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Abstract
In this article, I look at the shared experiences of women watching porn in the Republic of Turkey. I analyze the relation of porn consumption to Turkish women's sexual routines and interests. More importantly, I examine the social conditions under which women's porn consumption becomes an outward expression of a ‘new age’ gender mentality. Within this frame, I argue that the wide and relatively anonymous accessibility of porn in online environments has radically altered the circumstances under which female gender identities are materialized. My inquiry proceeds through an ethnographic investigation of women's access to pornographic materials before and after the mass availability of internet services in the Republic of Turkey and through publicly shared online narratives that illustrate Turkish women's motivations for consuming porn and their consequent experiences. I identify motivations for consumption expressed in these online narratives as a necessity for sex-learning; a break from daily routines; an exploration of lesbian fantasies and desires; excitement from observing stigmatized or forbidden sexual practices; and visual pleasures triggered by scenes of men serving as passive sexual objects. I use these categories to analyze the social dynamics behind and beyond women's consumption of pornography in Turkey.
Notes
1. Original title in Turkish is Namus Cinayetleri.
2. All confessions are publicly available in Turkish on erotikitiraf.com.
3. All posts referred to throughout the article were accessed on 5 August 2014.
4. There are scholarly works which discuss female porn consumption as an aspect of social heteronormativity and the ‘pleasing of men's gaze’ within intimate relationships (see, for example, MacKinnon Citation1989; Shaw Citation1999; Benjamin and Tlusten Citation2010). Undoubtedly, pornography may create unrealistic expectations about sexual performances and model oppressive behaviours for some individuals. But this is not its predominant significance, which in my view is about facilitating an autonomous source of pleasure (see Juffer Citation1998; Ciclitira Citation2004; Attwood Citation2005). It can be expected that in the current affairs of contemporary societies, porn is created by men for men. But within such ‘heteronormative’ social dynamics, women possess the agency to appropriate porn for their own purposes.
5. Without anonymity, the sexual confessions published on the confession sites would be whispered in the ears of a few companions. Anonymity makes publicity possible. This study is specifically concerned with female confessions, but how can we be sure the messages are really from women and not from men masquerading as women? In the first place, the confession site on which this study is based contains approximately 4000 confessions purporting to be by women. A few may indeed be written by men but it boggles the mind to imagine men working this hard at a silly prank. In the second place, there are characteristic differences between the way men and women express themselves on the sites. Men tend to provide descriptive talk about events – things they did or were done to them – whereas women discuss their thoughts and feelings in relation to sexual encounters/experiences. In terms of Gerard Genette's (Citation1980) classifications of narrative development, we can say that male confessions revolve around ‘mood’ – the modalities of reporting real or fictive facts, where female confessions strongly emphasize ‘voice’ – the mode of action in its relation to the narrating or narrated subject. With this in mind it is fairly easy to identify the gender of authors. Finally, in Turkish culture the position of the male is still considered superior to that of the female, which makes it difficult to see the point of men masquerading as women.
6. The expression ‘to make colourful’ (in Turkish: renklendirmek) is a frequently encountered way of describing porn as a fantasy stimulator and practice stimulator in Turkish sexual confession sites.
7. The original text of the Internet Act can be found on the website of the Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey. Accessed July 16, 2014. http://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2014/02/20140219-1.htm
8. The number is obtained from a Turkish website which provides a list and statistics of all blacklisted websites in the territory of Turkey. Accessed July 16, 2014. http://engelliweb.com/