Pornography: harmless fun or threat to society? Celebration of sexuality or ruthless exploitation of women? Expression of natural urges or unnatural compulsion? Addiction, or...

You get the picture. The age-old debate rages on....and on, and on, and on....about porn.

But whatever you may think of it, there's one thing we can call agree on: the porn industry is doing just fine for itself. No matter what controversies, stigma, or other barriers are placed between the consumer and his (or occasionally, her) pornography, sex continues to sell at massive rates. It has done so for a very long time, and I don't think anyone with any grasp on reality seriously foresees this trend slowing down any time soon.

Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong, anything at all, with people enjoying their favorite bit of smutty media in private, whether you like pictures, videos, erotica, or something more interesting like interactive sex games. I am certainly not the first sex-positive feminist to point out to the rest of the movement that the question we should be asking is not, “is porn good or bad?” but “what is it that makes porn good or bad?”

For feminists, the simple answer to that question is, of course, misogyny, and the porn industry is rife with it. It's gotten so bad that in many cases, the two are inseparable and there's hardly a cliché to be found in adult entertainment that isn't based in a woman's subjugation, humiliation, degradation, infantalization or objectification. People rise to the defense of mainstream porn because they can't imagine it being any other way.

Well, I can, and so can other sex-positive feminists (to say nothing of actual feminist pornographers and sex workers). We look at porn and we see unnecessary messages, but the question is, why are they there? I don't think our society is so far gone that we are incapable of imagining sex without sexism, so why does our sexual entertainment seem to suggest otherwise?

Part of it is just the history of the porn business in the United States and its ties with the mob; when porn was illegal, the mass distribution of it could only happen through organized crime, and many of those business traditions continue to this day even though the stuff is technically legal. I'm not surprised to see our society's criminal elements having a less-than-enlightened view of women.

Still, in all the time that pornography has been legal, don't you think there should have been some bigger changes in how it's made? Could there be a market-based reason it hasn't? Could misogyny-based porn be, somehow, more profitable to the industry?

To answer this question, let's examine porn from a market standpoint by asking the question, “why do people buy it?”

Yup. I think we all know the answer. (Hint: the average amount of time adult movies are viewed in hotel rooms is 11 minutes.)

Okay. Now, imagine that you're a porn producer, and you're trying to maximize your company's profits. You know perfectly well that the reason your products are being purchased is in order to assist guys in the process of getting frisky with Miss Palm and her five sisters, so what do you do to make the most money?

The obvious answer would be, “make a good product that's hot to watch.” But that answer would also be wrong. Why? Well, think about it: if you make a 90 minute movie that's packed full of good masturbation fodder at every turn, it's probably going to keep your client busy for a good, long while, which means he won't be buying more porn from you during that time.

Therefore, what you want to get your customer to buy is a 90 minute movie that's really only good enough for one or two wank sessions. But how on earth do you keep a viewer interested in something like that? Humor? Plot? Good acting? An actual budget? All too expensive.

What's cheap and easy, however, is misogyny. Appeal to comfortable gender roles and traditional notions of manhood. Soothe his insecurities by reaffirming his superiority to women. Show him women performing for his pleasure (even if it's not very hot). Give him fake lesbian sex scenes so he won't feel a need to compare himself to any men (this last one isn't my own – it comes from an actual pornographer).

Now, I don't think for one second that most guys want their porn to be this way. Oh, sure, there are some misogynists jerks out there who love it, guys with issues who will happily spend half their paycheck for the chance to see women repeatedly degraded, and they probably prop up a good percentage of the porn industry's profitability.

But many of the guys I talk to seem to have a vague sense of guilt about the porn they watch. The problem is, they often can't really put their finger on why. Considering how much guilt and shame we throw on top of everything having to do with sex in this culture, and considering how often guys are vilified simply for having any interest in sex or porn, how easy is it for any of us to separate the meaningless, puritanical shame from a subconscious inkling that hey, maybe something really isn't right?

Entitlement is what pornographers are selling. And entitlement can be an addiction, one that all privileged classes must face. I've certainly found this to be the case when dealing with my own white privilege: for all that I might devote my conscious attentions to being a dedicated anti-racism activist, there are still all too many lures, too many subconscious affirmations all around me of my "superiority" as a white person. The times when I am feeling the most insecure are the times when I am the most susceptible.

And our culture certainly does its ample best to make men feel insecure about themselves when it comes to sex. The pressure for straight men is on at all times. He needs to be big. He needs to be good in bed. He needs to get an erection instantly, but last a long time. And if he can't do all of these things, well then, he's less of a man and every woman will think so.

Starting to feel nervous, guys? Well, don't worry: the porn industry is here to help! But it's not here to tell you that women don't or shouldn't need you to live up to ridiculous ideals: it's here to tell you that women don't matter.