The Rise of Pornography in the United States

Pornography, although hated, feared, enjoyed, fought for and against, has seen enormous

proliferation in the last three decades. No matter what position one takes on it, it is quite clear

that the scale of pornography has increased beyond imagination in a relatively short time. Even

though usually it is not debated in public, and is seen as merely controversial, private, and

secretive pleasure, Laura Kipnis argues that “pornography is central to our culture” (118)1. The

proliferation of pornography can be traced to a variety of events, tendencies, and circumstances.

However, several important factors, including the cultural-economic context of the rise of

neoliberalism, and political-technological such as MPAA ratings, cheap technology, state and

self-regulation of the adult industry contributed to the rise of porn.

The reasons for the rise of pornography are various. Anti-porn activist Catharine MacKinnon, for

example, would argue that the rise of pornography reflects simply another method men subjugate

and degrade women. It is a patriarchal tool to strip women of their humanity, and turn them into

a commodity to be used and abused. She argues that “pornography makes rapists unaware that

their victims are not consenting” (MacKinnon, 97)2. Another idea, expressed in the anti-porn

documentary Not a Love Story 3 suggests that porn has been a reaction to feminism and rising

gender equality. Men felt their masculinity threatened and their power diminishing. Porn served,

at least on the level of fantasy, as a return to the age of the male domination. On the other side of

the porn debate, Laura Kipnis, argues that pornography, in many ways, is a liberating and

meaning-rich cultural text, which should be given a serious attention. It also can be seen as a

“political speech” or even an “oppositional political form” (Kipnis, 311)4. It is an imagined,

fantasy world where everyone’s deepest, socially unacceptable dreams, can resurface in the

otherwise repressed social order.

More tangible explanations for the rise of porn can be found in examining historical

developments which took place in the 1960s. The sexual liberation, women’s, gay and minority

rights, various radical movements and countercultures were proliferating. These opened space

for pornography as well. However, cultural shifts cannot be examined without larger trends of

economic restructuring which started to take place in the 1960s and 1970s. What is now known

as neoliberalism – the economic, political, and cultural shift towards deindustrialization, free

market, self-regulation on the social and political level – dates back to the early 1970s. Lisa

Duggan also articulates the shift towards the compartmentalization of social world into discrete

and autonomous categories of economy, politics, and culture (xiv)5. The economy was being

constructed as a technocratic realm, independent from society, while in reality “neoliberal

policies have been implemented through culture and politics, reinforcing or contesting relations

of class, race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, or nationality” (Duggan xiv).

Deindustrializing cities and their downtowns could be now used for porn theaters and sex stores.

The state’s overall control and authority was constantly challenged by various movements,

which opened up a space for porn entrepreneurs, whether for simply commercial purposes or

because they perceived their activities as another sphere of liberation, sexual transgression, art,

and rebelliousness. Kipnis states that “historically, pornography was defined as what the state

was determined to suppress” (312). The state, which was going through major transformations

itself, did not have the ability to suppress pornography. MacKinnon would argue that the state

might not have interest in suppressing pornography because it serves as a tool for maintenance of

the patriarchal status quo. This can be illustrated through the legal framing of the obscenity laws

which in reality are very subjective and rarely reinforced. Obscenity needs to be proven as

violating community standards and having no artistic value, etc. As a result, this leaves a lot of

room for interpretation and becomes a difficult task to challenge through courts.

Another important rationale for the rise of porn was the institution of the MPAA rating system

on film production. It was a precautionary measure to avoid state intervention and censorship on

movie production and consumption. The movie theater audience was in decline and the youth

market was discovered as a target audience which could save the industry. Justin Wyatt argues

that “the youth ‘revolution’ served to feed the increasing freedom in terms of subject matter,

further enhancing the marketability of the adult/porn feature” (239)6. MPAA system eventually

segmented into various ratings still suitable for the mainstream audience and separate X category

which lead into ‘adult’ only, porn classification. Although movies in general became more

liberal in depictions of nudity and sex, the category of porn was greatly popularized by the X

rating. Wyatt argues that the rating system became great “marketing tool” for the rising porn

industry (245). The MPAA rating system and various government interventions (such as

obscenity charges against the ‘Deep Throat,’ which only increased the film’s popularity) can and

do create space for porn proliferation.

The proliferation of pornography also needs to be tied to technological advancements. While

various industries were being outsourced in search for cheap labor abroad, certain technological

inventions became more easily available and affordable. The movies, which previously were

done largely by the capital intensive big studios, now could be produced on a low budget by

virtually anyone. The porn market and consumption exploded with the invention of VCRs, which

allowed porn consumption in private, as opposed to semi-public spaces of sex stores and movie

theaters. With the advent of internet porn production and consumption proliferated beyond

imagination.

Although it is impossible to determine with certainty which factors are solely responsible for the

rise of pornography, it is clear that several intersecting forces have paved the way. The political

and cultural climate influenced by 1960s and 1970s radicalism and various liberation movements

surprisingly evolved into a powerful neoliberal cultural, political, and economic system with

capitalist and individualist values at its core. The rise of pornography needs to be situated within

that shift, since it drew inspiration and found use in both of them. The rise of porn also could not

be achieved so successfully without the movie industry; their rating system serving as an opening

of niche market and introduction of idea of porn into the mainstream of American life.

Technology also served an enormous role and continues to do so to this day. In some ways, the

state with its relatively small role in regulation of pornography can be explained as operating

according to the free-market neoliberal ideology, leaving the industry alone for self-regulation.

1 Laura Kipnis, “How to Look at Pornography,” Pornography: Film and Culture (Depth of Field), ed. Peter Lehman (Newark: Rutgers University Press, 2006), 118.

2 Catherine MacKinnon, “Equality and Speech,” Prostitution and Pornography: Philosophical Debate about the Sex Industry, ed. Jessica Spector (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006), 97.

3 Bonnie Sherr Klein, Dorothy Todd Hénaut, Kathleen Shanon,. Not a Love Story: A Film About Pornography.. Videocassette (68 min.). (New York : National Film Board of Canada, 1991).

4 Laura Kipnis, “Desire and Disgust: Hustler Magazine,” Prostitution and Pornography: Philosophical Debate about the Sex Industry, ed. Jessica Spector (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006), 311.

5 Lisa Duggan, The Twilight of Equality?: Neoliberalism, Cultural Politics, and the Attack on Democracy. (Boston : Beacon Press, 2003), xiv.

6 Justin Wyatt. “The Stigma of X: Adult Cinema and the Institution of the MPAA Rating System,” Ed. Matthew Bernstein. Controlling Hollywood: Censorship and Regulation in the Studio Era. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1999), 239.

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