Throughout the semester, prompts based on class readings, screenings, lectures, and discussions will be posted on this blog. Responses will be graded on their level of critical thinking, pertinence, engagement with class texts, and grammar/spelling/proofing/
length. Be sure to read the prompt carefully and fully engage with the content of the class materials. At the bottom of your response, type your FIRST NAME and the FIRST INITIAL OF YOUR LAST NAME (e.g. Claudia Z.).
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Week Nine: Response 9.4
Read this article in The Guardian
about the James Deen scandal. How
does it present the complexities of porn performers, rape and consent?
To recap, The Guardian article features Stoya, a porn star, coming forward regarding sexual assault she experienced at the hands of James Deen, another porn star, and the intricacies tied to the scandal including: the porn industry, consent, and rape. Accusations of rape (and accusations of sexual assault and harassment) in general against women have a history of not being taken as seriously as they should be. Victim blaming commentary such as “what was she wearing” and “asking for it” fails to assign proper blame the assailant and rather forces the responsibility of consequence onto the assaulted in a situation out of their control. This gets trickier when it comes to the entertainment industry, or in this instance, the porn industry. Once again, there tends to be a history of giving those accused of sexual assault/harassment the benefit of doubt (a la Woody Allen); it’s good that Deen’s career has taken an impact as a result of these statements against his character – but at the same time it is kind of a difficult pill to swallow realizing it took that many women (who were also hesitant about speaking up due to the harm it may do to their own careers) and their own negative experiences with Deen to have made an impact in defaming his name.
I think one of the biggest problems regarding the understanding of consent within the porn industry is how the state of entertainment has developed that it blurs the line in media of “playing hard to get” versus “sexual assault.” This more so in pornography, where people, out of a lack of understanding regarding how the industry works, buys into the idea of “the unrapeable sex worker” where if it’s all just sex, then what do you distinguish as rape? And if you (especially the audience) can’t draw the line between consent and violation, how do you speak up about it? The stigma which surrounds sex work puts these people at a disadvantage already because of the preconception that they’re supposed to enjoy sex; enjoy the sex they do on screen, ergo these horrible, horrible things like rape don’t happen to porn stars because they’re seen as a means to an end (a tool for jacking off) rather than real people with everyday lives and real problems. Even more so with the amount of kink catered sex, where rapey depictions of sex may be seen as acceptable role play rather than anything harmful or dangerous to consumers. This ties into the difficulties of people being able to distinguish reality from fiction, and the fact that so much sexual harassment/assault has occurred so much in our daily lives and how it’s been brushed under the rhetoric of “take a compliment” or “boys will be boys” allows the root of the problem (patriarchy) to continue to fester and infect what we see as acceptable behavior and actions.
The porn industry is a very complicated profession for women who get abused by their male counterparts because the general consensus is that they asked for it by being in the porn industry. Stoya is a Serbian adult film performer who was raped by James Deen, also an adult film performer, traumatizing her to the point where she couldn’t even sleep. Because sex is sometimes rough in porn films and women seem to be enjoying being dominated for the sake of entertainment, the public is prone to show no mercy when these women get abused in real life. After many other women came out saying that they have been assaulted by Deen, the conversation was being had about unwarranted assaults in the adult entertainment industry. The article talks about the stigma that no one will do porn on their own will and that the line between porn and rape is blurred keeps these performers from coming out and speaking about the abuse they were succumbed to. After Stoya came out on twitter to speak about what had happened to her, anti-porn critics used her as an example of what is wrong with the industry. Her personal story, feelings, pain, and trauma was swallowed by the agenda of those that have a problem with the industry. Another important thing to note about the porn industry is that many of the performers are working gig-to-gig. Because they must continuously sell themselves around the product they produce, it becomes difficult to get jobs if these women are too picky about who they are willing to work with. Some performers have also said that they were worried about not finding work if they were to publicly stand in solidarity with Stoya. The problem is not only in the porn industry or the entertainment industry. Rape happens everywhere and it doesn’t discriminate and making excuses such as “they deserved it”, or “they’re lying” is not helping us move forward to stopping it.
In Melissa Gira Grants, The Guardian article, viewers read about prominent porn performer, Stoya’s account of rape in the porn industry. Stoya opens up about the tweets she made in regard to the James Deen rape that occurred while the two were in a romantic relationship. The article begins with Stoya being over exhausted by a film she is starring in that revolves around a woman who is raped by someone she knows. Stoya had been having flashbacks about the moments regarding James Deen and the rape. At this time is when Stoya decided to act upon her emotions and the need reach out to the community to let them know about what happened between her and James Deen. She tweeted about how James Deen had the audacity to call himself a feminist, when behind the social media and camera façade, James Deen is a rapist. Due to these tweets, other porn performers came forward and told their accounts of sexual violence in the porn industry as well as how other women have been targeted due to James Deen. The argument made by the porn performers was that they too have rights just like any other human and even though they are acting in these porn scenes it does not mean that they aren’t subject to the same safe words and consent that non-performers receive, and that they too are victims of rape and that rape can happen in the porn industry. Porn performers then urged that porn industry have a discussion on the need for consent and safe words, and that porn performers are individuals as well that don’t deserve to be dehumanized, and the stigma is that porn performers get raped because they are asking for it, because it’s a part of their job and rape doesn’t occur in those situations because women are asking for the sexual assault just by being porn performers. As well, it is harder for those not in the porn community to understand the complexities behind the porn industry to further show that porn performers are misunderstood in the mainstream society.
The article in The Guardian about the James Dean scandal involved the rape of Stoya. According to the article, Stoya stayed quite about the matter before finally tweeting the incident on Twitter. Most people will not believe porn performers when they say they have been sexual assaulted. Most believe that that porn performers are not capable of being raped. Porn performers are people also and they need to be heard. Stoya describes her incident by saying she said “no,” “stop,” and she even mentioned her safe word. Those are three forms of non-consent that James did not respect and continued to rape her. Everyone needs to be educated on consent and how to recognize if it is given or not. Someone does not always need to say something for there to be consent. Educating people is a step closer to making sexual assault obsolete. Women in general are afraid to come forward regarding sexual assault incidents. It is a lot harder for women in the porn industry to come forward regarding those incidents. One of the other porn performers, Leathers, mentioned that she would get death threats just because she worked in the porn industry. The environment that these porn performers are in is not the safest, so they would not feel comfortable coming forward about a sexual assault incident. Just because someone works in the porn industry, that does not mean they are an acceptable target for rape. Porn performers are able to make a list of people they will not work with, but as described in the article, directors will think of them as picky, dramatic, or unable to get along with other people. Porn performers do not want to lose any work, so that is another reason they will not come forward regarding sexual assault incidents. No one should ever have to feel afraid about coming forward about a sexual assault. Coming forward prevents the perpetrator from doing the same act to someone else. Rape happens everywhere, and it is not a just a problem within the porn industry. Sexual assault is a problem everywhere and society needs to work towards creating a safe environment for everyone.
In Melissa Grant's article, she discusses Stoya's struggles with opening up about her rape by James Deen, and how she knew she had to say something to help not only herself but help others. After taking to Twitter to tell the world what had happened to her, Stoya not only came clean about what had happened to her, but also broke the silence on discussion about porn performers and sexual assault. Unfortunately, porn performers hold the stigma that since they work in the sex industry, they cannot be raped or sexually assaulted. This could not be further from the truth. Critics of porn describe that "no one would do porn willingly" therefore the line between porn and rape is blurred, also putting the blame on porn performers who are the victims of these crimes instead of putting the blame on the perpetrator. This is some of the reason why porn performers do not voice sexual assault and rape that happens to them. Just because someone works in the sex industry, does not mean they do not have the ability to be raped. After Stoya opened up about being raped, multiple other performers came forward, describing that they too had been sexually assaulted by James Deen. This started a conversation within the porn industry and also outside of it, Stoya receiving support from other performers and even other women who do not work in the sex industry but would not stand for the injustice. Light was shed on the fact that many performers do not come forward because they live gig to gig, and do not want to risk losing their jobs or risk being without work. Some performers were even hesitant to support Stoya, even a simple retweet threatening their careers. The discussion also was an opportunity for women to explain that whether you are a porn performer or not, speaking out about rape often turns into a questioning of the victim's sexual history, and what she did to bring it upon herself. However, Grant describes in her article that the difference for porn performers is that their sexual history is out in the public for everyone to see. However, this is still not something that justifies rape. Ultimately, the article emphasizes that if we want violence against performers in the sex industry to stop, we must first make it stop happening in society as a whole.
The article “How Stoya took on James Deen and broke the porn industry’s silence” by Melissa Gira Grant has quite a bit of controversy since being published. I remember hearing about this a few years ago. Stoya works in the porn industry as a porn star and she had caused quite a commotion in the industry when she had come forward to reveal that she had been raped by James Deen, one of the most well known porn stars in the adult entertainment industry. Stoya has said that she was attacked by Deen during a movie they both were shooting. This case has brought up the complexity that comes with porn performers, rape, and consent. Let’s get one thing straight, anything that is one person does to another without their consent is considered rape. If at any point one person doesn’t consent to something and the other ignores them and continues, that is considered rape. When it comes to sexual assault cases within the adult entertainment industry, it is often not talked about as much as it should be. Many people believe that something like that can not happen to porn stars while they’re shooting a video because they just assume that whatever is done on camera has their full consent since they signed a waiver beforehand. However rape is still rape regardless of any “waiver” someone may sign. If they are not consenting to something, then it is still considered rape. When it comes to porn stars, I feel as if people often view them as being “unrapeable” because of their career. They think that since they are in an industry that revolves around sex, that everything is okay and everything is consensual. It is already difficult for women to come forward about being sexually assaulted because almost immediately some will question the validity behind their statements, it is especially more difficult for women in the porn industry because of the type of profession. I believe it is safe to say that the porn industry is a complex and complicated profession for many women because of the fact that if they are sexually assaulted or abused, they are often ignored or not taken seriously because people would just believe that they had already given their full consent before participating in any film. Rape is something that occurs in nearly every culture and nearly every country in the world. Sexual assault and sexual abuse is much much much more frequent then one may realize. The more people can educate themselves on these subjects and the more they can step forward and support the victim rather than trying feed into rape culture, the closer we can be to putting an end to this.
The article talks about Stoya’s experience revealing that James Deen raped her, and the discussions that followed from both porn stars and and the public. At first, Stoya kept quiet about it, but eventually it became too much to bear when she saw people constantly idolizing James. Through a tweet, she expressed what happened between the two and although James denied the claim, there was much evidence that came from other porn stars that suggested his denial was a lie.
Although it was very important and brave of Stoya to come out and share what happened to her, this situation, unfortunately, makes the job of porn stars even more complex. Porn is a small industry and denying to work with someone can put the pornstar in a bad position in the perspective of others within the industry. Other sex workers in porn may not take the time to analyze why refusing even happened and will automatically assume negative stereotypes. It is bad for the business even when there are legitimate reasons to stay away from a certain porn star.
Unfortunately, there are many individuals who do not believe that it is possible to be raped when working in the sex industry. Specifically the male consumers who eventually become so desensitized to it that they start to believe pornstars are less than people and do not have the same rights as every human being does. Sex work is still very much a job performed by regular human beings, however because the porn industry has a mostly negative perception, consumers see them as sex crazed individuals. Consumers start to have the mentality that sex is part of their work so there is no way that rape could occur.
No matter who the individual is, consent is necessary when it comes to sex. Porn stars must be able to be comfortable with who they are working with and when it comes to their personal life, the necessity of consent is no different. Because of their image, people believe that porn stars are always ready for sex, however this is obviously not the case. There is still a fine line for their work life and personal life that porn stars have the right to. Just because their work entails sex, does not mean they are willing to consent to anyone at any time.
Not only does the article highlight Stoya’s courage, but it brings about important issues within the porn industry that many individuals need to understand. Being porn stars does not make them any lesser than individuals who work in an office or in a medical center. Work is still work to them, and how they choose to live their life still needs to be under their control. When their permission is breached, justice must be brought down and the first step in doing that is having people understand that porn stars are no different from the general public.
In the article “How Stoya took on James Deen and broke the porn industry’s silence” it talks about Stoyas confession about being raped by James Deen. In the article Stoya talks about how difficult it was for her to talk about what had happened. That she had been awoken by nightmare about what had happened to her. But once she spoke out of porn performers immediately began to show their support for Stoya, and some of them spoke out about “allegations like Stoya’s.” This represents the complexity of rape and consent when it comes to porn performers. It’s something that seems to be invisible that people don’t pretend it doesn’t exist. Why because it’s porn, sex workers are expected to enjoy sex no matter where it comes from, no matter who is it with. But the truth is that it’s different when you have a relationship with that person, there’s a difference between work and your personal life. As a sex worker people believe that the “line between porn and rape don’t matter” because no one does “porn willingly.” The idea is that because she had such job she had it coming. It’s like as if she was looking for it because of the way she was dressed, that she had triggered a man into raping her because she was so revealing. That because of those reason its automatically a sign of consent. The victim is blamed and bashed while the perpetrator is forgotten and left in the dark. In this situation Deen did take a hit in his career. Rape and consent is something that isn’t talked about until things get out of control. Rape happens everywhere and the victim is the one that is blamed so it’s not difficult to understand how invisible this topic is when it comes to porn performers being raped, when nothing is done for a victim who has never had any sort of sexual relations with any one. Mary C.
In Melisa Grant’s article, “How Stoya took on James Deen broke the porn industry’s silence,” one of the biggest points I believe that were made in the article was people generally believe that porn performers cannot be raped, and how this mindset influences their silence. Grant uses Stoya’s story as an example. When Stoya tweeted about her rape from former boyfriend, and fellow porn performer James Deen, it shook the public and the porn industry. Stoya’s story shows the public the structural problem of the porn industry, a mindset that states porn performers and sex workers are “unrapeable”. Not too long after Stoya’s confession, many other women came out with their own allegations of James Deen. The article states that because of the many negative stigmas sex workers and porn performers have, it makes it extremely difficult for them to even talk about sex assaults. We see this when Stoya tells Grant why is was so hard for her to admit was happened to her. The public would say things such as, “well you know you can’t rape a sex worker”, or “she still defends porn when she was raped by a pornographer”. Grant explains the negative stigma behind these messages. People think that no one does porn willingly, so there is no fine line between porn and rape, so porn performers are at fault for their own rape, this is one of the biggest reasons porn performers keep their silence. Grant also states that whether you are a porn performer or not, anyone who usually speaks out about rape, the victim’s sex history becomes the subject at hand, not the rape itself. The biggest point I believe that Grant and Stoya point out is that sadly, rape and rape culture happen everywhere.
This article showed how the porn industry is structured such that women are made to feel powerless to speak out against sexual assault in their workplace. The reality of them pretty much being prostitutes gives off the general impression that they gave up their consent when they entered that career. Female pornstar victims such as Stoya were not even sure themselves if they had a right to complain about what James Deen did and whether or not it could be considered rape. Even though many people have accused this man, there will almost certainly never be a criminal investigation and he will still be able to prey on females he will continue to work with.
Stoya tweeting about a time James Deen raped her (outside of work) caused several other victims to come forward and reveal that he clearly had a habit of raping and otherwise sexually assaulting his coworkers. James was also exposed for tending to go overboard during consensual on-camera sex and turn it into a sadistic, painful, horror scene. It took eight additional women to publicly accuse Dean and his only punishment was some companies severing ties with him and other minor financial losses. The reality is that this will fade away and nothing will change. Most of the porn funders, straight men, are not even keeping track of male porn stars and did not hear or care about this scandal.
The article also pointed out that complaining about sexual assault is pretty much guaranteed to adversely affect their careers. It makes them seem like a risk to higher and they are used as an example by anti-porn critics as a reason to ban porn. It quoted Hill Meyer saying that because sex workers live off money from gig to gig, their current image and brand is crucial for them to get hired. They do not have the luxury of a stable salary. The anti-porn critics actually make it harder for the victims with their judgmental apathetic victim-blaming.
This article summarizes the controversy and fallout surrounding Stoya’s tweets announcing she’d been raped by ex-boyfriend James Dean, both porn performers. It uses tweets and interviews with members of the porn industry to detail her assault, media reaction, and systemic problems, both in porn and in society as a whole. One of the major talking points of the article is the stigma surrounding the porn industry, accusation of rape, and the interaction of the two. In our society, women who are raped are unlikely to report the rape. This is largely due to the stigma that exists against rape victims in our culture, and their fear of backlash from both the public and even people they are close to. Our culture tends to fault the victim, as if they brought the assault upon themselves. But, when a porn performer is raped, she must also consider her public image – her brand – which is ultimately what generates most of her income and future work. The article highlights huge problem that exists in the intersection of the porn word and modern American society: That porn contractors may be less likely to hire a woman who has either come out as having been raped by another porn star or who refuses to work with another porn star for her own safety, on the grounds that she “‘can’t get along’” or is “’dramatic.’” Other performers have to weigh their own public support with the possibility of a decline in work from this same backlash. I think the biggest take-away from the article, is that, while this story of rape within the porn industry has achieved a high profile and has generated much debate about potential downsides of porn, Stoya’s is just one more example of a woman in our society being raped and being afraid of the backlash of accusing her rapist. This kind of thing happens in porn, but it also happens outside of porn at ridiculous rates. It is a societal, cultural problem, not a problem with the sex industry.
The porn industry is structured in a way that women are at a major disadvantage. Since the industry has shown a shift towards a preference in hardcore pornography, viewers and actors both begin to normalize violence and aggression in porn. This is due to the culture it's based in, a culture that glorifies violence and belittles women on a regular basis. Men inside and outside of the pornography industry are taught to be sexually dominant and aggressive. They are also taught to not take no for an answer and accept rejection. In addition, there is this false notion that since these women are in the pornography business, sex with other men is a given and in some cases, obligatory. The combination of these messages has a heavy toll on women in the sex industry. When aggression is seen as a norm, it reduces the likelihood of anyone considering rape a possibility in this industry. The lines of consent are somewhat blurred for some as well. In hardcore pornography, at times the actress' role is to try and resist, but still consents. However, these actresses also set a safe-word that is to be respected. The differences between acting and the actual revoking of consent becomes blurred in the eyes of the viewers and is used as a justification for the perpetrators of the assault. Women's rights to their own bodies are also somehow seen as being relinquished in this industry, stripping them of their right to say no and be believed. Stoya's claims on twitter created a window of opportunity for other women in the industry to step forward about their experiences of rape. It shed light on how big of an issue it is in the pornography industry and enlightens people on the fact that women in this industry still have ownership over their own bodies and the ability to say no. Shira T.
Porn is an extremely complex industry that, for the most part, society doesn’t care to understand. Habib, the vice president of the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC) agrees that “there’s such a cultural commitment to keep us from knowing what happens in sex work.” As with most things we don’t understand, stigmas and assumptions about porn culture circulate and attach themselves to the porn industry. It’s a dirty industry, made for men, etc., but people tend to ignore how much it reflects our culture as a society. The scandal with James Deen deeply reflects how we view rape as a society. Victim blaming is an extremely prominent problem, but it is somehow even easier in the porn industry. As Stoya and other porn stars have said, “for anyone who speaks out about rape, often it’s one’s sexual history that becomes the object of inquiry, not the rape. The difference for porn performers is that what is seen as their sexual history […] is already a matter of public record and debate.” This brings forward another prominent stigma about porn: females don’t choose to do porn, and therefore the line between work and rape is essentially nonexistent. This idea has been passed around to the point that people believe it is okay to rape sex workers and porn stars, because by engaging in their profession, they are basically asking for it. This is victim blaming at its finest—ignore women’s choice to work in the sex field so that we can ignore their choice to say no and completely remove consent from the picture.
Another disturbing and complex fact of the porn industry is that, because it is actually rather small, image is everything. Because of society’s rape culture, it can destroy a woman’s career to come forward about assault. Thankfully, the James Deen scandal has done more to ruin his career than those of the women whose lives he tainted; still, the fear of coming forward is deep. Porn performers work like any actor or musician—job to job, with no guarantee of what’s to come, and branding themselves is the only way to insure steady work. Any public outcry is seen as an attack on their industry. That, and those who speak out are easily blacklisted as “dramatic.”
First, people need to understand that the porn industry is not as simple as it appears, and that those who choose to work in it deserve the same respect and protection that any person deserves. The rape culture that appears in porn is merely a reflection of society, and anyone who blames porn for it is blind to the effects of their actions.
To recap, The Guardian article where Stoya, a porn star decided to come out about her being sexually assaulted by James Deen. After she confess to being sexually assaulted while in the porn industry other women that were sexually assaulted by him or in general decided to come out as well. Her post may have caught negative attention but a lot of women also appreciated her for standing up and posting that about him so now people are aware to stay away from him in the porn industry. In her post on twitter she was straight to the point and let everyone know how he raped her and how it made her feel. While multiple women are being sexually abused in society, when it comes to women in the porn industry being sexually assaulted it is viewed differently. A porn star is seen as someone who likes to have sex, and who likes to be touched, although that maybe true they are still able to say, "No". This industry see women stepping up saying they were sexually assaulted as a porn start is bad for business, which may cause some to lose there job which is why a lot of porn stars stay quiet. Women in the porn industry are supposed to be silent, as they say, “you can not rape a sex worker.” This is not true the line between rape and porn matters, everyone voice matter rape is rape and it is everyone’s issue. It is seen that porn stars that are raped are at fault, and this is a problem because there is a difference between consent and no consent weather it is in ones personal life or work life. When someone in the porn industry speaks about being sexually assaulted there sexual history becomes the object of inquiry not them being rape. James Deen was very feminist, he told one of the women "he likes to try and break women." That statement alone just lets you know that he has a goal and he is going to achieve it to the best of his abilities. When Stoya tried to talk to him about what happened the night she was raped and was telling him no but he continued, called her tears abusive as she was trying to tell him how he made her feel. Society see people in the porn industry as them automatically consenting to sex. You are looked at as you have to want sex all the time, it is your job so why would you deny it. Being a porn star, agreeing to a gig and getting paid for your performance is one situation. Being rape is another, porn star and rape is not the same, just as consent and no consent are two different things. Although someone has chosen to be a porn star does not make him or her sex objects on or off the set. Everyone has the right to boundaries including porn performers. Therefore, someone being rape and someone being a porn star should be looked at and treated differently. If consent is not involved it is rape no matter what their job title maybe.
In Melissa Gira Grant’s article, How Stoya took on James Deen and broke the porn industry’s silence”, she discusses how Stoya, an American pornographic actress was raped by her once known significant other and how it affected the porn industry after coming forward about it. Grant presents the complexities of porn performers, rape and consent through this incident and many other sexual assaults involving James Deen and other performers within the pornography industry. Grant gives her readers insight on how hard it is to be sexually assaulted in the porn industry being that you are considered a “sex worker”. People have many different views on sexual assault in the porn industry; many may argue that there is no such thing and others will beg to differ. Throughout Grant’s article she interviews a variety of people who contribute to the porn industry and how it this particular affected them. Arabelle Raphael, another porn performer admitted that some people knew about James Deen and the assaults he had committed against women in the porn industry. Another porn performer, Sydney Leather s also admitted how proud she was of Stoya for coming forward because it was “a bold thing to do”. Leather meant that it was a bold thing to do because just like many rape or sexual assault cases, women are too scared to talk about it. Grant goes on to tell that eight more women came forward about being sexually assaulted by Deen. As Grant continues to interview more people, she finds that people in this industry know their limits and the safe word. Thus, claiming that there are boundaries and rights in which each porn performer has. Grant’s interviewees explain how complicated it may be for people to understand that porn performers all have rights as well as others do. What is displayed and projected to the audiences is what is consented by the performers and that is what others do not seize to understand.
To recap, The Guardian article features Stoya, a porn star, coming forward regarding sexual assault she experienced at the hands of James Deen, another porn star, and the intricacies tied to the scandal including: the porn industry, consent, and rape. Accusations of rape (and accusations of sexual assault and harassment) in general against women have a history of not being taken as seriously as they should be. Victim blaming commentary such as “what was she wearing” and “asking for it” fails to assign proper blame the assailant and rather forces the responsibility of consequence onto the assaulted in a situation out of their control. This gets trickier when it comes to the entertainment industry, or in this instance, the porn industry. Once again, there tends to be a history of giving those accused of sexual assault/harassment the benefit of doubt (a la Woody Allen); it’s good that Deen’s career has taken an impact as a result of these statements against his character – but at the same time it is kind of a difficult pill to swallow realizing it took that many women (who were also hesitant about speaking up due to the harm it may do to their own careers) and their own negative experiences with Deen to have made an impact in defaming his name.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the biggest problems regarding the understanding of consent within the porn industry is how the state of entertainment has developed that it blurs the line in media of “playing hard to get” versus “sexual assault.” This more so in pornography, where people, out of a lack of understanding regarding how the industry works, buys into the idea of “the unrapeable sex worker” where if it’s all just sex, then what do you distinguish as rape? And if you (especially the audience) can’t draw the line between consent and violation, how do you speak up about it? The stigma which surrounds sex work puts these people at a disadvantage already because of the preconception that they’re supposed to enjoy sex; enjoy the sex they do on screen, ergo these horrible, horrible things like rape don’t happen to porn stars because they’re seen as a means to an end (a tool for jacking off) rather than real people with everyday lives and real problems. Even more so with the amount of kink catered sex, where rapey depictions of sex may be seen as acceptable role play rather than anything harmful or dangerous to consumers. This ties into the difficulties of people being able to distinguish reality from fiction, and the fact that so much sexual harassment/assault has occurred so much in our daily lives and how it’s been brushed under the rhetoric of “take a compliment” or “boys will be boys” allows the root of the problem (patriarchy) to continue to fester and infect what we see as acceptable behavior and actions.
Isis H.
The porn industry is a very complicated profession for women who get abused by their male counterparts because the general consensus is that they asked for it by being in the porn industry. Stoya is a Serbian adult film performer who was raped by James Deen, also an adult film performer, traumatizing her to the point where she couldn’t even sleep. Because sex is sometimes rough in porn films and women seem to be enjoying being dominated for the sake of entertainment, the public is prone to show no mercy when these women get abused in real life. After many other women came out saying that they have been assaulted by Deen, the conversation was being had about unwarranted assaults in the adult entertainment industry. The article talks about the stigma that no one will do porn on their own will and that the line between porn and rape is blurred keeps these performers from coming out and speaking about the abuse they were succumbed to. After Stoya came out on twitter to speak about what had happened to her, anti-porn critics used her as an example of what is wrong with the industry. Her personal story, feelings, pain, and trauma was swallowed by the agenda of those that have a problem with the industry. Another important thing to note about the porn industry is that many of the performers are working gig-to-gig. Because they must continuously sell themselves around the product they produce, it becomes difficult to get jobs if these women are too picky about who they are willing to work with. Some performers have also said that they were worried about not finding work if they were to publicly stand in solidarity with Stoya. The problem is not only in the porn industry or the entertainment industry. Rape happens everywhere and it doesn’t discriminate and making excuses such as “they deserved it”, or “they’re lying” is not helping us move forward to stopping it.
ReplyDeleteShewakena K.
In Melissa Gira Grants, The Guardian article, viewers read about prominent porn performer, Stoya’s account of rape in the porn industry. Stoya opens up about the tweets she made in regard to the James Deen rape that occurred while the two were in a romantic relationship. The article begins with Stoya being over exhausted by a film she is starring in that revolves around a woman who is raped by someone she knows. Stoya had been having flashbacks about the moments regarding James Deen and the rape. At this time is when Stoya decided to act upon her emotions and the need reach out to the community to let them know about what happened between her and James Deen. She tweeted about how James Deen had the audacity to call himself a feminist, when behind the social media and camera façade, James Deen is a rapist. Due to these tweets, other porn performers came forward and told their accounts of sexual violence in the porn industry as well as how other women have been targeted due to James Deen. The argument made by the porn performers was that they too have rights just like any other human and even though they are acting in these porn scenes it does not mean that they aren’t subject to the same safe words and consent that non-performers receive, and that they too are victims of rape and that rape can happen in the porn industry. Porn performers then urged that porn industry have a discussion on the need for consent and safe words, and that porn performers are individuals as well that don’t deserve to be dehumanized, and the stigma is that porn performers get raped because they are asking for it, because it’s a part of their job and rape doesn’t occur in those situations because women are asking for the sexual assault just by being porn performers. As well, it is harder for those not in the porn community to understand the complexities behind the porn industry to further show that porn performers are misunderstood in the mainstream society.
ReplyDeleteAshley L.
The article in The Guardian about the James Dean scandal involved the rape of Stoya. According to the article, Stoya stayed quite about the matter before finally tweeting the incident on Twitter. Most people will not believe porn performers when they say they have been sexual assaulted. Most believe that that porn performers are not capable of being raped. Porn performers are people also and they need to be heard. Stoya describes her incident by saying she said “no,” “stop,” and she even mentioned her safe word. Those are three forms of non-consent that James did not respect and continued to rape her. Everyone needs to be educated on consent and how to recognize if it is given or not. Someone does not always need to say something for there to be consent. Educating people is a step closer to making sexual assault obsolete. Women in general are afraid to come forward regarding sexual assault incidents. It is a lot harder for women in the porn industry to come forward regarding those incidents. One of the other porn performers, Leathers, mentioned that she would get death threats just because she worked in the porn industry. The environment that these porn performers are in is not the safest, so they would not feel comfortable coming forward about a sexual assault incident. Just because someone works in the porn industry, that does not mean they are an acceptable target for rape. Porn performers are able to make a list of people they will not work with, but as described in the article, directors will think of them as picky, dramatic, or unable to get along with other people. Porn performers do not want to lose any work, so that is another reason they will not come forward regarding sexual assault incidents. No one should ever have to feel afraid about coming forward about a sexual assault. Coming forward prevents the perpetrator from doing the same act to someone else. Rape happens everywhere, and it is not a just a problem within the porn industry. Sexual assault is a problem everywhere and society needs to work towards creating a safe environment for everyone.
ReplyDeleteChristine H.
In Melissa Grant's article, she discusses Stoya's struggles with opening up about her rape by James Deen, and how she knew she had to say something to help not only herself but help others. After taking to Twitter to tell the world what had happened to her, Stoya not only came clean about what had happened to her, but also broke the silence on discussion about porn performers and sexual assault. Unfortunately, porn performers hold the stigma that since they work in the sex industry, they cannot be raped or sexually assaulted. This could not be further from the truth. Critics of porn describe that "no one would do porn willingly" therefore the line between porn and rape is blurred, also putting the blame on porn performers who are the victims of these crimes instead of putting the blame on the perpetrator. This is some of the reason why porn performers do not voice sexual assault and rape that happens to them. Just because someone works in the sex industry, does not mean they do not have the ability to be raped. After Stoya opened up about being raped, multiple other performers came forward, describing that they too had been sexually assaulted by James Deen. This started a conversation within the porn industry and also outside of it, Stoya receiving support from other performers and even other women who do not work in the sex industry but would not stand for the injustice. Light was shed on the fact that many performers do not come forward because they live gig to gig, and do not want to risk losing their jobs or risk being without work. Some performers were even hesitant to support Stoya, even a simple retweet threatening their careers. The discussion also was an opportunity for women to explain that whether you are a porn performer or not, speaking out about rape often turns into a questioning of the victim's sexual history, and what she did to bring it upon herself. However, Grant describes in her article that the difference for porn performers is that their sexual history is out in the public for everyone to see. However, this is still not something that justifies rape. Ultimately, the article emphasizes that if we want violence against performers in the sex industry to stop, we must first make it stop happening in society as a whole.
ReplyDeleteMadelynne S.
The article “How Stoya took on James Deen and broke the porn industry’s silence” by Melissa Gira Grant has quite a bit of controversy since being published. I remember hearing about this a few years ago. Stoya works in the porn industry as a porn star and she had caused quite a commotion in the industry when she had come forward to reveal that she had been raped by James Deen, one of the most well known porn stars in the adult entertainment industry. Stoya has said that she was attacked by Deen during a movie they both were shooting. This case has brought up the complexity that comes with porn performers, rape, and consent. Let’s get one thing straight, anything that is one person does to another without their consent is considered rape. If at any point one person doesn’t consent to something and the other ignores them and continues, that is considered rape. When it comes to sexual assault cases within the adult entertainment industry, it is often not talked about as much as it should be. Many people believe that something like that can not happen to porn stars while they’re shooting a video because they just assume that whatever is done on camera has their full consent since they signed a waiver beforehand. However rape is still rape regardless of any “waiver” someone may sign. If they are not consenting to something, then it is still considered rape. When it comes to porn stars, I feel as if people often view them as being “unrapeable” because of their career. They think that since they are in an industry that revolves around sex, that everything is okay and everything is consensual. It is already difficult for women to come forward about being sexually assaulted because almost immediately some will question the validity behind their statements, it is especially more difficult for women in the porn industry because of the type of profession. I believe it is safe to say that the porn industry is a complex and complicated profession for many women because of the fact that if they are sexually assaulted or abused, they are often ignored or not taken seriously because people would just believe that they had already given their full consent before participating in any film. Rape is something that occurs in nearly every culture and nearly every country in the world. Sexual assault and sexual abuse is much much much more frequent then one may realize. The more people can educate themselves on these subjects and the more they can step forward and support the victim rather than trying feed into rape culture, the closer we can be to putting an end to this.
ReplyDeleteJagtap K.
The article talks about Stoya’s experience revealing that James Deen raped her, and the discussions that followed from both porn stars and and the public. At first, Stoya kept quiet about it, but eventually it became too much to bear when she saw people constantly idolizing James. Through a tweet, she expressed what happened between the two and although James denied the claim, there was much evidence that came from other porn stars that suggested his denial was a lie.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it was very important and brave of Stoya to come out and share what happened to her, this situation, unfortunately, makes the job of porn stars even more complex. Porn is a small industry and denying to work with someone can put the pornstar in a bad position in the perspective of others within the industry. Other sex workers in porn may not take the time to analyze why refusing even happened and will automatically assume negative stereotypes. It is bad for the business even when there are legitimate reasons to stay away from a certain porn star.
Unfortunately, there are many individuals who do not believe that it is possible to be raped when working in the sex industry. Specifically the male consumers who eventually become so desensitized to it that they start to believe pornstars are less than people and do not have the same rights as every human being does. Sex work is still very much a job performed by regular human beings, however because the porn industry has a mostly negative perception, consumers see them as sex crazed individuals. Consumers start to have the mentality that sex is part of their work so there is no way that rape could occur.
No matter who the individual is, consent is necessary when it comes to sex. Porn stars must be able to be comfortable with who they are working with and when it comes to their personal life, the necessity of consent is no different. Because of their image, people believe that porn stars are always ready for sex, however this is obviously not the case. There is still a fine line for their work life and personal life that porn stars have the right to. Just because their work entails sex, does not mean they are willing to consent to anyone at any time.
Not only does the article highlight Stoya’s courage, but it brings about important issues within the porn industry that many individuals need to understand. Being porn stars does not make them any lesser than individuals who work in an office or in a medical center. Work is still work to them, and how they choose to live their life still needs to be under their control. When their permission is breached, justice must be brought down and the first step in doing that is having people understand that porn stars are no different from the general public.
Dean V.
In the article “How Stoya took on James Deen and broke the porn industry’s silence” it talks about Stoyas confession about being raped by James Deen. In the article Stoya talks about how difficult it was for her to talk about what had happened. That she had been awoken by nightmare about what had happened to her. But once she spoke out of porn performers immediately began to show their support for Stoya, and some of them spoke out about “allegations like Stoya’s.” This represents the complexity of rape and consent when it comes to porn performers. It’s something that seems to be invisible that people don’t pretend it doesn’t exist. Why because it’s porn, sex workers are expected to enjoy sex no matter where it comes from, no matter who is it with. But the truth is that it’s different when you have a relationship with that person, there’s a difference between work and your personal life. As a sex worker people believe that the “line between porn and rape don’t matter” because no one does “porn willingly.” The idea is that because she had such job she had it coming. It’s like as if she was looking for it because of the way she was dressed, that she had triggered a man into raping her because she was so revealing. That because of those reason its automatically a sign of consent. The victim is blamed and bashed while the perpetrator is forgotten and left in the dark. In this situation Deen did take a hit in his career. Rape and consent is something that isn’t talked about until things get out of control. Rape happens everywhere and the victim is the one that is blamed so it’s not difficult to understand how invisible this topic is when it comes to porn performers being raped, when nothing is done for a victim who has never had any sort of sexual relations with any one.
ReplyDeleteMary C.
In Melisa Grant’s article, “How Stoya took on James Deen broke the porn industry’s silence,” one of the biggest points I believe that were made in the article was people generally believe that porn performers cannot be raped, and how this mindset influences their silence. Grant uses Stoya’s story as an example. When Stoya tweeted about her rape from former boyfriend, and fellow porn performer James Deen, it shook the public and the porn industry. Stoya’s story shows the public the structural problem of the porn industry, a mindset that states porn performers and sex workers are “unrapeable”. Not too long after Stoya’s confession, many other women came out with their own allegations of James Deen. The article states that because of the many negative stigmas sex workers and porn performers have, it makes it extremely difficult for them to even talk about sex assaults. We see this when Stoya tells Grant why is was so hard for her to admit was happened to her. The public would say things such as, “well you know you can’t rape a sex worker”, or “she still defends porn when she was raped by a pornographer”. Grant explains the negative stigma behind these messages. People think that no one does porn willingly, so there is no fine line between porn and rape, so porn performers are at fault for their own rape, this is one of the biggest reasons porn performers keep their silence. Grant also states that whether you are a porn performer or not, anyone who usually speaks out about rape, the victim’s sex history becomes the subject at hand, not the rape itself. The biggest point I believe that Grant and Stoya point out is that sadly, rape and rape culture happen everywhere.
ReplyDeleteCiarajane Datuin
This article showed how the porn industry is structured such that women are made to feel powerless to speak out against sexual assault in their workplace. The reality of them pretty much being prostitutes gives off the general impression that they gave up their consent when they entered that career. Female pornstar victims such as Stoya were not even sure themselves if they had a right to complain about what James Deen did and whether or not it could be considered rape. Even though many people have accused this man, there will almost certainly never be a criminal investigation and he will still be able to prey on females he will continue to work with.
ReplyDeleteStoya tweeting about a time James Deen raped her (outside of work) caused several other victims to come forward and reveal that he clearly had a habit of raping and otherwise sexually assaulting his coworkers. James was also exposed for tending to go overboard during consensual on-camera sex and turn it into a sadistic, painful, horror scene. It took eight additional women to publicly accuse Dean and his only punishment was some companies severing ties with him and other minor financial losses. The reality is that this will fade away and nothing will change. Most of the porn funders, straight men, are not even keeping track of male porn stars and did not hear or care about this scandal.
The article also pointed out that complaining about sexual assault is pretty much guaranteed to adversely affect their careers. It makes them seem like a risk to higher and they are used as an example by anti-porn critics as a reason to ban porn. It quoted Hill Meyer saying that because sex workers live off money from gig to gig, their current image and brand is crucial for them to get hired. They do not have the luxury of a stable salary. The anti-porn critics actually make it harder for the victims with their judgmental apathetic victim-blaming.
Nikko A.
This article summarizes the controversy and fallout surrounding Stoya’s tweets announcing she’d been raped by ex-boyfriend James Dean, both porn performers. It uses tweets and interviews with members of the porn industry to detail her assault, media reaction, and systemic problems, both in porn and in society as a whole.
ReplyDeleteOne of the major talking points of the article is the stigma surrounding the porn industry, accusation of rape, and the interaction of the two. In our society, women who are raped are unlikely to report the rape. This is largely due to the stigma that exists against rape victims in our culture, and their fear of backlash from both the public and even people they are close to. Our culture tends to fault the victim, as if they brought the assault upon themselves. But, when a porn performer is raped, she must also consider her public image – her brand – which is ultimately what generates most of her income and future work. The article highlights huge problem that exists in the intersection of the porn word and modern American society: That porn contractors may be less likely to hire a woman who has either come out as having been raped by another porn star or who refuses to work with another porn star for her own safety, on the grounds that she “‘can’t get along’” or is “’dramatic.’” Other performers have to weigh their own public support with the possibility of a decline in work from this same backlash.
I think the biggest take-away from the article, is that, while this story of rape within the porn industry has achieved a high profile and has generated much debate about potential downsides of porn, Stoya’s is just one more example of a woman in our society being raped and being afraid of the backlash of accusing her rapist. This kind of thing happens in porn, but it also happens outside of porn at ridiculous rates. It is a societal, cultural problem, not a problem with the sex industry.
Gregg H.
The porn industry is structured in a way that women are at a major disadvantage. Since the industry has shown a shift towards a preference in hardcore pornography, viewers and actors both begin to normalize violence and aggression in porn. This is due to the culture it's based in, a culture that glorifies violence and belittles women on a regular basis. Men inside and outside of the pornography industry are taught to be sexually dominant and aggressive. They are also taught to not take no for an answer and accept rejection. In addition, there is this false notion that since these women are in the pornography business, sex with other men is a given and in some cases, obligatory. The combination of these messages has a heavy toll on women in the sex industry. When aggression is seen as a norm, it reduces the likelihood of anyone considering rape a possibility in this industry. The lines of consent are somewhat blurred for some as well. In hardcore pornography, at times the actress' role is to try and resist, but still consents. However, these actresses also set a safe-word that is to be respected. The differences between acting and the actual revoking of consent becomes blurred in the eyes of the viewers and is used as a justification for the perpetrators of the assault. Women's rights to their own bodies are also somehow seen as being relinquished in this industry, stripping them of their right to say no and be believed. Stoya's claims on twitter created a window of opportunity for other women in the industry to step forward about their experiences of rape. It shed light on how big of an issue it is in the pornography industry and enlightens people on the fact that women in this industry still have ownership over their own bodies and the ability to say no.
ReplyDeleteShira T.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePorn is an extremely complex industry that, for the most part, society doesn’t care to understand. Habib, the vice president of the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC) agrees that “there’s such a cultural commitment to keep us from knowing what happens in sex work.” As with most things we don’t understand, stigmas and assumptions about porn culture circulate and attach themselves to the porn industry. It’s a dirty industry, made for men, etc., but people tend to ignore how much it reflects our culture as a society. The scandal with James Deen deeply reflects how we view rape as a society. Victim blaming is an extremely prominent problem, but it is somehow even easier in the porn industry. As Stoya and other porn stars have said, “for anyone who speaks out about rape, often it’s one’s sexual history that becomes the object of inquiry, not the rape. The difference for porn performers is that what is seen as their sexual history […] is already a matter of public record and debate.” This brings forward another prominent stigma about porn: females don’t choose to do porn, and therefore the line between work and rape is essentially nonexistent. This idea has been passed around to the point that people believe it is okay to rape sex workers and porn stars, because by engaging in their profession, they are basically asking for it. This is victim blaming at its finest—ignore women’s choice to work in the sex field so that we can ignore their choice to say no and completely remove consent from the picture.
ReplyDeleteAnother disturbing and complex fact of the porn industry is that, because it is actually rather small, image is everything. Because of society’s rape culture, it can destroy a woman’s career to come forward about assault. Thankfully, the James Deen scandal has done more to ruin his career than those of the women whose lives he tainted; still, the fear of coming forward is deep. Porn performers work like any actor or musician—job to job, with no guarantee of what’s to come, and branding themselves is the only way to insure steady work. Any public outcry is seen as an attack on their industry. That, and those who speak out are easily blacklisted as “dramatic.”
First, people need to understand that the porn industry is not as simple as it appears, and that those who choose to work in it deserve the same respect and protection that any person deserves. The rape culture that appears in porn is merely a reflection of society, and anyone who blames porn for it is blind to the effects of their actions.
Kali H.
To recap, The Guardian article where Stoya, a porn star decided to come out about her being sexually assaulted by James Deen. After she confess to being sexually assaulted while in the porn industry other women that were sexually assaulted by him or in general decided to come out as well. Her post may have caught negative attention but a lot of women also appreciated her for standing up and posting that about him so now people are aware to stay away from him in the porn industry. In her post on twitter she was straight to the point and let everyone know how he raped her and how it made her feel. While multiple women are being sexually abused in society, when it comes to women in the porn industry being sexually assaulted it is viewed differently. A porn star is seen as someone who likes to have sex, and who likes to be touched, although that maybe true they are still able to say, "No". This industry see women stepping up saying they were sexually assaulted as a porn start is bad for business, which may cause some to lose there job which is why a lot of porn stars stay quiet. Women in the porn industry are supposed to be silent, as they say, “you can not rape a sex worker.” This is not true the line between rape and porn matters, everyone voice matter rape is rape and it is everyone’s issue. It is seen that porn stars that are raped are at fault, and this is a problem because there is a difference between consent and no consent weather it is in ones personal life or work life. When someone in the porn industry speaks about being sexually assaulted there sexual history becomes the object of inquiry not them being rape. James Deen was very feminist, he told one of the women "he likes to try and break women." That statement alone just lets you know that he has a goal and he is going to achieve it to the best of his abilities. When Stoya tried to talk to him about what happened the night she was raped and was telling him no but he continued, called her tears abusive as she was trying to tell him how he made her feel. Society see people in the porn industry as them automatically consenting to sex. You are looked at as you have to want sex all the time, it is your job so why would you deny it. Being a porn star, agreeing to a gig and getting paid for your performance is one situation. Being rape is another, porn star and rape is not the same, just as consent and no consent are two different things. Although someone has chosen to be a porn star does not make him or her sex objects on or off the set. Everyone has the right to boundaries including porn performers. Therefore, someone being rape and someone being a porn star should be looked at and treated differently. If consent is not involved it is rape no matter what their job title maybe.
ReplyDeleteRoshandra S.
In Melissa Gira Grant’s article, How Stoya took on James Deen and broke the porn industry’s silence”, she discusses how Stoya, an American pornographic actress was raped by her once known significant other and how it affected the porn industry after coming forward about it. Grant presents the complexities of porn performers, rape and consent through this incident and many other sexual assaults involving James Deen and other performers within the pornography industry. Grant gives her readers insight on how hard it is to be sexually assaulted in the porn industry being that you are considered a “sex worker”. People have many different views on sexual assault in the porn industry; many may argue that there is no such thing and others will beg to differ.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Grant’s article she interviews a variety of people who contribute to the porn industry and how it this particular affected them. Arabelle Raphael, another porn performer admitted that some people knew about James Deen and the assaults he had committed against women in the porn industry. Another porn performer, Sydney Leather s also admitted how proud she was of Stoya for coming forward because it was “a bold thing to do”. Leather meant that it was a bold thing to do because just like many rape or sexual assault cases, women are too scared to talk about it. Grant goes on to tell that eight more women came forward about being sexually assaulted by Deen.
As Grant continues to interview more people, she finds that people in this industry know their limits and the safe word. Thus, claiming that there are boundaries and rights in which each porn performer has. Grant’s interviewees explain how complicated it may be for people to understand that porn performers all have rights as well as others do. What is displayed and projected to the audiences is what is consented by the performers and that is what others do not seize to understand.
Brianna F.