ABSTRACT
The male consumer of commercial pornography operates at the nexus of two dynamic systems of stratification – patriarchy and capitalism. He is at once a male who is accountable to the demands of patriarchal hegemonic masculinity and a consumer who is subject to the weight of modern imperial capitalism. Patriarchy emphasizes difference whereby hegemonic masculinity is established through dominance over femininity yet is routinely vulnerable to challenge and suspicion. Modern imperial capitalism is motivated by profit which is derived primarily through the colonization of new markets and consumption. These two macro systems of power interact to configure the social context within which the male pornography consumer makes choices and exercises agency. His ‘choices’ are therefore not completely his own, rather they are constrained by these dual systems of power, which, I argue, conspire to define the male consumer as a site of exploitation for the commercial pornography industry. The commercial pornography industry is a capitalist endeavour designed to
seek profits. As such, it is subject to the same Marxist critique as all other capitalist enterprises. As Brod (1988) points out, to take a socialist feminist position, as I am doing here, raises different questions about the pornography industry. Specifically, it allows me to ask questions about the male consumer and the practice of consumption rather than its putative effects. The question expands from what type (exploitive versus empowering) of sex is being sold to include how sex is being sold. A socialist feminist critique raises questions such as: How does the commercial porn industry extract its profit? How does the industry interact with its customer base? Is it fair and ethical in how it markets to its customers? How is the pornography industry structured to make a profit? How is power distributed among the industry’s members? In other words, what is the political economic structure of an industry that culled US$24.9 billion from the pockets of primarily male consumers in 2006 (Free Speech Coalition 2007)? To answer this question, I use a social network perspective to map the opera-
tional environment of the online commercial pornography industry as constituted by business relationships between members of the pornography industry as well as those with mainstream business. I ground my analysis in the theoretical work of Heidi Hartmann, R. W. Connell and Harry Brod, among others. These data
reveal a spider-like network anchored by two main conglomerate hubs that connect to a series of producers and distributors. Through these connections, commercial online pornography is produced and distributed to ‘affiliate web sites’ whose goal is to cast a wide ‘sticky’ net to ensnare the male consumer in a neverending series of web sites embedded with ‘clicks’ that are consciously designed to profit by circumscribing and limiting consumer choice. The lure of this capitalist network is patriarchy. The male consumer, primed by hegemonic masculinity, is drawn to the edge of the network by curiosity, where he finds gonzo porn sites that promise to satiate his need for masculine validation. Upon his arrival, he is entangled in a series of click manoeuvres and marketing gimmicks calculated to further reduce his agency and transform him from the ‘curious clicker’ into the ‘member clicker’.
