Race oriented pornography
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Race-oriented pornography, one of the many subgenres of pornography is that which focuses on the ethnicities of its subjects. Such pornography is often objected to on the grounds that it is racist, frequently representing its subjects as ethnic stereotypes, and also on the grounds that it objectifies its subjects, presenting ethnicity as if it was a "flavour" of sexual encounter. Nevertheless, it remains extremely popular, both on its own, and in conjunction with other genres of pornography.
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[edit] Types of ethnic stereotypes in pornography
Where the general audience is appealed to, ethnic pornography typically features ethnic groups that are familiar in a particular country, such as members of significant minority groups, particularly those seen as most exotic. They may be seen as sexually unattainable, and therefore mysterious and exciting, or as promiscuous or sexually biddable. In the wake of the current conflict between the West and the Muslim world, pornography catering for Westerners' curiosity about Muslim men and women has also appeared. A new genre of Iraq war-themed pornography, depicting Western men and Arab women, has arisen in the mid-2000s, perhaps inspired by the Abu Ghraib scandal. [1]
Ethnic pornography may also serve the audience of that subset of a particular ethnic group who are only interested in looking at people of their own group. For example, there are a number of Jewish pornography websites whose material seems primarily directed at Jews or Asian themed sites that target East Asian men. There are also pornography websites aimed at the Arab, Indian and Pakistani markets, countries where traditional morals and attitudes toward women make dating difficult or impossible for many young men.
Ethnic pornography also frequently depicts sex acts between people of different ethnicities, commonly known as interracial pornography, perhaps for visual contrast, or (particularly in the U.S.) for extra titillation by breaking taboos regarding the depiction of ethnic stereotypes and even the highly sensitive taboo subjects of ethnic tensions and old anti-miscegenation laws.
[edit] Holocaust Pornography
According to New York writer and columnist, Joshua Cohen, Holocaust Porn functions at the extreme end of Jewish pornography. It is based in Israel and made mostly by Israelis for their own sexual gratification. The terror of the Holocaust is re-enacted in staged photographs and in films. The images and tapes, although grainy and black-and-white are clearly contemporary. [2]
[edit] Ethnic pornography preferences in different regions
Each different market has its own preferences, usually based on its own ethnic tensions and historical links with other ethnic groups. Some of these are:
[edit] In the United States
- Asian (see Asian fetish): Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Filipino, Indian
- European (normally only for a few specific fetishes): French, German, Italian, Russian, Scandinavian, Turkish (archaic fetish originating from Orientalism)
- In American pornography, Germans are often associated with sadomasochistic themes. Nazi regalia and black leather frequently occur in these depictions; a German or German-accented dominatrix is a frequently recurring figure. Films such as Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS play on these stereotypes.
- In the 1960s and early 1970s, Scandinavia was frequently depicted as a sort of sexual paradise, a utopia of free love. Successful films from Sweden, featuring sexual sub-themes, such as I Am Curious (Yellow) furthered this stereotype.
- North America: Black/African-American, Native American
- Latin American: Mexican, Brazilian, Cuban
- Polynesian: Hawaiian
[edit] In Europe
- Gypsy women are often treated in European literatures as femmes fatales, demanding lovers who inspire men to acts of violence. Carmen, especially the opera by Georges Bizet, and Esmerelda from Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame are well known examples of this fetish.
- Indian, Pakistani, Chinese and Thai women (for example Asian Babes magazine in the UK)
- Jews are frequently depicted as large-breasted and sexually insatiable. The brothel scene from Joris-Karl Huysmans' À rebours ("against the grain") and Aleister Crowley's poem La juive exemplify this fetish.
- Thai
- Japanese
- African/Black
- In modern visual pornography: Black males and the female members of the most prominent non-European immigrant group in each country; Asian girls (women of Subcontinental origin) in the United Kingdom, beurettes (women of Maghrebi origin) and métisses (women of black-white heritage, particularly of Antillean origin) in France, and Türkinnen (women of Turkish origin) in Germany. It should also be noted that Black women frequently appeared in pornography in 1970s, as central objects of sexual curiosity.
[edit] In Japan
- Western/White
- Russian/Slavic
- American pornstars with Asian men
- Asian
- Thai, Filipina
- Korean
- Indian
- Chinese
[edit] See also
- Main article: Pornography
- Pornography by region
- Asian fetish
- Exogamy
- Exoticism
- Miscegenation
- Orientalism
[edit] External links
- New York Press article on Jewish pornography and Holocaust pornography by Joshua Cohen
