Noam Chomsky & Robert Jensen: Kinkphobes

This conversation was sent to us by a reader who wished to remain anonymous, and is referred to as such throughout this post.

I feel it’s time to discuss with my fellow kinksters (and a few others who might be sympathetic) the problem of certain alleged “progressives” who freely spout kink-hating bigotry, often in the name of feminism.

One of these is Robert Jensen, a journalism professor who’s made a side career of writing propaganda for the “feminist” anti-porn movement. One of his favorite pastimes seems to be reviewing works of pornography (to whose purported pernicious effects he seems inexplicably immune) and declaiming on which elements therein are “degrading” to women. In one piece last year, for instance, he informed the world that all DPs (double penetration scenes) are “degrading.” When some women responded to him by saying that they didn’t share this feeling, he swerved by insisting that however women felt about it, he knew that men liked watching these scenes because we perceive them that way. But did he offer any evidence to support this view? Not in the least. This looks for all the world like a case of projection to me! You can see some examples of his positions on this page, which references some of his work: https://againstpornography.org/.

Another kinkphobe is Noam Chomsky. This became apparent a couple years ago when he gave an interview to Hustler magazine, only to subsequently repudiate this action after being made aware of its other contents (Chomsky is totally clueless about popular culture by his own admission), including a photo spread accompanying the interview that included spanking. Unlike Jensen, Chomsky had not previously made plain that he was impervious to reason on this subject, so I attempted to engage him in conversation, stating up front how I felt his position denies the reality and legitimacy of my sexuality. (To avoid needlessly complicating the discussion, I identified to him as a bottom, though I’m actually a switch.) He totally refused to comprehend this point, and instead tried to claim that I was “telling him what he could feel” and even that I was arrogantly presuming to speak for 3 billion women — when that’s actually what he was doing!

A while later, thanks to other people on area kinkster lists, I became aware of a case in England illustrating the ugly ways kinkphobia can manifest, in the abusive treatment of a goth couple by a bus driver. I forwarded this to Chomsky, hoping it might induce him finally to see the light. Not only did he not see the light, he refused to even acknowledge the issue of kinkphobia in his response.

It’s now apparent that Chomsky is just as thoroughly blinded by bigotry on this question as Jensen, and I’ve advised both of them that I’ll protest if they come to this area. I urge everyone reading this to do likewise.

Copied below is my most recent correspondence with Chomsky.

Anonymous wrote:
‘I’m a human pet’: The Goth teenager whose fiance walks her around on a dog lead

So, where do you stand, Dr. Chomsky? Are Dani Graves and Tasha Maltby degrading women with their lifestyle choice, by doing in public exactly the same sort of thing which, when done in public through the medium of pornography, you’ve said is degrading to women? Or are they being degraded by this bus driver’s intolerance?

For my part, I just wrote the bus company via their webform (easily accessed via www.arrivabus.co.uk) and urged them to take the strongest possible disciplinary measures against the bus driver concerned. (I’ll follow up with a postal letter.) I encourage you to do likewise.

Noam Chomsky replied:
You’re entirely entitled to favor material that degrades women, just as racists are entitled to favor material that degrades blacks. But I don’t have time for either category, as I’ve repeatedly tried to explain

Anonymous replied:
So, you refuse to answer my question (and, yes, I really did take that long to read your response, because I was afraid it would be just what it was). Your bigotry toward erotic bottoms like me, and toward all sex workers, will be met with protest the next time you appear in my area.

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• International Women’s Day
• Baby Lust or The Tubal Road Taken
• celebrating a year