PPP: Genra

You know the funny thing is that if nothing else comes out of the PPP breaking the monolithic porno superstructure into manageable parts is kind of an amazing step fowards. I am almost sad that I am going to be the one to do it because it really does make sense. When you say pornography is harmful, you are including that picture of some naked chick sitting in a chair making a kissy face. When you say pornography isn't harmful you are including child porn, crushing, and rape videos. So yeah breaking this up a little bit is going to be a good idea. It is also pretty much the place to start so 'ere we go!

Starting broad and working our way down:

Soft Core- Naked chick making the kissy face, skinamax, and all those other things are softcore porn. A good way to measure it, is to ask, is the sex act being depicted real? Hint if there is no sex act and you are just looking at some naked dude then you are kicking it softcore. No actual penatration, pretty much means soft core territory. Oral sex, and other things like that? It doesn't matter what I say because people will argue either way. I'm going to say that actual cock in mouth, to ejaculation is wandering into hardcore territory. Where as hands on upper body private parts, kissing, that sort of thing keeps it closer to soft core territory.

Hard Core- Hard core is the sex act being depicted is actually real. So there is actual penetration, or multiple penetrations, there is lots of real baby batter being slung around. All that fits into hard core. Hard core is massive.

Note that neither of these definitions rely on numbers or genders. So if you have 57 Transexuals all standing around naked...soft core. Where as two women using a double sided dildo is hardcore. There is also no allusion to quality. Hardcore and soft core can all be equally trashy, or refined.

Fetish- Fetish pornography is something that adds an additional element into the mix that sexualizes something that is non sexual. Spanking, insertion, bondage, fully clothed sex, water sports, the use of religiouse iconography, clowns, these all fit into the fetish category. Note that fetish doesn't stand totally on its own. So it is possible to have softcore fetish porn & Hardcore fetish porn. It is important to seperate fetish porn out because it definatly plays by a diffrent series of rules. Note there is a diffrence between Fetish porn and things that just make us squimish. So fisting for example, makes me squimish, however, it is not a fetish thing, it is a hand going into a vagina. Whereas a foot, 4 Zucchin, 1 Squid, a stump left by an amputated limb, or a barbie doll would all be consindered fetish porn because it is taking something non sexual and turning it into something sexual.

Art- This one is going to be controversial. However, there is porn out there, that is still very much porn, but it tries to do something else other than just be straight up porn. This is a result of either production values, them doing something exparamental, or just trying to make a statement with the porn itself. This category will make more sense when I do the art/porn venn diagram in a lil bit. This is prolly also a very small genra at the moment. Lots of softcore porn fits into the this area. People who like to tastefully photograph nudes? Art porn look at that. Whereas the destricted project, is an example of hardcore art porn. This is also here to purposly confuddle the art/porn divide. Cause why not?

Finally there is:

Bad Porn- Bad porn is porn that just about everyone can agree is bad. Bad bad bad. This includes things like childporn, rape porn, crushing, and snuff. Yeah yeah the fbi claims that they have never found a real snuff film. Right, cause they did such a bang up job uncovering the 9/11 plot, as well as the amazing work they do curbing the drug trade. Really? The fbi hasn't found something? Holy shit you don't say.

Rant on the fbi's failures aside this pretty much covers everything. It feels weird breaking things into genras it isn't something I am good at, nor is it something I paticularly agree with. See people get way to fixated on genras and they start coming up with all these strange micro genras that really aren't nessisary. I mean look at meatal, you have black metal, speed metal, doom metal, drone metal, goth metal, as well as a whole bunch of others when in reality each of these genras only covers a small handful of bands. I've kept each genra loosely definied and it is OKAY to have something fit into more than one genra. Some people like the ultra specificity of micro genras. I would talk about these people dismissivly but sasha is one of them and she can beat me up. It is one of those things we disagree on but don't argue about because really? At the end of the day I have people for that sort of thing. New genras will be developed and that's all well and good. Getting the ball rolling is the most important part.

It also helps make the whole subject become so much less monolithic. I mean jesus christ, do people know how silly they sound when they say pornography is/does/says X? Hell the first part of the project was going to be on the pornography pattern, but I've changed it up to be the pornography checklist because people keep doing it in diffrent order. Good. Well looks like this is just about wrapped up. Barns and Noble totally lost my order so I am not able to go do things like read Simulacrum and Simulation. Though I realize that at some point I am going to have to address Foucault. I. Don't. Fucking. Want. To. I'm going to do it anyway. It is such a miserable chore though and he doesn't really adress anything I am writting about. He uses endless historical examples that go on FOREVER to make relativly minor points. Also the whole knowlage/power thing? I dunno it doesn't really seem to fit in. Not when I am doing real people like Bauldillard and Lacan. Since I am returning the discussion of porn back to its actual basics, by looking at actual porn then writting about that the way I would a novel, Foucault doesn't seem all to paticularly applicable.

Oh well. I might be able to do something with the panopticon and voyerism or something like that. That has some promise, but it isn't really postmodern, it is panotpicomics which is something I consider to be diffrent. If I do anything with Foucault it will be power relations in BDSM. Though ultimatly I would rather do somehting about how the bdsm porn enforces power relations, whereas most bdsm relationships have a symbiotic relationship to them. My source texts would be some generic bdsm pornos, Venus in Furs, and Secretary. I'd flip that mother fucker on his ear I would. See though, it doesn't really fit into my project though so I guess not. Eh whatever fuck Foucault, sure he makes some valid points but only in very limited situations.

Whatever that chick that tackled the pope, she should of grabbed Foucault while she had the chance.

See Bauldillard is directly useful. He talks about the dangers of putting our ideas of what the real is before the real itself. He also talks about how things are so fake that they make the rest of the world seem super real. These two ideas, right there? Yeah 15 page essays easy. See take the idea of putting ideas of the real before the real. Women have cosmo, men have porn. You put the two of them together and it is no wonder why people's ideas of what actually happens during sex is so fucked up.

Oh well back to work I'll get back to this some more later.