Just over a year ago, I was part of the team at bakamoono.lk that released a report entitled “800 Odd Criminals: Watching Porn in Sri Lanka”. This report displayed the results from a survey they conducted that asked over 800 people how they view porn online. The report is titled referencing the fact that despite Sri Lanka topping the world in the number of Google searches for “sex” with regularity, as per the law, “every single person who has ever watched, glanced at, stored, shared, or searched for porn, is in the eyes of the Sri Lankan law – a criminal”. How apt – we do it, we’re not supposed to, but everyone does lots of it anyway.
The data from the survey was occasionally cliché (“anal” and “big tits” predictably ranked highly in the most watched categories), and at the same time raised some interesting and arguably alarming questions. It is difficult when looking at some of the figures not to ask what this means, i.e. as to how those who view porn online by extension view sex and sexuality. What does this mean for young people with easy access to porn coupled with little to no sex education? What stereotypes about people’s sexual orientation and preferences does mainstream pornography reinforce?
Pornography has been around for eons, and for as long as any other art form. Erotica was created in every era of history, and today it is an industry. There is a ridiculous amount of porn, catering to every fetish imaginable – and it is incredibly easy to find, even if you aren’t actively looking. All you need is a device that can access the World Wide Web and you’re there. There were a couple of key stats that caught my eye – and spurred on questions I have been asking about the objectification of women, gender binaries and role and of course the equality of the sexes – feminist questions. What role does porn (if any) play in these arbitrary, hotly debated ideas? What link does a schoolboy masturbating to a video of a girl having sex with several men (filed under “gangbang”) have to do with catcalls and rape? Here are some extracts of the report that jumped out to me in relation to all this, and what it means in the bigger picture.
Kids as young as 13 are accessing and watching porn on a regular basis: In my work with adolescents on sexual and reproductive health and rights, I have seen how by accessing hardcore pornography as their primary source of sex education, young men and women have developed warped ideas that real-life sex and intimacy is what is portrayed on screens. They fail to or struggle to understand that these are performances, and are not always reflective of real-life wants and needs. 800 Odd Criminals asked: “With people accessing porn as young as 13, has online pornography become the primary source from where people draw their information about sex and sexuality?” Women are portrayed as little more than sexual objects, ready to go at a moment’s notice, and men are shown as constantly dominating and aggressive, what is the impact on real-life intimacy and relationships?
The viewing of and distribution of pornography in Sri Lanka is against the law, through the Obscene Publications Ordinance (1929) and the Penal Code of Sri Lanka. This of course doesn’t stop people watching, and unsurprisingly very few people are even aware that it is illegal in the first place. The watching of porn is not an issue. The problem arises with our treating the concept of sexual desire as something shameful. This causes what is very natural sexual curiosity to be driven underground and all the problems that it causes.
Homemade and hidden camera porn i.e. where the allure of reality is very much present and based on the popularity of subcategories: Sri Lankan teen girlfriends starring in homemade porn are the most widely watched. The days of actors in well-lit studios are passing us by to make way for real people starring in homemade sex tapes. With a basic smartphone now housing a camera of clarity that was unimaginable even in the bulkiest devices 25 years ago, all you need now are people to make your piece.
However, it seems that many of these real women are unaware that they are being filmed, or that what was created in private is now public – their intimate moments are public masturbation material. Women are treated as nothing more than objects to lust after, and their consent in having their bodies watched by thousands is hardly a consideration.
Watching violence: A reasonable number of respondents said they watched gangbang, rape, BDSM, and revenge porn. As the report aptly points out, “pornography has the potential to create misconceptions about sexual orientation, non-conforming sex acts, gender identity, sex, sexual preferences, sexual violence, and relationships”. The portrayal of BDSM and other kinks in mainstream pornography has long been decried as misleading and wrongfully portrayed. Porn is often created for and catered to the male gaze, which means that it is a singular world view often not reflective of reality.
Porn isn’t the problem – it is the vacuum in which it is watched that is the issue. When mainstream, hardcore pornography becomes default sex education and the primary source through which all types of sex are defined, then a warped world view emerges. This view is not only limited, it has the potential to be very harmful, especially towards women and non-conforming gender minorities. Sex is an intimate act that should be performed between consenting adults – heavy emphasis on consenting. If anyone wishes to be public, they have the right to do so, if all involved are consenting adults. It’s really not as difficult as it is made out to be is it?
photo © bakamoono.lk
The data from the survey was occasionally cliché (“anal” and “big tits” predictably ranked highly in the most watched categories), and at the same time raised some interesting and arguably alarming questions. It is difficult when looking at some of the figures not to ask what this means, i.e. as to how those who view porn online by extension view sex and sexuality. What does this mean for young people with easy access to porn coupled with little to no sex education? What stereotypes about people’s sexual orientation and preferences does mainstream pornography reinforce?
Pornography has been around for eons, and for as long as any other art form. Erotica was created in every era of history, and today it is an industry. There is a ridiculous amount of porn, catering to every fetish imaginable – and it is incredibly easy to find, even if you aren’t actively looking. All you need is a device that can access the World Wide Web and you’re there. There were a couple of key stats that caught my eye – and spurred on questions I have been asking about the objectification of women, gender binaries and role and of course the equality of the sexes – feminist questions. What role does porn (if any) play in these arbitrary, hotly debated ideas? What link does a schoolboy masturbating to a video of a girl having sex with several men (filed under “gangbang”) have to do with catcalls and rape? Here are some extracts of the report that jumped out to me in relation to all this, and what it means in the bigger picture.
Kids as young as 13 are accessing and watching porn on a regular basis: In my work with adolescents on sexual and reproductive health and rights, I have seen how by accessing hardcore pornography as their primary source of sex education, young men and women have developed warped ideas that real-life sex and intimacy is what is portrayed on screens. They fail to or struggle to understand that these are performances, and are not always reflective of real-life wants and needs. 800 Odd Criminals asked: “With people accessing porn as young as 13, has online pornography become the primary source from where people draw their information about sex and sexuality?” Women are portrayed as little more than sexual objects, ready to go at a moment’s notice, and men are shown as constantly dominating and aggressive, what is the impact on real-life intimacy and relationships?
The viewing of and distribution of pornography in Sri Lanka is against the law, through the Obscene Publications Ordinance (1929) and the Penal Code of Sri Lanka. This of course doesn’t stop people watching, and unsurprisingly very few people are even aware that it is illegal in the first place. The watching of porn is not an issue. The problem arises with our treating the concept of sexual desire as something shameful. This causes what is very natural sexual curiosity to be driven underground and all the problems that it causes.
Homemade and hidden camera porn i.e. where the allure of reality is very much present and based on the popularity of subcategories: Sri Lankan teen girlfriends starring in homemade porn are the most widely watched. The days of actors in well-lit studios are passing us by to make way for real people starring in homemade sex tapes. With a basic smartphone now housing a camera of clarity that was unimaginable even in the bulkiest devices 25 years ago, all you need now are people to make your piece.
However, it seems that many of these real women are unaware that they are being filmed, or that what was created in private is now public – their intimate moments are public masturbation material. Women are treated as nothing more than objects to lust after, and their consent in having their bodies watched by thousands is hardly a consideration.
Watching violence: A reasonable number of respondents said they watched gangbang, rape, BDSM, and revenge porn. As the report aptly points out, “pornography has the potential to create misconceptions about sexual orientation, non-conforming sex acts, gender identity, sex, sexual preferences, sexual violence, and relationships”. The portrayal of BDSM and other kinks in mainstream pornography has long been decried as misleading and wrongfully portrayed. Porn is often created for and catered to the male gaze, which means that it is a singular world view often not reflective of reality.
Porn isn’t the problem – it is the vacuum in which it is watched that is the issue. When mainstream, hardcore pornography becomes default sex education and the primary source through which all types of sex are defined, then a warped world view emerges. This view is not only limited, it has the potential to be very harmful, especially towards women and non-conforming gender minorities. Sex is an intimate act that should be performed between consenting adults – heavy emphasis on consenting. If anyone wishes to be public, they have the right to do so, if all involved are consenting adults. It’s really not as difficult as it is made out to be is it?
photo © bakamoono.lk