Subverting Pornormativity: Feminist and Queer Interventions

Abstract

Feminist activist Robin Morgan is famously quoted as saying that "pornography is the theory, rape is the practice". This has long been one of the chief arguments of pornography-critics, both liberal and conservative, and this attitude has largely forestalled the possibility of critical feminist engagement with the medium of pornography. There is, however, a small but growing number of sex-positive feminist pornographers who produce images and films that interrogate and disrupt the phallocentric and heteronormative patterns of mainstream pornography and offer an alternative in the form of pornography that portrays bodies and sexualities in all of their variety. In this article, I provide a brief overview over feminist treatment of pornography, and then contrast it with the recent efforts by sex-positive feminists to reappropriate pornography in holistic and inclusive ways. I will underline my argument by providing examples from feminist producer Tristan Taormino and performer Jiz Lee.