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Start Date
24-6-2022 12:00 AM
End Date
24-6-2022 12:00 AM
Abstract
Recently, porn literacy has experienced popular visibility; articles have popped up in The New York Times, The Atlantic, published scholarship on the topic has increased in pace, and Dr. Emily Rothman has developed a popular program under the Boston Public Health Commission (titled “Start Strong”) that has grown into a national blueprint. In addition to these developments, members of the pornography industry have offered their own digital, pedagogical contributions that are more accessible, and as this paper argues, align with the “brand culture” for these directors/companies.
Drawing from the work of Sarah Banet-Weiser and her articulation of the ways that consumers develop authentic and meaningful relationships to brands, I consider the ways that industry-produced porn pedagogies deepen opportunities for connections beyond pornographic content. In this work, I evaluate and compare porn literacy contributions from feminist pornography director Erika Lust, feminist/queer pornography director Shine Louise Houston, and Pornhub. And finally, I map their emergence into the porn literacy space along the spectrum of neoliberal participation and frame this work as an extension of their symbolic presence in the industry.
Porn Literacy as Brand Culture
Recently, porn literacy has experienced popular visibility; articles have popped up in The New York Times, The Atlantic, published scholarship on the topic has increased in pace, and Dr. Emily Rothman has developed a popular program under the Boston Public Health Commission (titled “Start Strong”) that has grown into a national blueprint. In addition to these developments, members of the pornography industry have offered their own digital, pedagogical contributions that are more accessible, and as this paper argues, align with the “brand culture” for these directors/companies.
Drawing from the work of Sarah Banet-Weiser and her articulation of the ways that consumers develop authentic and meaningful relationships to brands, I consider the ways that industry-produced porn pedagogies deepen opportunities for connections beyond pornographic content. In this work, I evaluate and compare porn literacy contributions from feminist pornography director Erika Lust, feminist/queer pornography director Shine Louise Houston, and Pornhub. And finally, I map their emergence into the porn literacy space along the spectrum of neoliberal participation and frame this work as an extension of their symbolic presence in the industry.
Bio
My scholarship centers on the critical exploration of sexuality and digital media culture; more specifically, issues related to sexual subjectivity, the pornography industry, and contemporary iterations of feminist movement. Recently, my research has shifted to a broader inquiry into pornography literacy, as well as questions about commodity feminism and other developments within feminist media studies.
https://liberalarts.du.edu/about/people/rachael-liberman