The world of gay porn will never be accused of being socially forward. It is a field of entertainment that caters to men’s sexual desires/fantasies, and isn’t generally concerned with social issues. After all, one watches pornography in order to experience sexual stimulus, not to engage in social critique. However, like every other cultural production, pornography is shaped by social forces and contributes to particular kinds of discourses, like race and racism. What makes all this interesting (at least to me) is when a porn “model” (that’s the word they’re using these days) decides to comment on racial diversity, the lack thereof, and “types.” What follows is usually a Sharknado-level crapstorm.
Porn “model” Marc Dylan fancies himself a porn commentator in the same vein of a Colby Keller or Conner Habib. Both Keller and Habib have made quite a name for themselves for offering witty, moderately articulate, and mostly well-informed commentary about gay pornography and their participation in it, gay sexuality and so forth. Having a Tumblr, Twitter account, Instagram, or Facebook page has helped make porn actors more “accessible” to their fans, and Keller and Habib frequently respond to questions from their fans, as does Marc Dylan. Well, he recently decided to answer a question about performing with someone to whom he’s not attracted. The first response isn’t that bad…(mildly NSFW)
…but his follow up IS.
Holy mother of wisdom, he really should’ve quit while he was slightly ahead. Dylan is trying to shift the problem of racial diversity/stereotyping into a discussion of capitalism, demand, and marketplaces? Sure, if we’re going to completely ignore centuries of racial stereotyping and discrimination that have created and maintained narratives of black inferiority, ugliness, and sexual deviance. If you peruse gay porn sites (don’t do this at work. You’ll lose your job), you’ll find that those sites that break clips and films down into categories will usually have one that’s labeled “black,” and maybe another one labeled “interracial.” Those categories and the movies contained therein almost always present black men as sexually insatiable “big dicked” monsters whose ginormous members are there to penetrate white men’s asses and mouths. Websites like SeanCody and CorbinFisher are notorious for the overwhelming whiteness of their stable of men.
Now, according to Dylan, this is the market speaking. The “invisible hand” of capitalism should dictate that if black porn models were more popular, then the studios would be using them, right? Sure—if this economic model was completely devoid of the personal “preferences” shaped by centuries of racism.
First, what Dylan is attempting to do is obliquely answer a question about whom he has on-screen sex with by punting it to the “market.” I suppose in the hands of a more capable commentator, such an argument could be successful. Here, however, it comes off as a red herring.
Second, he talks about studios that have one or two performers. Well. If a studio has had one black or Asian performer, then racism is over!
Wait. What? He really should have shut off the webcam and called it a day right then and there.
Third, he digs himself in deeper by buying into a notion that “preferences” aren’t rooted in racial bias. He claims that he has a right to be attracted to a “type,” but if a person says that they don’t want to sleep with a guy just because he’s black, then that’s racist. He doesn’t even realize he’s made a distinction where none exists.
If his “type” just happens to only be white guys–and I’m still not sure why he’s conflating his personal sex life with his on-screen sex partners–then he should probably realize his “type” isn’t a type; he’s categorically excluding non-white guys for no other reason than they’re not white. Of course, his whole “logic” is completely divorced from any understanding of how his white privilege allows him to act as an arbiter of what’s “attractive” or not and how that white privilege is operative in every porn studio out there.
