“Organic, Fair Trade”: The Politics of Feminist Pornography

Since its inception, feminist pornography has been a subject of great debate, with practitioners, scholars, viewers, and cultural critics disagreeing over how to define it, how to categorize given titles, and even whether it exists at all or is in fact an oxymoron. Ultimately, a broad consensus has emerged around the idea that feminist porn should in some way provide an alternative to the monolithic images of sexuality espoused by most of the mainstream industry. What those alternatives may entail, however, can vary widely. This chapter provides an introduction to this diverse subgenre of thoughtful, engaged, and potentially egalitarian pornography by parsing relevant contributions from practitioners around the world, critical debates, and production contexts.