While true journalism in America is heaving it’s last dying gasps, I have begun getting most, if not all of my news from BBC online. It was there that I ran into this interesting piece about:
Forget for a minute that it seems to be a pansexual catch-all for anyone who feels disenfranchised by mainstream pornography. Which absolutely is demeaning to women, as well as reducing men to unthinking animals. That isn’t the point.
It got me thinking (not for the first time) about how differently males and females view sex. Not only men and women, but all species. Which is key. Humanity is part of the greater picture where sexual reproduction is concerned. Because regardless of your views on evolution, we are not the only critters who do it that way. And if you think human society has rigidly defined gender roles and expectations, watch a nature documentary sometime.
The bottom line could not be simpler: there are innate differences between the sexes. As absurdly obvious as that sounds, we need to remember that. And understanding why will go a long way towards ameliorating whatever emotional distress society’s expectations may have caused to individuals who, for whatever reason, do not quite fit into the pigeonhole assigned to the genitals they were born with.
Females are singularly adapted to carrying, and raising offspring. Period. That does not mean a male cannot be a kind and nurturing father. Nor does it mean that every female is a good mother. But for most species it’s the female who has the most invested in the process. For her, the act of sexual congress is the least time and energy consuming part. So understandably, she wants the best partner available.
Males are uniquely suited to fertilize ovums. And for many species, that’s all he has to do. In most cases he is not nearly as concerned with the genetic viability of his partner. For him, the best reproductive strategy is to inseminate as many females as possible. It’s not right or wrong. It’s life. And it’s always been this way. To really get a handle on sex, it becomes necessary to look past the rather narrow lens of human morality and experience.
That’s tough for most people. For whatever reason, many of us have difficulty relating to anyone whom we do not perceive to be of our own “kind”. Whether that is male, female, gay, straight, etc etc. This is doubly true for any minority group that feels (or is) subjugated by the majority. And since society has been dominated by straight men and our sexual appetites for so long, it’s understandable that there are a lot of folks out there who feel underrepresented in pornography.
Having said that, I feel the term “feminist porn” is the worst kind of misnomer. The overwhelming majority of feminist thought seems to be geared against any depiction of females engaging in sexual activity as exploitation and “male dominated rape culture”. Again, they are not capable of thinking from any perspective other than their own narrow minded, confrontational world view.
I personally don’t care what it’s called, or who watches it. There is plenty of bandwidth for everyone.
DigitalDiogenes 