Randy Clark wrote: "People with body piercings are condoning torture in Latin America."
Melinda Shore writes: This is such an utterly moronic thing to say that I have to suspect we're missing some context.
In the recent discussions here about feminists who are anti-porn or anti-SM, I keep having these urges to defend people who, in a feminist setting, I would be soundly condemning and probably ridiculing to boot.
I don't think the remark above was necessarily taken out of context, in the sense of an immediate context which would give it a different meaning. I've heard equally absurd remarks made in all seriousness. However, I think that many of the snide put-downs of anti-porn/anti-SM feminists I've been seeing here are taking those positions out of their larger context, the context of the feminist anti-rape movement.
Feminist analysis produced the idea that sexual violence against women is a part of the dominant culture, not a set of random incidents by isolated crazies. So, feminists have examined the culture in an attempt to find ways of reducing sexual violence against women. Some have claimed that images of sexual violence contribute to an atmosphere that allows it to happen -- hence the anti-pornography movement. Another issue feminists have examined is how women's socialization contributes to their victimization. It is not uncommon for women to get molested in crowds because they're too embarrassed/passive to call attention to what's happening. So, feminists have questioned what is going on in SM -- is it a reinforcement of sexual aggression (for the sadist) and victimization (for the masochist)?
Most of the feminists who have really thought about and analyzed the issue have rejected the simplistic formulations of cause and effect, and have recognized that sexual repression is bad for women. However, there are those who find violent images so disturbing that they can't get past their gut feelings. Also, there are those, like Andrea Dworkin, who are convinced that stopping porn will stop a lot of rape, and who are willing to pay any price in terms of repression of sexual freedom in order to reduce sexual violence against women.
I've said this before in this forum, and I'll say it again: I think it's almost impossible for men to understand, on a gut level, the extent to which sexual violence and the fear of it affects women's lives. It is not crazy for women to have a lot of pain and fear and rage about this issue. I would like men to have a bit more respect for these feelings.
Where it gets a little more complicated is that for some feminists, their feminist sentiments are tangled up with their internalization of the anti-sex messages of the dominant society. Their analysis of the porn issue is definitely different from the right-wing anti-porn analysis, and I don't like to see the two glibly equated by people who don't know what they're talking about; nevertheless, I do believe that some of the gut-level fervor of these feminists stems from the dominant society's message that sex is something icky and nasty that men want to do to women.
I have little sympathy for feminists who weren't born yesterday who cling to the most simplistic and sex-negative anti-porn and anti-SM positions. There has been enough said and written exposing the fallacies of these positions from a feminist point of view. People get to be uninformed, but given the opportunity to become informed, are responsible for their opinions. I in particular have no sympathy for women who reject the stated experiences of women who do SM in favor of an abstract analysis based on no experience; or who impose middle-class morality on sex workers while claiming to be on their side; or who choose to pay attention only to those reported experiences which fit their preconceived ideas.
But, I have posted what is a defense of sorts, because I just don't
enjoy seeing men having a good time sneering at feminists, no
matter how wrong-headed the particular women they are quoting may
be. I don't like the overall tone of these discussions, regardless
of the extent to which I may agree with the opinions being
expressed.
