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Society
Q. What is your view of the portrayal of women in online pornography? A. Women are
portrayed in all kinds of ways in online pornography. It depends on what
kind of pornography you focus on. Plenty of attention has been paid to
"alternative pornographies" (on websites such as 'Suicide Girls') that
display so-called alternative body aesthetics (subcultural codes, body
piercing etc). There is a fair amount of amateur pornography as well on
sites catering to specific tastes. Women are also making their own
pornography. So there's the question of self-representation as well. My
own research material is about commercial porn, and closer to the
aesthetics of mainstream porn, as featured on video and in print. Q. Does the pornography industry throw up unrealistic images of women, sex and sexuality? A. Basically, porn exaggerates everything. It is not concerned with realism. I think Steve Marcus' term 'pornotopia' is really useful in untangling the specificity of the world depicted in porn: abundance of sexual pleasures unlimited by the conditions of everyday life. In other words, porn as a genre does not have much to do with realism. Q. How would you place your understanding of pornography in the context of popular culture? A. The
question of porn versus mainstream pop culture really is a large one.
Q. Is pornography legal in Finland? What is the general attitude of society? A. Pornography used to be illegal in Finland. However, over the last few decades, society has opened up to pornography. A new law on pornography was introduced in 2001, which states that porn is legal as long as it does not depict children, animals or violence. Finnish society is largely unperturbed by porn films shown regularly on paid channels. Porn is seen more as a leisure activity, even considered cool among youngsters. There is only a small section that considers porn to be objectionable - the argument being that watching porn negatively impacts people, especially the young, for life. My book, 'Pornification', is an attempt to create awareness about the rising levels of porn in society. Q. You mentioned that women produce porn. Could you tell us something more about that? A. There are many women involved in the production of porn, both in the US and Europe. They make their entry by starring in porn films and then later move to producing and directing it themselves. Their argument is that they enjoy making and watching porn, and that it is to be enjoyed by everyone. In Finland, there is Rakel Liekki who presented the 'Shag School' on TV, and made a porn film called 'My Film'. However, she stopped producing movies after the age of 25, as she believed women look old after that age. In Finland, there was also another group of women called Els, who were also in the forefront of porn. However, they disappeared. In fact, the number of women in the porn industry has declined now - unlike in America, where women like Candida Royalle and Nina Hartley are able to hold their own. Q. In terms of impact, is Net porn different from pornography in print? A. Most of the pornography on the Internet is recycled from the print. But the Net is becoming a popular place. For example, Hustler makes only 20 per cent profit out of its magazine sales. The rest of it is through exposure on the Net. The most famous example is that of 'Penthouse' magazine which went bankrupt. The Internet seems to be the best place for pornography because of its easy accessibility and anonymity. Q. Can pornography be considered mainstream media? A. It is difficult to classify pornography as mainstream media. Q. Is academia open to the idea of research on pornography? A. The US academic Establishment is known to be very closed to research into pornography. Only academics with a regular job at a university can safely do research on pornography - after, say, 10 years of teaching - without it being a threat to their careers. Finland, on the other hand, has a Porn Academy, which is in turn funded by the Finnish Academy. Scholars from history, comparative studies and literature are a part of the Academy. Pornography is studied seriously by media and cultural studies experts in Finland. December 24, 2006 By arrangement with Women's Feature Service
The Week of December 24, 2006
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Susanna
Paasonen, Assistant Professor in Digital Culture at the University of
Jyvaskyla and a Reader at the universities of Turku and Tampere in
Finland, has been working on online pornography for the past three
years. She is the author of 'Figures of Fantasy: Internet, Women and
Cyberdiscourse' and co-editor of 'Women and Everyday Uses of the
Internet: Agency and Identity'. She is currently co-editing a book, 'Pornification:
Sex and Sexuality in Media Culture', that looks at the infusion of
pornography in mainstream media. Elsa Sherin Mathews spoke to her during
her recent visit to New Delhi.
