Pornography: Men Possessing Women, by: Andrea ... - Feminish

For example, [in gay male pornography] I’ve seen pictures of aguy jacking off to an issue of Playboy; in other words, a guy islooking at a naked woman and jacking off and I as a gay man amsupposed to look at the picture and feel more excited looking atthat boy because he’s straight. T he message is that a straightman is more desirable than a faggot. Obviously this is a putdown to the gay m an. 6T he excitement is supposed to come, in fact, from the visualreminder of male superiority to women in which homosexual menparticipate. W ithout that wider frame of reference, masculinity isessentially meaningless. T he feminine or references to women inmale homosexual pornography clarify for the male that the significanceof the penis cannot be compromised, no m atter what wordsare used to describe his (temporary) position or state of mind. T heevocation of femininity or the presence of women is in itself a partof the sexual excitement because superiority means power and inmale terms power is sexually exciting. In pornography, thehomosexual male, like the heterosexual male, is encouraged toexperience and enjoy his sexual superiority over women.In I Love a Laddie, the seduction of boys, the enlarged genitalia ofa black male who is in a servile social position, and wealth as a signof mature masculinity complete a portrait of male power that isimperializing in its motivation, attuned to the nuances of dominancein its implicit values, rooted in the hierarchical absolutes of maleover-malepower within the larger culture.T he photograph shows two women in an elegant living room. Bothwomen have cream-colored skin, taut and flawless. T he room iscream colored: carpeting, sofa, table, walls. T he furniture is taut indesign: very modern and simple. O ne woman, blond-haired, lies onthe sofa, her ass raised on the arm of the sofa, her legs bent backtoward her stomach, the spread of her legs shown by the distancebetween her feet poised in the air. She is wearing a garter belt,nylon stockings that stop a few inches above her knees, and spikedheels the same color as her hair. H er eyes are closed, her eyeshadow is dark gray. H er mouth is slightly open, her lips are