My Thoughts on Fetishization of BIPOC Features

Reading "A dive into the degrading world of fetishization Latinas live in" taught me much about fetishization. One of the things that grabbed my attention was when the author mentioned Janet Flores' experience dating a white male. She said “One night after sex as he caressed the side of my stomach, I pointed out to him that I’d gained weight and asked if he’d noticed,” she said. “His response was, ‘I don’t know if I’d ever notice something like that; you’re just a curvy Latina’”. It's crazy because he could've easily left it "I didn't notice" and then complimented her afterward but, he decided not to think before he spoke and said something stupid. I started thinking after I read this article and I realized that there's another issue at hand that ties back to the fetishization of BIPOC features and it's pornography. I feel like pornography and how damaging it is to teens/young adults isn't talked about enough. Taina Bien-Aimé talks about this in the video "Taina Bien-Aimé Interview — Truth About Porn" when she says "…because we’re so used to visual access, we’re so used to seeing movies that when we see porn, we assume a number of things that 1. they enjoy it. That if they didn’t want to do it they would not. That they’re getting paid very handsomely. What we don’t see is that pornography is really prostitution on screen. That the traffickers are the same, the pimps are the same they just have a camera in the room". I feel like this plays a big role in how many porn addicts view women. They think that because the women in the videos "enjoy" it, every woman in the world must enjoy it as well. "As long as men can consume porn, as long as they can consume a woman in the sex trade, we will not have gender equality. They will not perceive any women as equal to them they will always be purchasable, always be objectified, always be sexualized…” - Tania Bien-Aimé. 

It's crazy how fetishized women of color are in the porn industry. The industry often fetishizes race, reducing people of color to sexual categories that often focus on damaging stereotypes. One thing I'd like to note is that I'm not intending to bash the actors/actresses who participate in the videos it's more on the industry. The actors/actresses don't make a lot of money from their content. It all goes to the bigger companies who are posting the content. I learned a lot of this information from COMM-150. Another thing I'd like to note is that I don't think every person who watches pornography is an addict. Some people view pornography and aren't objectifying women in any way. I just think that the main people who are fetishizing women of color/BIPOC features and view women as "objects" are the ones who are addicted to it. I think it's hard trying to come up with a solution to help men like Janet Flores' ex. You can try and put a ban on pornography but I think that would bring about so many problems on its own. If you have any solutions to this problem let me know. I personally think there isn't a way where you can ban it as a whole but I feel like there should be a lot of restrictions when it comes to the titles of the videos, how women are treated within the videos, and a lot more. It's a lot more than just stopping addiction. I feel like it would also stop ignorant and stupid comments made towards women of color, how they're portrayed in the media and the fetishization of BIPOC features. At least I hope it would. There's no way of knowing unless something is done.