This thread on Aborigen‘s Twitter conflates a number of issues that have been concerning me off and on ever since I started writing size smut for publication.  I’m going to lay out my current thinking on these and related topics, and as always, I am speaking only for myself, and I invite comments, questions, rebuttals, and other opinions in the replies.

The most immediate concern is that of objectification, which is not of course restricted to size smut (although there is a size-related pitfall, more on this later).  The reason why objectification is, well, objectionable is that it treats the object of desire as just that, an object rather than a whole person with a history, desires, and agency of their own.  This does not mean—as I believed in my misspent youth—that attraction to someone’s appearance is inherently objectifying or degrading.

A related phenomenon is fetishization, an intense attraction to or obsession with a specific characteristic or activity that assumes a greater importance than respecting the person possessing that characteristic or engaging in that activity.  Indulging a fetish is to constantly risk losing sight of everything and everyone else.  Being on the receiving end of fetishistic attention is a hollow experience at best.

These are examples of harmful conduct between real people in real life.  Is art that invokes such conduct involving fictional people also harmful?  Does porn have a greater or lesser responsibility than art to minimize harm?

Continue reading “How We Porn” →