This paper is occasioned by the Miss O video event, and is concerned with the problem of internet pornography. It goes without saying that pornography is essentially voyeuristic, in that is reveals sexual bodies hidden underneath textile coverings. Th...
This paper is occasioned by the Miss O video event, and is concerned with the problem of internet pornography. It goes without saying that pornography is essentially voyeuristic, in that is reveals sexual bodies hidden underneath textile coverings. The act of revelation is no doubt an act of violation, of fascistic violence. This paper argues that the pornographic revelation is motivated, legitimated by the scientific desire for truth which does not spare anything hidden, whatever it may be. Things have tendency to be self-contained and self-sufficient, concealed in their unviolated depth, but science as unconcealment pushes such a depth onto the surface, bringing it to light out of darkness. This paper concludes that pornography obeys such a scientific order of unconcealment: internet pornography is a legitimate offspring of scientific desire combined with technology.