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Violent Pornography and the ‘Frenzy’ of Labour

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Bodies of Work

Part of the book series: Dynamics of Virtual Work ((DVW))

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Abstract

This chapter expands on existing analysis of the gonzo and post-gonzo pornographic subgenres. It considers the misogynistic violence so common in heteronormative digital pornography and links it to pornography’s generic shift away from pleasure and towards labour as its principle representational objective. It analyses infamous sites such as FacialAbuse.com to interrogate the construction of the labouring pornographic body through misogynistic sexual violence. This chapter establishes how such violence functions to establish a new, economic basis for the pornographic genre’s promise of indexicality and realness, and it demonstrates why the grotesque, proletarian body in mainstream pornography can no longer function as subversive.

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  1. University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK

    Rebecca Saunders

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  1. Rebecca Saunders
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Saunders, R. (2020). Violent Pornography and the ‘Frenzy’ of Labour. In: Bodies of Work. Dynamics of Virtual Work. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49016-4_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49016-4_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-49015-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-49016-4

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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