“It’s a Way to Let Go”: The Intersection of Pleasure and Pain in Pornography

Abstract

The relationship between pleasure and pain has been a longstanding source of scholarly debate. While some view the two as antithetical, others argue that they are deeply intertwined. Scholars of sexuality have suggested that painful stimuli can be interpreted and experienced as pleasurable depending on their context, and that individuals are able to enjoy and take pleasure from acts involving pain. In the current study, I rely on 302 in-depth interviews to examine viewers’ perceptions and preferences regarding the intersection of pleasure and pain in pornography, particularly when female performers are the recipients of sexual aggression. Many viewers (particularly women) found some displays of pain in response to aggression arousing, especially when videos combined elements of pleasure and pain. Many of them also believed that pleasure and pain were closely intertwined, perhaps even inseparable. These findings are in line with emerging literature in the study of sexuality that rejects or problematizes traditional simplistic dichotomies between pleasure and pain.