Watching Porn

April 15, 2017
An accidental porn journalist reflects on her role mining the sex and politics of the adult film industry.In her post-collegiate years, G. found herself writing about porn by necessity: she desperately needed a job to stabilize her life in Manhattan. The self-described "country girl with a flair for the dramatic" was raised conservatively on a farm where educative books about sex were hidden away. A traumatic sexual assault compounded the author's repression and tainted her view of bodily pleasure. When confronted with work on an adult magazine, G. briskly became accustomed to life as a paid porn journalist. What had formerly been her "greatest source of shame and satisfaction" had now become her livelihood. Co-founding Whack! magazine and a column as a "pervy outlier" at McSweeney's in 2009 solidified her resolve to pursue writing as a career. Though definitely not for the sex-shy, the narrative has a breezy, conversational flow even when the author graphically discusses shock-value gonzo porn or the history of dildos. G. remains consistently affable, never flinty, despite moments of work-related exasperation such as her marked revulsion toward an overly forward Ron Jeremy at an industry expo. In addition to the more erotic personal experiences she shares while a media fixture on the adult industry circuit, G. also amassed a wealth of knowledge about how individualistically it functions, the misconceptions of those involved, and issues of racism, homophobia, and condom use. She also provides thought-provoking chapters on feminist porn and obscenity laws. As a writer with definitive feminist leanings, working in porn left G. internally conflicted as she asked herself, "could I really be a feminist and not only watch this type of sexual behavior--but profit on it?" Her answer, and the ways she reconciles this and other adverse aspects of her life, plays out through the remainder of a cleverly seductive, straightforward, unapologetically carnal chronicle of an unconventional working life. An intelligent, provocative, and indulgent insider's view of the contemporary porn industry.

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