Are ‘facials’ misogynistic?

So-called ‘facial’ cumshots, when a man ejaculates onto a woman’s face, are very common in heterosexual pornography. While they are frequently said to be degrading and misogynistic, the fact that women are usually shown as enjoying this act should make us think again. Facials may instead be rooted in male insecurity: of a fear that an aspect of how men orgasm – semen – is disgusting to women. By contrast, the fantasy, which pornography makes vivid, is that women might not just tolerate but celebrate and eroticize both ejaculation and its product. The way mainstream pornography presents facials is often misogynistic, but it does not have to be, and it is not always.