Now then: Pornspeak, Part One.

Which is a much bigger thing than I’m going to discuss here, here, we’re just going to look at certain aspects, but yes, it is now time.

The following entry may contain language and imagery that may be triggering-proceed as you will.

So, what, exactly, are we talking about here? Well, for the purposes of this missive we are talking about the language used in pornography; towards the performers, on the back of the DVD’s, or in the add teaser/trailer copy. It can be found lots of places- the aforementioned locations, on porn websites or blogs, and also on anti porn websites or blogs. It’s purpose is simple- to inspire some sort of emotion: lust, feelings of degradation, shock, revulsion, disdain, an erotic charge…whatever it inspires, it is used for one simple reason, really- to draw you in, either as a potential consumer (in the case of it’s use by pornographers), or do draw you in as an enemy of the stuff (in the case of it’s use by anti-pornography advocates.)

It’s pretty varied, ranging from the totally mundane stuff used for Vivid’s “Victim of Love”- “For anyone who's ever struggled with an affair, a novel idea: merge. As in making the mistress a part of the relationship. Vivid Film presents Victim of Love.” To really over the top, such as Mayhem XXX’s “Cumdrinkers 3” which touts itself as a flim where “Five dirty little fuck fiends are naked and begging for stiff throbbing cock, and all the gooey jizz that cums with it. Watch these filthy sluts take giant beefsticks deep in their dripping wet cunts, straight up their quivering pink assholes, and scream like crazed cock whores. Then these dirty little whores swallow miles of rock hard dick, sucking and slurping up every last drop of hot sticky cum until our guys are bone dry! It's a spooge drenched fuck fest you’re sure to love!”

Some of it is tamer, some of it is worse. Some focuses on the plot of the film, some focuses solely on the women in it. In any event, it has been a topic of conversation amid both those into porn and those against it for quite some time.

And yep, I’ll admit, I’m not really a grand choice of someone to write on the topic. Truth is, the stuff just doesn’t even faze me anymore, at all, in just about any given context. I hear a lot of it, personally and professionally, in the contexts of something I enjoy or a role that’s being played, and even in the worst sort of contexts, well, at this point, it rates as about as offensive as “Hey, I don’t like those shoes.”

Shrug. I am jaded to pornspeak.

So, I asked other women what they thought about the matter. Straight ones, gay ones, trans ones, those into it to some degree, those not. Some feminist, some not. Those who watch porn, those who don’t. And I asked these women what about it bothered them…

The answers were pretty predictable, really. It depends on the context, the intent behind the words, the community in which it’s done, and how the person it is used towards feels about it. Some are upset that it generally seems to be one way…as in the words (generally descriptive of women- slut, whore, bitch, cunt) are used towards women, it is so tied to gender, and geared towards them totally in a sexual sense. They feel it is different if it is consented to as a part of play, or used in communities where it is more of a fun term of endearment or even a compliment. They might even be somewhat into it or okay with it with a trusted and cared about partner, or using those generally used for women terms on men. But almost universally, they said “It may not be my thing, but if other people are into it, while it might bother me personally, it’s their decision.”

They were also almost all universally bothered by the use of pornspeak by anti-porn factions. Especially when done in a monotonous, over the top, barrage like way-, which seems to be common. They wonder if the anti-porners are masturbating while writing it. The anti-porners say they are doing it to expose the degrading nature of pornography when they do it. Common thought seems to be it is used as a shock tactic- that the anti-porners go for the absolute worse and dirty it up even further. And it comes across as very…creepy. The idea that people against the degradation of women, seeing them called sluts, whores, fucktoys, whatever else, would then use those words, and in a salacious, lurid manner describe the acts that these women are engaging in while making pornography.

I sort of agree. I am jaded to pornspeak, but when anti-porners use it, I too am wondering if they are playing with themselves while writing about it, and I also wonder just how many times they have watched whatever various porn movies in order to be able to describe the vile, hideous nature of AtM, throat fucking or dp in such graphic detail. It is creepy, and frankly, as a jaded porn person, it squicks me out far more when they use pornspeak and describe acts in pornography than, well, using pornspeak and having it used on me and doing the actual acts. In life and such, I get off on that sort of thing, out of anti-porn folk, it is just…. icky. I also really dislike how some anti-porn folk, using the pornspeak, then assume they know how the performer feels about it, almost attempts to assume the role of the performer, so while reading their graphic, lurid account of “a hot, big-titted whore getting fucked senseless” we are supposed to feel for them, as they understand the performer, as much as we feel for the performer…assuming we feel for the performer at all aside from seeing her as a person doing her job.

I mean, frankly, the idea of someone the likes of Bob Jensen attempting to “empathize” his way into my head and tell the world how I must be feeling while being degraded and assfucked? Oh my fucking god that grosses me out and offends me more than any amount of degrading pornspeak and assfucking ever could. It feels way more like being used and violated than any real porn stuff does, at least to me.

Shudder. Gah. Huge squick. Because in no way is such a thing a consented to context. None whatsoever.

I find the whole thing very, very creepy.

I’ve asserted several times that anti-porn types, while claiming to be against porn and all about helping the women in porn, end up ignoring and exploiting them for their own ends, and to me, this is just another example of that.

But, it does all come back to pornspeak. How does it make you feel? For it, against it, don’t care? Dangerous towards women, or not? Kinky fun or destructive? Are their appropriate contexts for it, is porn and the role a woman might be playing in it one of them? Does it creep you out in some situations more than others?

What do you think? Floor is open.