Pornography: Heterosexual

Heterosexual pornography has long been the focus of heated debates, especially those concerning the portrayal of men, women, and physical intimacy. Though some viewers champion pornography for allowing people to experience pleasure and indulge in impossible fantasies, pornography furthers the theme of male domination and female suppression and exploitation.

Heterosexual pornography typically presents situations in which a man's desires and needs are met while the woman performs various sex acts, always enjoying herself while doing so. The scenarios in pornographic videos are endless but usually include some type of theme. Common tropes in heterosexual pornographic fantasies are teacher-student fantasies (wherein a woman plays a schoolteacher who has sex with her student, or vice versa) and babysitter fantasies (in which a young woman has sex with the father of the child she is babysitting or engages in a ménage à trois with both of the child's parents). Other common tropes are women dressed as nurses sexually servicing patients, women cheating on their husbands with a lover, or mature women sleeping with younger men. Some men also have fetishes that focus on certain body parts, such extremely large breasts, ample behinds, or feet.

Hundreds of sexual acts are featured in heterosexual pornography, but some of the most common (besides vaginal intercourse) include anal sex and oral sex, ending in a man ejaculating on a woman's face. The overwhelming presence of anal sex occurs, some scholars argue, because of its taboo nature. Similarly, oral sex is featured in most heterosexual pornography; in some cases, a porn film will consist only of a woman performing oral sex on a man. In many instances, after a woman performs oral sex, the man ejaculates on her face (in slang, this act is known as the “money shot”). The woman at the receiving end often smiles up at the camera, sometimes while licking her lips. Scholars have argued that this act valorizes and fetishizes sperm as a sign of male potency and power. Regardless of the theme, fetish, or sex act, these pornographic scenarios imply that women enjoy all sexual acts and that they should be valued only for their bodies (specifically, their genitalia). In this context, pornography is believed to desensitize men and to promote the view that women are passive and compliant sexual objects.

Other examples of heterosexual pornography encourage men to desensitize themselves with regard to women, especially examples that combine sex acts with violence. Sadomasochistic pornography showcases women in chains being whipped by men along with a variety of other violent acts, ranging from spankings to pinching to choking, almost to the point of suffocation. The most violent sexual act in pornography is rape, and scenes in which women are raped or gang-banged (raped by several men at once) remain common. Pornography provides viewers with a fantasy world, and in some fantasies physical abuse and rape become permissible, implying to readers that women are easy targets for both sexual advances and sexual violence.

Pornography catering to women or to people interested in engaging in sexual acts with people of ethnic groups other than their own also exists. Although less common than pornography created for male audiences, heterosexual pornography designed specifically for women likewise encourages women to value men for their sexual prowess. One of the most common scenarios in pornography for women is the ménage à trois, involving a single woman and two men. Another popular scenario in pornography for women is a black man having sex with a white woman; this scenario remains popular because of the common myth that black men are better endowed physically than any other ethnic group. Related to the situation of a black man with a white woman are common fantasies for white men, which include having sex with a black or Asian woman; these fantasies, in particular, suggest that black and Asian women should be subservient to white men. All of these examples misrepresent and exploit members of both genders, proving that pornography is one of the main sources for perpetuating gender (and racially based) myths.

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