According to a press release for the group Morality in the Media, a two-month long boycott of Groupon that had 20,000 Groupon members canceling their accounts, has ended with Groupon severing ties with Kink.
Kink sells porn products and live performances, including what the press release calls “torture porn” (aka bondage). Groupon was selling a coupon for a tour of the Kink building called The Armory, which sex-positive writer HuffPo writer Vanessa Pinto describes like this:
The Armory is a historical building that people are fascinated with. Human beings are curious about all sorts of things they find odd or interesting. Tours are offered of Hearst Castle, Winchester Mystery House, and Alcatraz, and no one bats an eyelash. The Armory is a very old building with a rich history that people are fascinated with. Add to that, it was bought by kink.com, the home of BDSM porn, and of course people are going to want to take a tour.
MIM explains the boycott as one based upon a need to show the porn industry that people won’t tolerate products they consider damaging to women and children:
“Mainstream companies should stay far away from the sexual exploitation and abuse that is part and parcel of the mission of pornography companies,” said Patrick A. Trueman, MIM’s president. “Groupon offered deals not only for Kink but for an event at Playboy, the world’s top sexual exploiter,” he added.
Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of Porn Harms and Morality in the Media explains the basis for MIM’s boycott:
Pornography’s purpose is primarily the sexual exploitation of women and children for pleasure of men. Numerous scientific studies now demonstrate that pornography consumption contributes to many societal ills, such as violence against women and misogyny, addiction for adults and children, sexual trafficking and so much more. The website PornHarmsResearch.com substantiates these claims by offering a wealth of peer-reviewed scientific studies on porn’s harm. Kink’s pornography though takes sexual exploitation and harm to a new, lower level.
Vanessa Pinto thinks this is ridiculous, and is based entirely upon a misunderstanding of BDSM sex and the correlating porn.
There are no children at the Armory. All the models are of age. In her article, Hawkings does not have an issue with the Armory; but the article implies there is an issue with a certain kind of sex. I have been to the filming of Public Disgrace, Ultimate Surrender and many Upper Floor parties. Models are not harmed. Kink has a long list of policies and procedures to ensure the safety of their models, such as: “Follow the model’s limits. It is prohibited to try to convince the model to change these limits during a scene.”
Groupon has since changed its policy to prohibit sales of coupons associated with pornography. Interestingly, Groupon didn’t even tell MIM that they were changing their policy… an outside source informed the coupon company of the change.
What do you think of the boycott on Groupon? Do you think Groupon’s policy change was a result of the boycott, or a coincidence that MIM wishes to take credit for?
Are there ways in which BDSM porn does harm women and children? How can you tell the “good” porn from the “bad” porn?
Photo of lady with leather collar courtesy of Shutterstock
About Joanna Schroeder
Sounds like a whole lot of BS to me since I quick perusal of kink.com shows that they have porn where men are being dominated as well as gay porn. Are those misogynistic and harmful to women too? Would these people argue that female domination is misandrist, harmful to men, and promotes violence against men? It all seems ridiculous to me.
Same old anti-porn canards, based on the tiny sample of porn that seems to fit their theory. When they have a criticism of kink that’s a little more in-depth than “I don’t get it”, I might listen. And no, “probably leads to child trafficking in some mysterious and unprovable way” does not qualify.
Thanks for the tip that there’s yet another evil morality-policing group out there.
“Morality in the Media” = Evil and Stupid. Good to know. Any suggestions on the best way to crush them?
“‘Groupon offered deals not only for Kink but for an event at Playboy, the world’s top sexual exploiter,’ he added.”
Even in an article full of bullshit this is over the top.
“What do you think of the boycott on Groupon?”
I think it’s sad that those interest groups push to limit people’s freedom of expression and choice.
It’s the kind of people who’d like to burn certain books and restore medieval practices. They’re fanatics and sick.
“Are there ways in which BDSM porn does harm women and children?”
In NO way BDSM harm children. BDSM basic rules are clear: it’s between consenting ADULTS.
That those groups use the “children card” is revealing of both their ignorance and their attempt to manipulate people through emotional reactions.
Regarding women, people into BDSM choose to do that (be it for pleasure, money or both). So it’s their free choice as adults.
Do we forbid miners to go into mines because their work is dangerous and harmful? No, it’s their choice.
And, as a commenter already pointed out, in BDSM you get all genders and combinations; thus, why they complain about women being “harmed”, but they don’t care at all about submissive men?
“How can you tell the “good” porn from the “bad” porn?”
).
I’d say there’s no such thing as “bad” porn (unless you talk about taste, but that’s subjective
The only “bad” porn would be where people are forced against their will; but then it’s a felony and the law already exists about it.
Again, when it’s within consenting adults, then it’s their business, and nobody else.
Once again, this kind of action reeks of B.S. and fanatism. The usual mentally disturbed* people scared by sexuality and anything “odd”, desperately trying to control the rest of the world.
(* I’m not using the term “mentally disturbed” by chance: people who need to control everybody else is sick)
“Women and children”
MY god I am sick of the women and children focus bullshit. Hello, I am a man, we exist too, there is porn that is degrading as fuck to men too, there is BDSM porn of men being kicked in the balls, whipped, controlled etc. Yet on n on they bleat about the women and children, as if men are separate beings.
What’s next, banning coupons for books because the existence of books which promote violence, murder, etc? Let’s ban movies too, because some movies are misogynist!
Did they ever ask the women in those films how they felt? Is it too much to believe that some women like being dominated, slapped, etc as part of their own kink?
Folks, it appears that the posters to this thread are assuming that “Women and Children” is actually three words, it isn’t. It is ONE WORD. This is what society has become, whenever women are involved then they must attach ‘and children” to it. This is a prime example, after all who doesn’t want to help children. BTW, one thing that is funny to note about modern feminist language, whenever men is put before women there is an outcry about it….I wonder why we don’t say “Children and Women”, perhaps because the “and children” and just tacked on and aren’t really the important part of the word.
This makes me want to go out and watch a lot of porn. I think I’ll take a look at some as soon as I get home. I’ll try and make it as kinky as possible now compared to the boring amateur stuff I usually watch.
It will be impossible to create a consistent Groupon policy about this. Let’s see Groupon come up with a definition of porn and try to enforce a total ban. I just don’t see it happening, except for jettisoning the most obvious examples and keeping the more subtle ones. There are some great, sexually explicit books on sale at Barnes & Noble and other big booksellers. You can all sorts of racy stuff on amazon.com. Is Groupon really going to turn down business with big box stores?
In reality, what will happen is porn producers will be forced to use more euphemisms and disguises. Things like sex toys will continue to be marketed as “massagers” and “paperweights” and “costumes.” It’s not a Hello Kitty vibrator! It’s a Hello Kitty Neck Massager! (Actual product, now something of a collector’s item.)
Groupon has just given an edge to its competitors. It has taken itself out of a very profitable share of the market.
P.S. Besides, you shouldn’t really use a coupon to get into a BDSM dungeon anyway. That’s very tacky and completely unromantic. Using a coupon makes a very bad impression on a first date….
I’d be impressed if my date used a coupon, saving money is a great quality in a mate.
The only way I can think of that BDSM porn would harm children is if it happens to be one of their first exposures to sex via internet porn. BDSM is a complex kink, and I don’t think most children or teens would automatically understand everything that’s going on between consenting adults in a BDSM scene. On the surface, if one knows nothing about “the rules,” it sometimes doesn’t even really look like consent. And most BDSM porn doesn’t come with a brochure explaining the rules and context, doms and subs, aftercare, etc.
But children aren’t even the consumers of Groupon-style services, so I fail to see how they’re relevant to the boycott.
My personal jury is out on whether porn harms those who consume it and those who participate. ‘Lite’ porn like Girls Gone Wild sure reeks of exploitation and poor judgment, but I’ve also seen/read enough interviews with porn stars to know one can be a porn actor and be happy and well-adjusted and satisfied with that choice. I don’t feel a pressing need to make up my mind on the issue.
It’s a real shame to see this kind of puritanical sermon being paraded as a women’s rights issue.