Empowerment, Whore Stigma, and Free Labor in Suicidegirls’ Social Network Porn
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The Logics of Good Exposure: Empowerment, Whore Stigma, and Free Labor in SuicideGirls’ Social Network Porn Jessica Diane Wurster Department of Art History and Communication Studies McGill University, Montreal October 2011 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communications © Jessica D. Wurster 2011 Abstract My dissertation examines the obscuring of models’ labor on SuicideGirls.com, an “alternative” social network porn site. In the early 2000s, a moral panic arose about porn’s widespread diffusion in North American culture. Just as these claims of “pornification” reached a critical mass, a different narrative emerged. I found in media accounts and in personal conversations an interest in the potential for a new kind of “alternative” porn. SuicideGirls was the most visible of these websites. The site became known for empowering its models by providing these women with a platform to express themselves as “authentic” subjects. While many feminists have argued that sex work has the potential to be empowering, what is novel about SuicideGirls is the way the site came to be perceived as actively producing porn that empowers women, in spite of site management’s claims that SuicideGirls was not a porn site, but rather one that showcased pin-up imagery. This positioning attracted considerable media attention and no small share of controversy. While early accounts were often glowing, the tenor of media coverage shifted dramatically in 2005, when some thirty SuicideGirls models departed the site and went to the press to publicize their issues with sexual harassment, pay scale, and contractual disputes over ownership of their images, as well as the site’s censorship of their complaints. My dissertation arises directly from these labor complaints. My analysis positions the site in relation to both pro-sex and anti-porn feminisms, as well as to emerging scholarship on new media labor practices, in order to articulate how SuicideGirls framed its models’ participation as something other than work. I position my work in relation to recent scholarship that attempts to critically examine and engage with these arguments about appropriate feminine sexuality and online labor, with the hope that my contribution to these debates will be directly applicable to “real world” situations such as the working conditions of SuicideGirls models. Résumé de la thèse Ma thèse examine l'occultation du travail des modèles sur le site SuicideGirls.com, un portail pornographique de réseautage social "alternatif". Au début des années 2000, une panique morale est survenue autour de la question de la diffusion généralisée de la pornographie dans la culture nord-américaine. Au moment où ces affirmations de "pornification" atteignaient leur masse critique, une interprétation différente a émergé. J'ai remarqué dans les explications des médias, ainsi que des échanges personnels, un intérêt dans la possibilité d'un nouveau type de pornographie "alternative". SuicideGirls était le plus visible de ces sites internet. Le site a été reconnu pour le pouvoir dont il dote les femmes qui y sont présentées, en plus de fournir une plateforme pour qu'elles puissent s'exprimer en tant que sujets "authentiques". Alors que plusieurs féministes ont soutenu que le travail du sexe peut conférer un certain pouvoir aux femmes, la nouveauté de Suicide Girls réside dans la manière dont le site en est venu à être perçu comme produisant activement de la pornographie conférant un tel pouvoir et ce, malgré les affirmations de la direction du site selon lesquelles SuicideGirls n'était pas un site pornographique, mais plutôt un site montrant des images de pin-up. Cette position a attiré une attention médiatique considérable et une part remarquable de la controverse. Alors que les premiers comptes-rendus étaient élogieux, la teneur de la couverture médiatique s'est transformée dramatiquement en 2005 quand une trentaine de modèles de SuicideGirls ont quitté le site et ont faire part à la presse des problèmes de harcèlement sexuel, d'échelle salariale et de disputes concernant les contrats et les droits sur leurs images, en plus de la censure que le site maintenait au sujet de leurs plaintes. Ma thèse émerge directement de ces plaintes concernant le travail. Mon analyse pose le site vis-à-vis tant les pro-sexes que les féministes s'opposant à la pornographie, de même que certains domaines d'études émergents sur les nouvelles pratiques médiatiques du travail, dans le but d'articuler comment SuicideGirls a construit la participation de ses modèles en tant que quelque chose qui n'est pas du travail. Je situe mon propos en relation avec des études récentes qui tentent d'examiner et d'investir de manière critique des arguments relatifs à une sexualité féminine appropriée et le travail en ligne, dans l'espoir que ma contribution à ces débats sera directement applicable à des situations concrètes comme celles des conditions de travail des modèles de SuicideGirls. Acknowledgments This dissertation may be the work of a single author, but it was a project accomplished with the help of a village. For her feedback and patience during the long process of writing this dissertation, I would like to thank my supervisor, Carrie Rentschler. Many thanks go to the many friends who have lent an ear and/or their editing chops during this project, especially Kat Dearham, Cameron McKeich, Kirstin Munro, and Jennifer Musial. Gretchen Bakke, Izabela Bryniarska, Becca Colao, and Joan Wolforth all earned my gratitude by keeping me going with their encouragement, comments, and support in flagging moments. I give handcrafted love and thanks to the staff and my fellow sewists at Emeline & Annabelle for reminding me how to have fun when not writing. And finally, I could not have done this without the support of my parents, Diane Wurster Lesnick and Tom Wurster, who kept the faith and helped me see this task through to the last. Dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, Laurine Andersen Wurster, who was always my biggest fan. She would have been thrilled to finally have a doctor in the family. This project was made possible in part by funding from the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and Media@McGill. Table of Contents ABSTRACT i RÉSUMÉ DE LA THÈSE ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii INTRODUCTION: SUICIDEGIRLS AS AN ALTERNATIVE PORN SOCIAL NETWORK SITE 1 THE FOUNDING OF SUICIDEGIRLS 8 EMOTIONAL LABOR AND FREE LABOR IN NEW MEDIA SEX WORK 15 PORN, SOCIAL NETWORKING, AND THE EVERYDAY 19 THE GENDERING OF WORK AND LABOR 22 SELLING AUTHENTICITY: THE CURRENCY OF THE SELF 24 METHODS OF ANALYSIS 26 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 32 CHAPTER 1: GOOD GIRLS, BAD GIRLS, AND SUICIDEGIRLS 36 SUICIDEGIRLS AS SEX WORK 42 RADICAL FEMINIST ARGUMENTS AGAINST PORN AND PROSTITUTION 43 PRO-SEX FEMINISM 48 SEX WORKERS’ RIGHTS AND WHORE STIGMA: COMPLICATING THE BINARY 52 SEX-POSITIVE FEMINISM AND POSTFEMINISM 56 PORNIFICATION: ANTI-PORN FEMINISM IN A POSTFEMINIST CONTEXT 61 PORN STUDIES: ITS PRESENT AND FUTURE 63 PORN PRODUCTION, GENDER, AND EVERYDAY LIFE 66 CHAPTER 2: PORN AS “ALTERNATIVE” COMMUNITY 71 COMMUNITY IN SOCIAL NETWORK SITES 73 ALTERNATIVE POLITICS AND LABOR 78 SUICIDEGIRLS’ ALTERNATIVE AESTHETICS 83 SUICIDEGIRLS AS ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY FOR WOMEN 88 LOCATING ALTERNATIVE PORN 93 CHAPTER 3: THE LABOR OF SUICIDEGIRLS’ SOCIAL NETWORK SITE PRACTICES 98 THE FREE LABOR OF NEW MEDIA CONTENT PRODUCTION 100 PRODUCING SUICIDEGIRLS CONTENT 103 LABOR, LEISURE AND THE WORK OF THE AUDIENCE 110 “PRODUSAGE” AND PARTICIPATORY CULTURE IN WEB 2.0 115 FROM “PRODUSERS” TO “PLAYBOUR”: LEISURE AS LABOR ONLINE 118 PRECARITY, AFFECT & THE CURRENCY OF SELF-ESTEEM 121 THE FREE LABOR OF SUICIDEGIRLS HOPEFULS 125 CHAPTER 4: THE LIMITS AND POSSIBILITIES OF SUICIDEGIRLS AS A SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNITY 137 CRITICISM OF/ON SOCIAL NETWORK SITES 138 CRITICISM AND COMMUNITY AMONG SUICIDEGIRLS MODELS 141 Wurster v LIMITING CRITIQUE THROUGH SUICIDEGIRLS’ POLICIES AND PRACTICES 148 LIMITATIONS OF THE DIGITAL QUASI-PUBLIC SPHERE 153 POSSIBILTIES OF THE DIGITAL QUASI-PUBLIC SPHERE 155 “LEAVE IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT” IN ACTION 157 CHAPTER 5: NOT-PORN, NOT-WORK & THE CATCH-22 OF SUICIDEGIRLS MODELS’ LABOR 163 WHORE STIGMA, OR HOW NOT-PORN BECOMES NOT-WORK 164 MAKING LABOR VISIBLE IN THE WHORE CONTINUUM THROUGH PIN-UPS 171 ALTERNATIVE AUTHENTICITY AS NOT-WORK 176 NOT-WORK AND WHORE STIGMA IN SUICIDEGIRLS’ SOCIAL NETWORK PORN 178 SOLIDARITY DESPITE (AND BECAUSE OF) SUICIDEGIRLS’ PRACTICES 183 WHORE STIGMA IN ACTION 184 CONCLUSION: SEX WORKERS’ RIGHTS AS LABOR RIGHTS 188 FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR RESEARCH 194 WORKS CITED 197 INTRODUCTION: SuicideGirls as an Alternative Porn Social Network Site Talk about piercing the veil. A group of angry ex-models is bashing the SuicideGirls alt-porn empire, saying its embrace of the tattoo and nipple-ring set hides a world of exploitation and male domination. The women are spreading their allegations through the blogosphere, raising the hackles of the SuicideGirls company, which has until now enjoyed a reputation as porn even feminists can love. — Randy Dotinga, Wired (2005) In North America, the first decade of the 21st-century saw renewed concern over “girls gone wild” and the easy accessibility of online porn. Teenage girls, the popular press worried, aspired to emulate porn stars. Porn, these writers suggest, had come to be seen as just another form of (risqué) fun. Moral and legal assaults on pornography also seem to be intensifying, even while middle class moms and college students clamor for courses on things like striptease aerobics. At the same time that porn appears to be becoming part of pop culture more generally, the stigma and punishment of sex work is far from gone. In the mid-2000s, just as claims about the “pornification” of North American culture reached a critical mass, a different narrative emerged. Alongside this moral panic about porn’s widespread diffusion, in media accounts and in personal conversations, I located interest in the potential for a new kind of “alternative” porn, much of which was taking place and being expressed online.