The GOP Picked a Hypocritical Moment For an Anti-Porn Crusade
Donald Trump is not known as an opponent of the objectification of women. Image by Getty Images
I don’t believe in kinkshaming – sexpert shorthand for demeaning people for their personal sexual proclivities. Whatever turns people on is their own business, as long as they honor consent.
Although the most recent news cycle has spawned thousands of “golden showers” jokes, the act Trump is claimed to have enjoyed is not the problem. The problem is a narcissist who, despite his own sordid history, believes himself to be holier than thou. Worse still, perhaps, is the “family values” party that ushered him into office with nary a peep about his legendary personal and political perversity.
Long before #goldenshowersgate started trending on Twitter this week, we had abundant evidence of Trump’s extensive, troubling past with women and girls. The debate audience audibly laughed when Trump famously said, “No one respects women more than I do,” but there’s nothing funny about the way that DJT has triggered and terrified millions of women during the last 18 months.
Let’s go though some of Trump’s greatest hits, vis-à-vis misogyny, one more time. His ex-wife accused him of marital rape. He was caught on tape saying of women, you can just ”grab ‘em by the pussy… and when you’re a star, they just let you do it.” He was accused of rape by a then-13-year-old girl (the suit by “Jane Doe” was later retracted). At least 14 women have accused him of sexual assault.
A few seemingly noble Republicans backed away from him shortly after pussygate, but this was short-lived, and by November 9th, they were mostly on board again – with a vengeance. I guess they forgot that they had wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters.
And now we face a surreal, Orwellian hypocrisy: Under the management of the most sexually lurid POTUS in history, a serial cheater, one who literally bragged about the size of his penis at a national debate, we may see the biggest crackdown on porn we’ve experienced in decades. Yes, the War on Porn into their convention’s platform.
GOP-led state legislators and Republican governors are also in on the act. Anti-porn laws are being passed in states across the country. Perilously, Republicans got Trump to sign an anti-porn pledge last summer – as if this would erase all he’s said and done. The hypocrisy of this is beyond egregious, because Trump himself appeared in a softcore porn video made by Playboy. In the video he’s opening a bottle of champagne, surrounded by Playmates who are later seen dancing, frolicking and sensually touching themselves and one another. And as a pageant owner who profits off the objectification of women bodies, signing an anti-porn pledge is beyond sanctimonious – it’s sick.
The issue here is hypocrisy, not porn. Watching porn has never been proven harmful to its ever-bigger audience. Doing so actually has numerous benefits, especially for couples.
It’s true that mainstream porn can be very problematic in terms of its representations of women’s bodies. But the industry is expanding, changing, and becoming much more inclusive. Feminist porn embraces people of color, queer performers (and directors), and women of various sizes, shapes, and ages. It’s porn for everyone – not just straight men.
If Senator Jeff Sessions is confirmed as Attorney General, we can expect the anti-porn legislation currently sweeping the states to become national policy. This infringes on free speech laws, but with a conservative Supreme Court, anti-porn crusaders have a good chance of winning the day.
The venal, transparent overreach the GOP will surely backfire. In the early 2000s, the party made gay people into their targets in a campaign to distract Americans from the two unfunded wars that the Bush administration lied us into. But a few years later, we elected Barack Obama, and in 2015, same-sex marriage became the law of the land. The pendulum swings quickly back in the other direction, that of justice – so the GOP might want to mind their own business this time.
Stefanie Iris Weiss is a New York City-based freelance writer who writes about sexuality, politics and subcultures. Her most recent book is “Eco-Sex: Go Green Between the Sheets and Make Your Love Life Sustainable” (Random House/Crown Publishing).
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
