Consent is consent. Don't tell people what they can and can't enjoy.
I know it's counterintuitive, but being on the receiving end of consensual "abuse"/disrespect etc in a sexual context is something loads of people are actually into. It's not just in porn.
Uninformed consent is not consent. You should take a workshop.
>but being on the receiving end of consensual "abuse"/disrespect etc in a sexual context is something loads of people are actually into.
There is a difference between being "in" to fetishes, or being "in" to the trust play surrounding something like rape fantasy.
But that's not what is happening in these videos. These people are acting like they're "in" to these things when they're not, but still having to experience the act involved. It's not simulated.
Tom Cruise isn't really getting shot in Mission Impossible. In many of the videos on pornhub, the women really are being coerced into performing sexual acts that they don't want to.
And that isn't even the point I'm making. In some (many) cases, these women are being literally raped, and then pornhub, and their employees, are profiting off of people enjoying seeing them be abused. Read some of the accounts from "girls do porn", or like I said above, watch the "hot girls wanted" docu.
>But that's not what is happening in these videos. These people are acting like they're "in" to these things when they're not, but still having to experience the act involved. It's not simulated.
There are different levels of simulation, though. It may not in fact be a requirement to be turned on by the acts one is partaking in, despite consenting (or even enthusiastic consent). We do things for other people, for money (this is obviously the big one) or for some other motivation (someone may not enjoy deep-throating, but may enjoy the fact of being seen on video).
Tom Cruise likewise has probably been unenthusiastic about some roles. His stuntman may enjoy some stunts but not all of them. Some stuntmen probably enjoy very few. Do we demand that the actor in a horror movie is as horrified as the viewer? That the children's TV presenter is as enthusiastic about the alphabet as his audience?
The simulation is on two levels which are easy to conflate: story simulation, in which a rape scene, for instance, is played out (and just like Tom Cruise, he doesn't get shot and the actress isn't raped), and act simulation (as you point out, Tom Cruise isn't really shot, but the actress still takes a facial). The second is worthy of moral discussion, but there are several empirical questions to answer:
* Is there anything wrong with it? We may think the actress suffers, but we can't know that in many cases. That's the wonder of acting. It's also "toil" (as in Adam Smith's "toil and trouble" to produce a good). The sewage treatment technician toils in some particularly horrible work. Some such jobs could be described as degrading, and some may not even be as necessary as sewage treatment. I feel empathy for them, but I'm unconvinced that banning such jobs or heavily regulating them is a good solution.
* The act really happens, but the morally problematic part of the act, as performed, may not. An ordinary person may feel humiliated and degraded, but the actress may not. This can be true even if the actress doesn't enjoy the act (but still consents to it).
* What happens off-scene? BDSM practitioners will tell you the importance of after-care. Surely some porn production also affords this. Feminist pornography prides itself on aftercare when needed, for instance.
There are many instances where things "really happen" in acting outside of porn. Leonardo DiCaprio cut his hand in a scene of Django Unchained. Actors becoming so emotional and feeling sadness or loss may cry on stage.
People react to media and negotiate their limits and deal with moods in different ways. Actors are uniquely placed to do that even better.
I know it's counterintuitive, but being on the receiving end of consensual "abuse"/disrespect etc in a sexual context is something loads of people are actually into. It's not just in porn.