Abstract
As global corporations overtake the role of national classification bodies as arbiters of “community standards,” online pornographic content is now largely regulated by payment processors, hosting services and streaming platforms. From a vantage point as both porn performer and porn researcher, Stardust examines the ways in which women’s body fluids and queer sexualities are disproportionately targeted, experiencing arbitrary and unjustified removal. Featuring qualitative interviews with Australian feminist porn performers and producers, this chapter argues that the regulatory shift from national classification frameworks to platform governance has moved the threshold test for pornography from indecency and offensiveness to profitability and market risk. Privatised regulation produces content that is safe, sanitised and risk-averse and poses new challenges for demanding transparency in decision-making about what constitutes “community standards.”
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Works Cited
Abrahams, Scott. ‘Classification Board Bans Female Orgasm.’ Sydney Star Observer, 2 February 2010. Accessed at http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/local-news/newsouth-wales-news/classification-board-bans-female-orgasm/20941 on May 22, 2014.
Akass, Kim. Janet McCabe, eds. Reading Sex and the City. IB Tauris, 2004.
Australian Law Reform Commission. ‘Classification—Content Regulation and Convergent Media’ Report 118. 2012.
Babeland. ‘Solar Bullet Vibrator.’ Accessed at http://www.babeland.com/solar-bullet-vibrator/d/2578 on 29 April 2017.
Badham, Van. ‘Why Some Australian Women Loathe Tony Abbott—Especially Now.’ The Telegraph. 16 September 2013. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-politics/10313055/Why-some-Australian-women-loathe-Tony-Abbott-especially-now.html
Biasin, Enrico. Maina, Giovanna. Zecca, Federico. Porn After Porn: Contemporary Alternative Pornographies. Mimesis International, 2014.
Butler, Judith. Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex. Psychology Press. 1993.
Coopersmith, Jonathan. ‘Do it Yourself Pornography: The Democratization of Pornography.’ In Johannes Grenzfurthner, Gunther Friesinger, Daniel Fabry. Pr0nnovation? Pornography and Technological Innovation. RE/SEARCH and Monochrom. Austria, 2008.
Cossman, Brenda. ‘Censor, Resist, Repeat: The History of Censorship of Gay and Lesbian Sexual Representations in Canada.. 21 Duke Journal of Gender. Law and Policy. 45. 2014.
Cossman, Brenda. ‘Disciplining the Unruly: Sexual Outlaws, Little Sisters and the Legacy of Butler.’ 36 University of British Columbia Law Review 77. 2003.
Coté, Mark. Pybus, Jennifer. ‘Learning to Immaterial Labour 2.0: Facebook and Social Networks.’ 2007. In Peters, Michael A. and Ergin Bulut (Eds.) Cognitive Capitalism, Education and Digital Labor. New York. Peter Lang. 2011.
Crawford, Kate. Gillespie, Tarleton. ‘What is a flag for? Social media reporting tools and the vocabulary of complaint.’ New Media & Society 18(3) (2016): 410–428.
Crowe v Graham. (1968) 121 CLR 375, 379.
Cusack, Carmen M., ‘Obscene Squirting: If the Government Thinks it’s Urine, Then They’ve Got Another Thing Coming.’ 2013. Texas Journal of Women and the Law, 2013. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2222040
Dennis, Kelly. Art/Porn: A History of Seeing and Touching. Berg. Oxford and New York, 2009.
Feck. Beautiful Agony. 2017. Accessed on http://www.beautifulagony.com/public/main.php 29 April 2017.
Flew, Terry. ‘Porn, Censorship, Classification and Free Speech: Global Paradoxes in the Governance of Media Content.’ Invited public lecture to Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts, University of Wollongong, 1 October 2015a.
Flew, Terry. ‘Regulation Beyond Government: Weber, Foucault and the Liberal Governance of Media Content.’ Invited Presentation to Academic Research, New Media Technologies and the Culture of Control, Interdisciplinary Workshop, University of Wollongong, 2–3 October 2015b.
Frieberg, Arie. The Tools of Regulation. Federation Press. 2010.
Gallop, Cindy. ‘David Cameron, Don’t Block Porn, Disrupt It.’ Wired. 14 August 2013. Accessed at http://www.wired.co.uk/article/cindy-gallop-open-letter on 29 April 2017.
Gilespe, Tarleton. ‘The politics of ‘platforms.’ New Media & Society. Sage, 2010. 12(3), 347–364. SAGE. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444809342738
Good for Her, Judging Criteria for Feminist Porn Awards, 2014. Now re-branded as Toronto Film Festival. Accessed at http://www.feministpornawards.com/judging-criteria-for-fpas/ on 29 April 2017.
Graham, Chris. ‘Facebook Re-Re-Suspends Black Feminist, Writer For ‘Offensive’ Images Of Aboriginal Ceremony.’ New Matilda. 13 March 2016. Accessed at https://newmatilda.com/2016/03/13/prominent-black-feminist-writer-petitions-facebook-as-more-users-suspended-over-offensive-images/ on 29 April 2016.
Graycar, Regina. ‘Gender, Race, Bias and Perspective: OR, How Otherness Colours Your Judgment.’ International Journal of the Legal Profession15:1–2. 2008.pp. 73–86.
Guardian. ‘Face-Sitting Protest Outside Parliament Against New Porn Rules.’ The Guardian. 13 December 2014. Accessed at https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/dec/12/face-sitting-protest-outside-parliament-against-new-porn-rules on 29 April 2017.
Guardian. ‘Norwegian Editor Challenges Zuckerberg to Discuss Censorship.’ The Guardian. 20 September 2016. Accessed at https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/20/norwegian-editor-challenges-zuckerberg-to-discuss-censorship on 29 April 2017.
Harradine, Brian. ‘Export of Pornographic Videos.’ Media Release. 15 October 1989. Eros Foundation Archives. Flinders University, Adelaide.
Hartley, John. Green, Leila. Lumby, Catharine. ‘Refused Classification and the proposed Australian Internet filter. An assault on the Open Society.’ Australian Journal of Communication 37:3. 2010.
Hartley, Nina with Levine, IS. Nina Hartley’s Guide to Total Sex. Avery. 2006.
Hawker, Philippa. ‘Gay Sex Too Much for Australian Film Censor.’ Sydney Morning Herald. 22 February 2013.
Hodgson, Nichi. ‘Can Porn be Ethical?’ BBC Radio 4. 28 September 2015.
Hungry Beast. ‘Labiaplasty.’ Australian Broadcasting Corporation. March 2010, Sydney. http://vimeo.com/10883108
Huntley, Rebecca. ‘Queer Cuts: Censorship and Community Standards.’ Media International Australia. Issue 78, November 1995. Jacobellis v Ohio, 378 US 184 (1964)
Jane, Emma A. ‘Online Misogyny and Feminist Digilantism.’ Continuum 30. 2016. pp. 284–297.
Lee, Jiz. ‘Karma Pervs.’ Accessed at http://jizlee.com/membership/ on 29 April 2017.
Lee, Jiz. Coming Out Like a Porn Star: Pornography, Protection and Privacy. ThreeL Media. California, 2015.
Leigh, Carol. Sprinkle, Annie. Herstory of Porn: From Reel to Real. 1999.
Lust, Erika. ‘Do You Find My Feet Suckable?’ Lust Films. 2016. Accessed at http://erikalust.com/xc-find-feet-suckable-special-edition/ on 29 April 2017.
Marks, Laura Helen. ‘Period Porn: Bodily Fluids On/Scene and Off/Scene Bodily Fluids.’ Marymount Manhattan College, Society for Menstrual Cycle Research. 7 Jun 2013.
Marwick, Alice. (2011), ‘Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity and Self-Branding in Web 2.0.’ Berkman Centre, 29 March 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXBP_OEBCCY
Marwick, Alice E. ‘Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity and Self-Branding in Web 2.0.’ Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development New York University 2010.
McKee, Alan. McNair, Brian. Watson, Anne Frances. ‘Sex and the Virtual Suburbs: The Pornosphere and Community Standards.’ In Maginn, Paul J and Steinmetz, Christine (Eds). (Sub)Urban Sexscapes: Geographies and Regulation of the Sex Industry. Routledge, UK, 2014, pp. 159–174.
Mooney-Somers, J. Deacon, RM. Richters, J. Parkhill, N. (2015) Women in contact with the gay and lesbian community in Sydney: Report of the Sydney Women and Sexual Health (SWASH) Survey 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014. Sydney: ACON & VELiM, University of Sydney.
Mowlabocus, Sharif. ‘Porn 2.0? Technology, Social Practice, and the New Online Porn Industry.’ In Feona Attwood. Porn.Com: Making Sense of Online Pornography. New York, 2010.
Ms Naughty. ‘What Happened When I Asked Vimeo To Define “Pornography.”’ Ms Naughty’s Porn for Women. 28 June 2013. http://msnaughty.com/blog/2013/06/28/what-happened-when-i-asked-vimeo-to-define-pornography/
My Free Cams. Rules for Models. Accessed at http://wiki.myfreecams.com/wiki/Rules_for_Models on 29 April 2017.
Patten, Fiona. 2014. Panel with Cyndi Darnell. Let’s Talk about Sex: Feminist Pornography. Wheeler Centre. Melbourne. April 3. http://wheelercentre.com/events/event/feminist-pornography/ http://cyndidarnell.com/2014/04/26/feminist-porn-the-wheeler-centre/ Accessed 22 May 2014.
Peaches. Rub. Vimeo. 2015. https://vimeo.com/147527929.
Rubin, Gayle. ‘Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality.’ 1984. In Rubin. Deviations: A Gayle Rubin Reader. Durham and London. Duke University Press. 2011. 137–181.
Sabo, Anne G. After Pornified: How Women are Transforming Pornography and Why It Really Matters. United Kingdom: Zero Books. 2012.
Sargeant, Jack. ‘First Notes on Contemporary Independent Pornography and Possibility: Function, Form and Philosophy.’ Runway: Australian Experimental Art. 2015. Accessed at http://runway.org.au/first-notes-on-contemporary-independent-pornography-and-possibility-function-form-and-philosophy/ on 29 April 2017.
Schlutt, Marcel. ‘9th Porn Film Festival Berlin.’ Kaltblut Magazine. 30 September 2014. Accessed at http://www.kaltblut-magazine.com/9th-porn-film-festival-berlin/ on 29 April 2017.
Sensate Films. Love Hard: A Docu-Portrait About BDSM and Intimacy. 2014. Accessed at http://lovehardthefilm.com/ on 29 April 2017.
Sensate Films. Slow Porn. 2012. Accessed at http://www.sensatefilms.com/slow-porn/ on 29 April 2017.
Slit Magazine. 2002–2013. Accessed at http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3288779 on 29 April 2017.
Sparrow, Jeff. The Money Shot: A Journey into Porn and Censorship. Scribe, 2012.
Sprinkle, Annie and Cody, Gabrielle. Hardcore from the Heart: The Pleasures, Profits and Politics of Sex as Performance. Critical Performances. Continiuum. 2001.
Sprinkle, Annie and Stephens, Beth. Goodbye Gauley Mountain: An Ecosexual Love Story. Fecund Arts. 2013.
Stardust, Zahra. ‘“Fisting is not permitted”: Criminal Intimacies, Queer Sexualities and Feminist Porn in the Australian Legal Context.’ Porn Studies 1:3. 2014. pp. 242–259.
Stardust, Zahra. ‘Pornography as Protest: DIY Porn and Direct Action.’ In Young, Madison. The DIY Porn Handbook: Documenting Our Own Sexual Revolutions. Greenery Press, San Francisco, 2016. pp. 37–42.
Smith, Clarissa. (2007), One for the Girls! The pleasures and practices of reading women’s porn. Bristol: Intellect.
Suzor, Nicolas P. ‘The role of the rule of law in virtual communities.’ Berkeley Technology Law Journal 25(4), 2010. pp. 1818–1886.
Suzor, Nicolas P. ‘Governing the Internet: The rule of law in decentralized regulation.’ Medium, 26 May 2016. https://medium.com/dmrc-at-large/governing-the-internet-the-rule-of-law-in-decentralized-regulation-c9af23d28f6b#.odgg5m7ub
Taormino, Tristan. Penley, Constance. Shimizu, Celine Parrenas. Miller-Young, Mireille. The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure. Feminist Press, 2013.
Taormino, Tristan. Tristan Taormino’s Expert Guide to Female Ejaculation. Vivid. 2012.
Trouble Films. Ban This Sick Filth. 2015, California. Accessed at http://www.courtneytrouble.com/store/BAN-THIS-SICK-FILTH on 29 April 2017.
Vnuk, Helen. Snatched: Sex and Censorship in Australia. Vintage, 2003.
Williams, Linda. Porn Studies. Duke University Press. Durham and London. 2004.
Young, Madison. The DIY Porn Handbook: Documenting Our Own Sexual Revolutions. Greenery Press, San Francisco, 2016.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Stardust, Z. (2018). Safe for Work: Feminist Porn, Corporate Regulation and Community Standards. In: Dale, C., Overell, R. (eds) Orienting Feminism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70660-3_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70660-3_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-70659-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-70660-3
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)