The AntiPornMenProject
As I was browsing the Internet I discovered this new initiative called the Anti Porn Men Project. So of course, I had to check it out.
It turns out to be, in my opinion, a sincere and genuinely-concerned project in which a group of about 10 men (and more in the future) talk about their use of porn.
Most of them started watching mainstream porn when they were teenagers but ended up spotting the humiliations, the stereotypes, the violence and in the end the harm it can cause many people.
Although I don't like the "Anti Porn" approach, which I'll explain later, it's important to add that the Porn they refer to in their name refers only to the mainstream porn and to avoid confusions they add that they're "pro-sex".
Here's their definition of mainstream porn:
It's probably useful if we attempt to clarify a little what exactly it is we mean by 'pornography'.
If you look, you'll see there are a variety of different definitions of pornography. The 'porn' in the 'Anti Porn Men Project' is -generally speaking- sexually explicit material that is characterised in some way by cruelty, humiliation, or degradation of women. This kind of material constitutes the vast majority of so-called 'mainstream pornography'. A definition that we find useful is that pornography is that which 'sexualizes hierarchy, objectification, submission, and violence' (Andrea Dworkin).
Of course, porn in itself is not bad, sexual stimulation isn't bad and learning about our pleasure isn't either. People can (and they should!) watch porn as long as it doesn't convey ideas of violence, sexism… So although they clearly explain that their definition applies to mainstream porn only, I think they should call themselves the ProGoodPorn (or something like this…) than AntiPorn which sends the message that ALL porn is bad. We need to send a positive message, that we can make porn better, instead of "going against", or "anti" or "prohibiting".
Still, it's a nice initiative which opens dialogue and debate. Personnally I know many men watch my movies and it makes me really happy. I can't stress enough that my films are not ONLY for women, they're open to anyone who wishes to see something different and doesn't feel satisfied with what they're used to watching.
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