Abstract
Racial dodging is endemic in the porn industry. It mostly takes place when Caucasian female performers refuse to shoot scenes with African American male performers, ask them to be removed from productions or ask for bonuses for shooting interracial scenes. The issue has caused intense debates in the industry. We contribute to these debates by offering a moral evaluation of racial dodging. We show that it unfolds a tension between two legitimate moral concerns: equality and self-ownership. More specifically, we make three claims: two specific and one general. We claim that: actresses have the right to refuse to perform in interracial scenes; actresses do not have the right to ask (or to expect) non-Caucasian performers to be removed from productions, or in other ways act as substantial obstacles to equality in this particular job market; and racial dodging is mostly not a problem with individual actresses. Racial dodging is the consequence of historical prejudices and structural racism. In that sense, we argue that the current focus on (Caucasian) actresses alone is misleading, which contributes to obscure broader responsibilities that fall on producers, directors and the public.
| Translated title of the contribution | Raceundgåelse i pornobranchen |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Journal | Porn Studies |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 115-130 |
| ISSN | 2326-8743 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 3 Apr 2018 |
Keywords
- Equality
- interracial
- pornographic industry
- racial discrimination
- self-ownership