Utopian Porn
Sex and porn are all in the news these days. First we had Kinsey, the movie, followed by the inevitable PBS documentary, and now, more recently, all of the hubbub about the revolutionary 1972 porn film Deep Throat, itself coming back into the spotlight with the release of Inside Deep Throat.
Now, considering the sorts of novels and stories I often write, I suppose it's only natural that I take an interest in these things. Sexuality is a fascinating topic, interesting because even among those who discuss it openly, there are always hidden agendas, hidden anxieties. Closeted gays are often the most virulent homophobes, for example, and the urge to present oneself as being in total control of one's sexuality is overwhelming when you are surrounded by others who claim the same thing.
We all know deep down inside, I hope, that such pretenses are just that. But as well, sexuality is a widely varied thing; each of us is different, with different moods and needs and fetishes. And this is why, I believe, we can never come to a consensus about sexuality, and why it remains at the center of our current culture wars.
Enter porn. Porn is a part of our culture, and indeed most cultures, modern or ancient. And at the center of porn, of course, is fantasy. Porn is, as Laura Kipnis argues, a sort of utopian fantasy in which orgasm is ensured, and in a recent column about Deep Throat, she maintains that one of the most interesting things about the film is the way it addresses the near-universal desire that men and women enjoy sexual pleasure in the same way, that orgasm be as easy for women as it is for men.
Porn, of course, is much more than this, and it is much broader than merely sexual art. There is a utopian aspect to the guilt and responsibility-free pleasure of it, as Kipnis argues, but as well there is a vulgar honesty to porn, an admission of our most animal selves, that is not utopian at all. Utopias are generally seen as the elevation of humanity past its animal heritage (witness the insistence by creationists and Biblical literalists that we are not related to any other animal). In a traditional utopia, in other words, sex has no place, or at worst takes place only in a politically correct chamber with the lights off. Even the misogynist sexual utopia of John Norman's Gor is astonishingly soft-core; the master/man might "enter" the slave woman, or "use" her, or there might be strong hints of fellatio, but we are never actually shown him ejaculating. The sex is never messy, is never accompanied by smells or tastes or the wet textures of bodily fluids being exchanged or spilled in the throes of passion; sex is never clumsy or uncomfortable, and there are no "money shots" on Gor, because as a utopia, Gor dares not be messy.
And this returns us to Deep Throat. It both is and is not a utopian fantasy. Like utopian fantasies, it is focused on pleasure without responsibility. As with Gor, there are no STDs or fears of pregnancy or other dangers, and the miracles of medicine (or in the case of Gor, a fantasized "natural order") can bring wonderful orgasms to all, and yet there is still the naughty, animal lust that we do not think of as utopian. This yes-and-no utopian fantasy, in the end, is what most interests me, since in my own fiction women are modified to make sexual pleasure and orgasm easy and certain, and they are placed in an environment where responsibility and risk are eliminated. But what are the implications to such a thing? This is what, so far as I can tell, porn does not ask. Just as a romance novel ends with the two lovers making that final commitment to be together forever, porn cuts the story off just as it is getting interesting.
I suppose that's a big reason I choose to write what I do. Going beyond the "money shot" to its consequences, even in a fantasy environment where physical risk has been removed, winds up being the focus of my work, despite the frequent sex. Kipnis asks what would the actual result of men and women being orgasmic in the same way be, and it's a good question. Her answer is itself utopian: "If women did have orgasms while performing oral sex, not only would the longstanding war between the sexes instantly terminate, no doubt so too would women's tiresome role as sexual gatekeepers."
But orgasms do not equal quality sex or quality in human relationships; there is much more to it than that. And that's where the most interesting stories really lie. But would telling such stories make them something other than porn? That's a question for another time.
Now, considering the sorts of novels and stories I often write, I suppose it's only natural that I take an interest in these things. Sexuality is a fascinating topic, interesting because even among those who discuss it openly, there are always hidden agendas, hidden anxieties. Closeted gays are often the most virulent homophobes, for example, and the urge to present oneself as being in total control of one's sexuality is overwhelming when you are surrounded by others who claim the same thing.
We all know deep down inside, I hope, that such pretenses are just that. But as well, sexuality is a widely varied thing; each of us is different, with different moods and needs and fetishes. And this is why, I believe, we can never come to a consensus about sexuality, and why it remains at the center of our current culture wars.
Enter porn. Porn is a part of our culture, and indeed most cultures, modern or ancient. And at the center of porn, of course, is fantasy. Porn is, as Laura Kipnis argues, a sort of utopian fantasy in which orgasm is ensured, and in a recent column about Deep Throat, she maintains that one of the most interesting things about the film is the way it addresses the near-universal desire that men and women enjoy sexual pleasure in the same way, that orgasm be as easy for women as it is for men.
Porn, of course, is much more than this, and it is much broader than merely sexual art. There is a utopian aspect to the guilt and responsibility-free pleasure of it, as Kipnis argues, but as well there is a vulgar honesty to porn, an admission of our most animal selves, that is not utopian at all. Utopias are generally seen as the elevation of humanity past its animal heritage (witness the insistence by creationists and Biblical literalists that we are not related to any other animal). In a traditional utopia, in other words, sex has no place, or at worst takes place only in a politically correct chamber with the lights off. Even the misogynist sexual utopia of John Norman's Gor is astonishingly soft-core; the master/man might "enter" the slave woman, or "use" her, or there might be strong hints of fellatio, but we are never actually shown him ejaculating. The sex is never messy, is never accompanied by smells or tastes or the wet textures of bodily fluids being exchanged or spilled in the throes of passion; sex is never clumsy or uncomfortable, and there are no "money shots" on Gor, because as a utopia, Gor dares not be messy.
And this returns us to Deep Throat. It both is and is not a utopian fantasy. Like utopian fantasies, it is focused on pleasure without responsibility. As with Gor, there are no STDs or fears of pregnancy or other dangers, and the miracles of medicine (or in the case of Gor, a fantasized "natural order") can bring wonderful orgasms to all, and yet there is still the naughty, animal lust that we do not think of as utopian. This yes-and-no utopian fantasy, in the end, is what most interests me, since in my own fiction women are modified to make sexual pleasure and orgasm easy and certain, and they are placed in an environment where responsibility and risk are eliminated. But what are the implications to such a thing? This is what, so far as I can tell, porn does not ask. Just as a romance novel ends with the two lovers making that final commitment to be together forever, porn cuts the story off just as it is getting interesting.
I suppose that's a big reason I choose to write what I do. Going beyond the "money shot" to its consequences, even in a fantasy environment where physical risk has been removed, winds up being the focus of my work, despite the frequent sex. Kipnis asks what would the actual result of men and women being orgasmic in the same way be, and it's a good question. Her answer is itself utopian: "If women did have orgasms while performing oral sex, not only would the longstanding war between the sexes instantly terminate, no doubt so too would women's tiresome role as sexual gatekeepers."
But orgasms do not equal quality sex or quality in human relationships; there is much more to it than that. And that's where the most interesting stories really lie. But would telling such stories make them something other than porn? That's a question for another time.
posted by Unknown at 11:42 AM
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