a photo of a baby dog is somehow equivalent to some piece of shit’s hankering after images of women allowing themselves to be fucked by grown-up dogs. And Moskowitz ought to be ashamed of herself. She claims to be an anarcha-feminist. Can someone tell me how photos of vegan cupcakes equate with images of women’s sexual and economic exploitation? Words matter and shit.

http://rageagainstthemanchine.com/tag/porn/

[redqueen]

1. Bra Fucking Vo.

I can't stand that porn has become a suffix meaning .... something so idiotic, I don't really know. It's too stupid for me to even consider trying to figure it out.

[seabeyond]

2. everytime i hear a duer say political porn or whatever i want to say... so it is a GOOD thing

right? cause we all like porn so fuckin much.

they use porn to describe the trash in life, yet when talking about porn.... you know, actual porn, it is up there with slice bread.

[seabeyond]

3. actually, thinking about it, over time, it seems like this is the insistence, the demand

the outrage. to normalize the porn into every day life. it is like there must be the normalization of it for acceptance in use. i think this is one of the issues that bother me the most about the battles i see on du.

[redqueen]

4. Well it's the last socially acceptable form of sexual abuse.

Prostitution isn't quite there but people are trying hard to make that ok too.

Back in the day playboy used to run comics making light of pedophilia, they can't get away with that anymore though, but just the fact that it was done at all... it says so much. None of this will go away without a huge fight. Power concedes nothing without demand after all.

[Little Star]

5. In my real life circle of friends...

I can confidently say not a one would want to normalize porn into every day life.

[MadrasT]

6. Yep.

to normalize the porn into every day life

I had the same thought. Make "porn" seem lighthearted, normal, fun. "Ooooooo, look, kitty porn! Car porn! Techno-gadget porn!"

It makes porn seem normal, fun, mainstream, all good.

I cannot make a blanket objection to all sexual "porn", all the time, but the normalization of extreme and degrading sexual imagery concerns me.

This has leaked over into everyday advertising, too, as we see all the time. The sexualization of everything. The "pornification" and objectifying of women everywhere you look. And increasingly those "women" are younger and younger. To me, it's a very disturbing trend.

I maintain that people with normal, healthy sexuality don't need to exaggerate it the way so many so called "sex positive" folks seem to want to do.

Sorry, I digressed and kind of rambled... I have a lot on my mind and I am trying to figure it all out.

[redqueen]

7. This.

" I maintain that people with normal, healthy sexuality don't need to exaggerate it the way so many so called "sex positive" folks seem to want to do."

First we have to destroy the patriarchy, then we can find out what normal, healthy sexuality is. I suspect that you're right and once dominance stops being fetishized, there won't be any desire to see other people doing whatever.

[Little Star]

8. Bingo.