Porn Viewing: Do you know what you're talking about?

[Ms. Toad]

17. Of the quantitative options, PhD in porn fits best.

I spent a lot of time over a period of a decade studying the porn industry, including lots of scholarly reading, talking with some women involved in porn and prostitution (there is some overlap), talking with people who work with women in porn and prostitution, and "reading" lots of print porn (the infamous meat grinder Hustler issue, among others - and if you didn't see it, you don't want to). One outgrowth of that work included participation in the local chapter of Women against Violence against Women, putting together an educational slide show/presentation making apparent the bleedover (in terms of style, postures, messaging, etc.) into mainstream advertising - as well as documenting how much of the porn and prostitution industry then (and I really doubt it has changed) is not really voluntary on the part of the women involved.

So - although I haven't joined the recent discussions - Rape porn is real, and it is not (as someone suggested in another thread) an insubstantial portion, of the porn industry. I know from first and second hand conversations with women involved that it is not uncommon for the creation of rape porn to involve at least coercion and often rape. Not to mention that I think it is a bad thing to portray rape as something which women secretly want.