In a 2020 Western world where seemingly all the traditional norms and concepts—from family structures to gender roles to law enforcement—are being questioned, if not tossed on the trash heap.
It would seem to be a no-brainer for a woman (or man or ally) to proudly slap on the “feminist” badge to signify not only identity and progressive worldview, but also solidarity with the social justice aspect of one’s career: feminist café owner, feminist doctor, feminist author, feminist….porn director?
Maybe. Yet, in a surprising February 2, 2016 Huffington Post article, porn director Nica Noelle seemed to push back on the label. Noelle’s critique covered several fronts, which we recap here:
What is feminist porn?
To begin with, Noelle points out that the term “feminist” porn does not have a clear definition. Does she have to always show women in dominant or empowering positions through every bedroom act? Does her work have to send a pro-woman political message or criticize men?
Does it have to operate by specific standards of sanitation, nutrition and compassion for the performers? And if the latter, then Noelle asks, “But when did professional ethics and artistic honesty become gender-specific?”
Some Un-woke Female thoughts about Feminism
Noelle seems less than enthusiastic about feminism itself, or at least how she perceives it. Having emerged from centuries of male domination, Noelle tacitly suggests that feminism is trying to establish a new tyranny: a college-educated female coastal elite aggressively seeking social control and disparaging homemakers, sex workers, or simple cultural traditionalists.
In her words, for all these reasons and more, “I never ‘identified’ as a feminist. Frankly, I thought (feminists) could use a sense of humor and a few rounds of hot, hair-pulling sex.” Noelle then goes on to taunt would-be critics by publicly posting her e-mail address and encouraging haters to pile on.
Women Enjoy the Full Range of Porn
As Noelle points out, feminists have often condemned porn or sex work, since it supposedly makes women objects of male lust. But Noelle counters that, contrary to common assumptions, women in the adult content industry are just exercising their career choices.
She also goes on to say that women in the industry can and should feel free to work across the full range of subgenres—soft, hard, straight, queer, and everything in between—as long as they feel comfortable. Noelle concedes that many women do have a preference for softer porn, starting with Candida Royalle back in the 1970s, but female directors have also worked on some of the most hardcore movie pieces around.
Noelle’s assertion is backed up by people such as Angie Rowntree, whose own porn site (Sssh.com) sees female visitors who enjoy a wide variety of content. And this breadth of female preferences seems to be global, extending to even the most traditional societies, as Humma (19), a college student from Islamabad explained, “I don’t think (porn) is offensive; I’ve seen nudity or bareness.”
Her classmate Samaira (19) wasn’t put off even by the stronger flavors of the genre, saying “(there are things now) in our content that you wouldn’t get years ago.” She then giggled as perhaps memories of some of that harder content came to mind.
Men and Porn:
Noelle also challenges the widely-held feminist portrait of male porn consumers as misogynist animals who revel in the onscreen sexual brutalizing of women.
On the contrary, when it comes to men, she found that a surprisingly large number of them seem to enjoy soft porn—porn with a storyline—just as much as women, if not more.
Success Among the Guys (Straight and Gay)
Noelle asserts that men have long been her biggest fans, customers and supporters. Since men remain the largest consumers of porn globally, she freely attributed at least part of her success in the genre to the male encouragement she has received. Interestingly enough, Noelle also states that male critics have been more helpful and positive than female ones, the sole exception being when she first ventured into making gay porn.
But Noelle found success there too, churning out a series of guy-on-guy hits that surprised the gay porn community. Her very first gay film, His Mother’s Lover, hit the top of the sales rankings within days of release, and stayed there for three months straight.
Turn up the heat: In whatever way you choose
In closing, Noelle encourages people to choose the porn content that they prefer, without worrying about whether it fits a specific ideological profile. Pick out the content, toys or services that get you hot, whether or not they are approved by the Woke crowd.
She likewise encourages other filmmakers and performers to follow their own dreams and career goals. In the end, whether as an adult industry worker or adult content consumer, it’s perfectly fine if your lifestyle is XXX-rated.
