Panel Discussion — Pro-Am Pornography: New Economies of Sex Production and Consumption

This promised to be an interesting panel.

There are new forms of hybidization of porn, such as porn as art, as a education, as things that are acceptable, etc. Some of these new notions of porn as being smart, pop-culture, etc.

I wish the names of these presentations at the beginning of the panel discussion were listed on the PDF of the conference schedule. I better write the names next.

Quite an interesting next title, Widening the Glory Hole: Mapping the discourse of online porn fandom. Interesting again that the examples in this presentation seem to be heteronormative as well.

I wonder what the stats of porn users  are, such as male / female, gay / straight, etc. Sorry to use the same binaries that I heard all about this morning, but I am liveblogging here!

It is refreshing to see scholarship in the area of online porn (something I seem to know little about, evidently), as most of the examples are filled with  heteronormative examples. I wonder to what extent this purposely excludes GLBT porn, or perhaps that population is less interesting or accessible?

Increasingly social elements in porn, including male interaction and bonding (though not being gay). Digital communication provides more interaction, without a gay focus. Interesting that the conclusion about glory holes was provided in a way that promotes heteronormativity and male bonding (though not gay sexuality).

The next presenter (Sharif Mowlabocus) is now analyzing the porn site xTube. Rise of amateur porn as an intrument for subversion that problematizes the role of the oppressed and the oppressor. This is a fascinating perspective that I think applies critical theory to a topic that is often troublesome for “proper” discussion and research at all.

Well, since these are all paper presentations, perhaps this really is not a panel discussion as I had printed on my conference day overview. The research quotes that are being shared at the end are all so fascinating. Wish we could slow down to process them. Yes, one more subject about which I know  very little (porn and agency / subjectivity, issues control and embodiment, capitalism and labor, pressure to produce new effects as sublime capitalism without regard for wage or negotiation.

Susanna Paasonen is now speaking about Good amateurs: Erotica writing and quality.  She is exploring the literotica website. This last session is fascinating, as the focus is around literary usage and without the more widely-confugured set of images and videos.

I think this presentation is a great follow-up to all the work on surveillance and identity development I have attended today.

The session finished right on time, and as the last session in the room today, most people wanted to stay for questions. Ironic that the presentation and Q&A are being done in a very  dark room.

Interesting question about re-ifying the power imbalance of amateurs.

Every session I attended today has challenged my think in some way, and from this perspective I think this conference is money well spent.

Ahh, the Pro-Am stands for Professional-Amatuer! Yes, I am slow on the uptake.

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