Trigger warning: This article contains explicit porn titles containing graphic and derogatory terms, reader discretion is heavily advised.
Some argue that porn is “just a fantasy,” but the porn industry’s troubling history of perpetuating, normalizing, and profiting from racism and racist stereotypes shows that “fantasy” still has the capacity to be deeply damaging and problematic. Let’s discuss.
A 2021 study analyzed videos from popular porn sites and found that videos featuring Black people perpetuate harmful racist stereotypes, disproportionately emphasize violence and aggression, and often depict Black people as “worse than objects.”Fritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B. et al. Worse Than Objects: The Depiction of Black Women and Men and Their Sexual Relationship in Pornography. Gend. Issues 38, 100–120 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-020-09255-2Copy
For example, these are real porn titles from popular porn sites:
- “White Male Plantation Owner Forces Black Slave And Sex”
- “A Lil Squirt for My Side N—r.”
- “Black Thug Burglar F—s MILF Police Women for Freedom”
- “Black Slave to Mate an African Girl in Chains”
- “Juicy Butt Black Teen […] Gets F—ed by Aggressive BBC Thug”
Porn performers are often reduced exclusively to their race in the porn industry, with Black performers often being paid significantly less for the same work as their white scene partners. White performers often even earn bonuses for doing a scene with a Black person. (Ohikuare, 2017)
As writer Yomi Adegoke puts it, “Sexual abuse at the hands of music managers is a scandal; in porn, it is seen as a hazard of the job. We chastise the film industry for racially stereotyping characters, but barely blink at the wildly racist caricatures in porn… as though sexual desire mitigates any type responsibility.”
“Over the years, thanks in part to the civil rights activists, overt examples of racism that were once commonplace in mainstream media have become less acceptable. Yet, hidden behind the facade of fantasy and fun, porn delivers racist stereotypes that would be considered unacceptable were they in any form of mass-produced media.” –Carolyn M. West, Ph.D.
Racism doesn’t suddenly become acceptable once it’s sexualized. It’s still racism, and it’s still not acceptable.
Fight against dehumanization. Fight against discrimination. Fight for love.
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Most kids today are exposed to porn by the age of 12. By the time they’re teenagers, 75% of boys and 70% of girls have already viewed itRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy —often before they’ve had a single healthy conversation about it.
Even more concerning: over half of boys and nearly 40% of girls believe porn is a realistic depiction of sexMartellozzo, E., Monaghan, A., Adler, J. R., Davidson, J., Leyva, R., & Horvath, M. A. H. (2016). “I wasn’t sure it was normal to watch it”: A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of online pornography on the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young people. Middlesex University, NSPCC, & Office of the Children’s Commissioner.Copy . And among teens who have seen porn, more than 79% of teens use it to learn how to have sexRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy . That means millions of young people are getting sex ed from violent, degrading content, which becomes their baseline understanding of intimacy. Out of the most popular porn, 33%-88% of videos contain physical aggression and nonconsensual violence-related themesFritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2020). A descriptive analysis of the types, targets, and relative frequency of aggression in mainstream pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(8), 3041-3053. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01773-0Copy Bridges et al., 2010, “Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis,” Violence Against Women.Copy .
From increasing rates of loneliness, depression, and self-doubt, to distorted views of sex, reduced relationship satisfaction, and riskier sexual behavior among teens, porn is impacting individuals, relationships, and society worldwideFight the New Drug. (2024, May). Get the Facts (Series of web articles). Fight the New Drug.Copy .
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