Consent and Porn

14 Apr

In the past few months, I’ve been contacted multiple times to discuss consent in porn, particularly in relation to the rape disclosures related to straight performer (and former chairperson of the organization I work for), James Deen.

I’m tired of it. The gesture is almost always framed as “what can porn performers and studios do better?”

The real question is, “What can non-performers learn about better consent practices from porn performers?”

Unfortunately, very few people are interested in that. Instead, performers are subjected to rescue pleas, when, largely, no rescue is needed.

To broaden and correct public discussion, I took part in a panel called “Consent in Porn: Debunking Myths & Managing Realities.” Also on the panel, adult film stars Mercedes Carrera, Nina Elle, and Mickey Mod, as well as talent agent Mark Schechter and Director Dee Severe. The panel was moderated by Dr. Chauntelle Tibbals.

In the talk, I try to move the discussion away from consent as a concern when it comes to bodies interacting with bodies and instead to deeper and more urgent questions of permission, like: Do we actually consent to having our images used by studios forever? Should we consent to lower wages? Why are we trying to get people to pay for our porn when performers don’t get royalties?

That’s when things get a weeeee bit contentious between myself and the production people.

Watch the entire video is below.

(Note: for some reason I can’t get the video to start at the beginning, so just click on the beginning.)

3 Responses to “Consent and Porn”

  1. Jonathan May 21, 2016 at 10:16 am #

    Great Discussion.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Ongehoord! Aflevering 11 - over de betekenis van seksualiteit: een gesprek met Conner Habib - Marije Janssen - March 28, 2019

    […] bijvoorbeeld zijn artikel ‘What I Want to Know Is Why You Hate Porn Stars’, in een panel over consent en pornografie waarin hij praat over wat we kunnen leren van porno performers en zijn gesprek over genot, […]

  2. My first scene (er, podcast) with Ty Mitchell! AEWCH 124 | Conner Habib - September 22, 2020

    […] I talked on a panel with other performers about consent in porn years ago.• Stoya’s disclosure that James Deen assaulted her was an […]

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