Book Review: Getting Off

When I heard that Robert Jensen was speaking at my campus, I decided to finally read his book, Getting Off. I had heard mixed things about it, but the premise - a self-defined feminist man's take on pornography - sounded like it could have potential. Instead, Jensen has re-packaged classic anti-pornography arguments in a text that adds little to the conversation, and does many of the things he claims he is trying to prevent.

Jensen's main thesis is this: heterosexual, industrial pornography, largely in the United States, is becoming more violent in terms of the sex acts performed on women, which leads to the objectifiaction, degredation and abuse of women. This argument is essentially everything Andrea Dworkin ever said or wrote, and while he gives her some credit, the bulk of his book is comprised of her theories stated in a male voice. The idea that women in the United States are objectified, discriminated against and harmed in astonishing numbers is not radical, or something I disagree with. I don't even disagree with Jensen on the point that pornographic movies are becoming more degrading and that watching them could, potentially, desensitize men to seeing women as, you know, people. That said, I found his book to be borderline misogynist, unclear on its points and all around a bad read. Here's why:

First, Jensen believes that he has the unique ability to enlighten women about sexism. In one of the opening chapters, he discusses having female friends who stated to him that they use pornography themselves and don't find it all to be offensive. In response to this, Jensen describes one of the films he has seen, one which he claims is "tame" (but, in my assessment, is not tame by industry standards), to which his friend reponds "That wasn't fair." About this, Jensen writes "....it wasn't fair to push it...if I were a woman, I wouldn't want to know that. Life is difficult enough without knowing things like that...[that] you are something to be fucked and laughed at and left on the side of the road by men. Because you are a woman...Pornography forces women to face up to how men see them (pg. 15)."

He writes this as if being seen as an object is news to women and his graphic description of pornography is the only reality check his female friends, or women in general, will get about it. That we are in the dark about sexism and if we just ignore porn, we can ignore our frequent status as second class citizens. Because surely the cat calls from men on the street, requests from judges that female attorneys wear skirts to court, and "ladies nights" at bars didn't give us a hint at all. To summarize: according to Jensen, women cannot genuinely enjoy consuming pornography or even have an opinion on it that deviates from his. Women who do state things contrary to his beliefs are only saying such because they do not want to "face" sexism. Got it. Check.

Second, Jensen uses his status as a "feminist" to also become a psychic and to speak for all women. Getting Off is noticeably without much commentary from women involved in the industry. I can only assume that this is because the book is intended to focus on men and their involvment. When Jensen does speak of female performers (there is next to no mention of female directors or producers), every quote is bookended with a statement similar to this one "When pornography performers speak in public they typically repeat a standard script that emphasizes tha they have freely chosen this career....[a performer stated her career was chosen....as an exploration in sexuality] this framing of participation as a feminist act of women taking control of their own lives is common....whatever the reality of [their] description of [their] own life (pg.122)" and a claim that he respects what these women are saying and they have the right to their opinion.

After his disclaimer, he will launch into an anaylsis of their quote, or flim clip, or even just facial expression, always coming to the conclusion that they are not telling the truth and that if they were to be alone with a feminist like him, the real story would come out. Jensen's degrees in media and journalism have, apparently, also given him the ability to discern the real meaning behind women's statements and to attach his own interpretation to them as the Truth. It was disturbing to read in a book that is proclaiming that all women have the right to say "no" that we do not have the right to say "yes". Afraid to sound like the misgynists that he so loathes, Jensen gives lip service to women being able to have their "opinions" and then launches right back into his real meaning: women cannot think for themselves, and need an educated male to tell them what they are really experiencing and how to be an appropriate feminist. Your "yes" doesn't count in the academy just like your "no" doesn't count in the bedroom.

Finally, the book is just plain poorly written. The tone of the book is smug and self-congratulatory, with anecdotes mixed in about his "weeping" over the destruction of women and his bravery in standing up to a man he felt was inappropriate because the man's girlfriend wasn't saying anything (once again, needing to be the voice for a woman). His chapter on casual sex as another tool of the destruction of women is simplistic and heterosexist, as is his call to feminists to stop using pornography entirely. The start and finish of the book, where he depicts men at the Adult Entertainment Expo as being either a mob of rapists or pathetic fools, is histrionic and essentialist.

Men's voices are certainly needed in the feminist and anti-violence movement. Most of the perpetrators of violence against women are men, so they need to a) stop hurting us and b) tell their friends to cut it out, too. What we don't need, however, is another man telling us what we think, how we should behave or how to be a feminist.