I’m listening to RevLeft’s episode on proletarian feminism and wondering about this. I think we can agree that in a global socialist society, the sex trade disappears. Under socialism, people only have sex because they want to. At the same time, almost all pornography produced under capitalism is itself produced under coercion. (A small number of porn stars are relatively wealthy and produce pornography because they enjoy it, not because they have to.) If a socialist society decides to make access to that pornography free for all, doesn’t that mean that the porn stars (and all other workers involved in the production of pornography) are still being exploited, even if they’re dead? In a socialist society, does all desire to jerk off to pornography wither away, since a sexual revolution has presumably also taken place and most people are relatively satisfied with regard to their sexual needs? Will some pornography still exist, produced by the proletariat for the consumption of the proletariat? Will future socialist porn stars be considered heroes of labor? I don’t think we ever catch anyone in Star Trek jerking off to porn.
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In all likelihood, it would look like free amateur porn (like most NSFW content on reddit, for example), since that already exists today. There are people who like the idea of “showing off”, so to speak, so as long as those people are able to do so, it will exist. I would expect a socialist society to generally lower or even eliminate the average required workload for basic subsistence, so that would likely mean increased supply.
I’m going to sound naive. I’ll own up to it.
But with the removal of coersion of financial means, it doesnt get rid of the want to MAKE pornography. Almost literally as the screws were tightened to produce the first camera, pornography was made. People will want to take pictures and videos of themselves, and there shouldnt be a problem per say, with that.
Its kinda important that while there always an exploitative mode of it, it’s built off the less exploitative method that grew the demand the capitalists descend onto. We call them vultures FOR A REASON. They dont kill what they eat and they dont profit from what they built.
The concept of porn after capitalism will be nebulous, like many things that got turned up to 11 the minute profit threatened to show it’s face. We cant imagine what it’ll be like, but we forgot it WAS something else in the past.
Thats my read on it, at least.
Exhibitionists exist. Sex is fun and doesn’t have to be work even if produces porn at the end it can all be made freely and given away freely as all art should be.
Jerk off to amateur porn made by people who are just having a good time and want to show it off.
