Duke Porn Star: Feminist Friend or Foe?

When I first caught wind of the Duke porn star story, I was snapping my fingers in praise. She is an intelligent, liberated, sex-positive feminist who embraced her sexuality while destructing the patriarchy…or so I thought. The more research I did, the more at odds I felt with my feminist self. Normally I would not think to critique someone’s sexuality — it is part of his or her private life and none of my business, or anyone else’s for that matter. But once Belle Knox’s messages entered the public domain and her face became one associated with the feminist movement, I no longer felt the need to protect her from criticism.

Yes, Knox has made a huge splash in sex work. She has drawn attention to the fact that feminists need to stop disparaging the porn industry because this reduces our ability to help the women who are marginalized by it. I second the notion that we must fight for sex workers and for their protection and for their decriminalization. Additionally, I do not believe that it is within the true nature of the feminist movement to tell a female that she is either a good feminist or a bad feminist. When feminists shame other women for “high” or “low” levels of sexual activity we give the rest of the world the go-ahead to do the same, indirectly enforcing the harmful slut/virgin dichotomy. And it is not my intention to do so.

There are simply certain ideals and beliefs without which feminism will lose its identity.

Knox continuously uses the word liberated when describing herself. This conjures an image of the free woman. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Let us look a little closer. If Knox’s choice to become a porn star was made out of desperation to afford an education, as she claims, then it was not a free choice. It was a choice forced by societal constraints and represents the flaws in both our economic and education systems. We cannot support forced sex work. We must instead move to change society so that there are other options and so that those who enter the porn industry truly do it out of their volition. Knox cannot be free but at the same time forced to do something. It’s a paradox.

Knox openly admits to participating in aggressive pornography while simultaneously identifying as a feminist. I believe that this is antithetical to the feminist movement. We must not say that all porn is incompatible with feminism because this perpetuates the idea that only men can be sexual beings. Knox claims to fight female oppression, yet she is featured in depictions of sexual violence and degradation.

Maybe this is fine. Maybe it has no bearing on anything. After all, it is just a fantasy. While we should not judge sexual preference, psychological research from the University of Pennsylvania Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program suggests that all types of pornography (soft-core, hard-core, violent and rape), but especially the more sexually aggressive kinds, make men and women both more likely to view rape as acceptable, if not deserved. And frankly, I don’t see how we, as members of the feminist movement, can legitimize something which makes rape desirable.

Pornography is a series of images that demonstrates certain sexual behavior and the rewards that follow, causing the viewer to become sexually aroused and eventually achieve orgasm. This positive reward “can be extremely effective in producing deeply learned beliefs and behaviors.” In other words, one can become conditioned from the porn he/she watches and will eventually internalize it.

Aside from subconsciously encouraging sexual violence and degradation, aggressive pornography has been found to affect relationships. Increased consumption of porn leads to a greater likelihood of cheating in a monogamous marriage. It lowers the desire to reproduce, and it especially lowers the desire to have female children. Porn rarely depicts many of the risks/consequences of having unprotected sex with multiple partners, thus making viewers more likely to underestimate the danger of participating in such activities. Again, all of these theories are substantiated by research.

 “Exposure to pornography leads men to rate their female partners as less attractive than they would have had they not been exposed…less satisfied with their partners’ attractiveness, sexual performance, level of affection, and expressed a greater desire for sex without emotional involvement.”

Porn makes men think that their female partners should look a certain way, behave a certain way and talk in a certain way, and when they don’t, it is not satisfying. Of course, women are affected by these standards too. Women are perpetually made to feel inadequate when they do not live up to the unrealistic image being portrayed.

 “Pornographic depictions of the sexuality of women…distort the truth about desires of women…and legitimize men’s sense of entitlement, and use of force, violence, and degrading acts…”

Don’t get me wrong — everyone needs a little fantasy in life, an escape of sorts. And for many that can be found in the realm of pornography. That is totally fine. But when the fantasy starts being projected onto reality, when it starts affecting rates of domestic violence, when it starts making rape socially acceptable, I think feminism must say something.

I am not claiming to be the voice of the feminist movement because that is absurd, to say the least. But, I would ask Belle Knox to reconsider allying her work with feminism. Go ahead and do what you want with your life, but realize that you actively aid society in making men believe that it is okay to hurt, degrade and subjugate women. You don’t fight female oppression — you exacerbate it.