Written by Lynsey G for her blog. Originally published March 3rd, 2015.
“Here’s my thesis: porn is better experienced in community.
Sounds weird, right? Like, ew, like, community? Like, with other people watching, too? Like strangers? Or even worse, with people you know? Like, watching porn with friends? Awkward…
But I’m serious. Really, really freaking serious.
I had a weird weekend, you guys. It involved running around New York City in extremely cold weather, wine, hookahs, brunch, watching a lot of porn with strangers and friends alike at two different film festivals (CineKink and the NYC Porn Film Festival), and basically discussing pornography with a lot of people ranging from consumers to filmmakers to critics to protestors. It ended with me coming home, sick and exhausted, and having to stay home instead of going to a rad porn-festival-after-party… and thinking. A lot.
I don’t want to go into all the specifics. It would be silly to try to break down every statistic that Russell Brand cites in his video, or to transcribe the entire twenty-something minutes of audio I recorded of my argument with revolutionary communist anti-porn protestors outside the NYC Porn Film Festival on Saturday afternoon. I don’t need to explain to you the most fascinating points of my conversations with filmmakers Jennifer Lyon Bell, Morgana Muses, and Traci Traci, or the high points of my delightful brunch talk with Sarah Beall of MakeLoveNotPorn.tv. I don’t need to recount the in-depth debate over wine about a short film at Cinekink, or the bizarrely life-affirming messages that Annie Sprinkle shared with a sold-out crowd while she showed us the subversive vomit porn she made thirty years ago. That would make this long and boring to read (and, in the case of the vomit porn, kinda gross)…
Anyway, the point is this: porn can hurt us. It really can hijack our brains and cut straight from our eyes to our groins, leaving a trail along our insides. That trail can be one of shame and isolation and fear of discovery, which will wreak havoc. But it can also be a trail of intrigue and analysis that can be shared and enjoyed with other humans. Just like anything else, including the monster under the bed, it’s a lot less scary when the lights come on after the show and there are other people there, smiling and conversing, than it was when you were all alone in the dark.
To read the rest of Lynsey’s thoughts on NYC PFF, check out the rest of her piece here.
