IMG_0159 – Stoya (Photo credit: Anime Nut)
According to a study in the Journal of Sex Research anyway. In the largest study of it’s type porn actresses had “higher levels of self-esteem, positive feelings, social support, sexual satisfaction, and spirituality compared to [other women]”. Their psychological health was measured against established external scales (Rosenberg self esteem scale and quality of life by WHO). Their responses were also measured against a matched set of women surveyed in airports and universities and found to have significantly more self esteem than those women. Researchers suggested a reason for this: these women are comfortable with their own naked bodies. They cited a previous study that found correlation between a woman’s willingness to go topless on the beach and her levels of self esteem.
This makes perfect sense to me. Women should be more comfortable with their bodies in general – it’s the only one you have so you might as well get comfortable with it. I know we’re all constantly comparing ourselves to the conventionally attractive movie stars and becoming comfortable with yourself is easier said than done but its something women should aim for. We need to get over the shame we feel about nudity in general and our bodies in specific. Your body is weird, there’s no getting around it, but here’s a secret: everyone’s body is weird. You know what? everyone’s body is beautiful too.
But back to the porn actresses. A Jezebel article was quick to celebrate this study as a blow to the 2nd wave feminist ‘damaged goods’ view of porn stars. As a sex positive feminist I applaud this – we slut shame too much as it is and hopefully this is a step in a direction that proves a woman doesn’t have to be damaged to enjoy sex and nudity even on film. The article particularly attacks Andrea Dworkin and Catherine McKinnon’s view that all pornography is rape and institutionalised gender inequality. This is where, for me, Jezebel goes too far.
While it is patently insulting to both rape survivors and porn starts to say that performing in a porn film is the same as rape the gender inequality aspect should not be dismissed so quickly. Pornography is still primarily made for men and the male gaze. As such it propagates the idea that women are there to be looked at, touched, fucked and generally objectified by men. Even when a woman is shown to be enjoying herself it is primarily for the gratification of men. Porn does not cause gender inequality but it does reinforce a lot of the gendered stereotypes that continue to lead to slut shaming and sexism.
All this is not to say that women don’t enjoy porn or that there isn’t female friendly porn out there or even that porn must be bad. All I want to say is that while on the one hand there are feminist porn actresses like the inimitable, intelligent and enchanting Stoya (pictured above) who should be celebrated that doesn’t give you or anyone a pass to ignore the sexism and misogyny that remains a huge part of the porn industry.
More about the psychological health of porn stars
- Contrary to common belief, female porn stars have great self esteem (io9.com)
- Surprising Study About Porn Stars’ Sexuality (huffingtonpost.com)
- Porn Stars Happier, Healthier Than Others? (newsy.com)
- Damaged goods? Nope, porn stars have higher self esteem than other women (vitals.nbcnews.com)
Still Not Shakespeare 