Casey Calvert takes on the question “Can Porn Be Good for Us?” in an op-ed article she wrote for international news site Economist.com. The article is part of an eleven-day online debate on the same topic, hosted by the British based publication.
“As soon as I saw The Economist was planning a debate on porn, I knew I wanted to be a part of the conversation,” Calvert said. “Thank you to The Economist’s editors for giving me the opportunity to present my heartfelt viewpoint on the adult industry and misconceptions about pornography as a whole.”
Calvert, whose article appears on The Economist’s micro-site for the debate, asserts that morality and the shaming of those who are sexual has tainted the discussion of pornography and sex. To read Casey Calvert’s article, click here.
“Opinions on the morality of sex should not cloud opinions of pornography. Porn is not sex. It is a representation, a performance, of bodies coming together…” Calvert wrote in her article. “The First Amendment to the American Constitution means I am allowed to do what I do. It is my right and my freedom to have sex with many partners and record it for the world. If you don’t like that, or if you think that is wrong, fine. But we aren’t discussing the morality of my actions.”
Calvert went on to express the divergent paths between mainstream society and the adult entertainment business when it comes to those deemed on the fringe: “Porn has long offered a glimpse of the future,” she wrote. “Long before alternative sexualities were accepted in popular culture as they are now, porn accepted them. Gay porn, fetish porn – it has all existed as long as straight porn has. Porn accepts everyone. There is content for everyone.”
Debate panelist Cindy Gallop, founder of MakeLoveNotPorn.com, found common ground with Calvert, stating: “Pornography can be used to help explore our sexuality, including what we like and don’t like; to discover that there are others who share our sexual tastes; and to reassure us that when it comes to the extraordinarily wide-ranging spectrum that is human sexuality, there is no such thing as “normal.”
Panelist Robert Jensen, journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, took an opposing view, saying, “The ethic of pornography is pretty clear: individual pleasure-seeking trumps all other values, and no one need pay attention to the consequences of either institutionalized male dominance or modern culture’s seemingly endless appetite for high-tech media that become more “real” than our own lives.”
Moderator Helen Joyce, International section editor for The Economist, wrote on the debate’s website that the value of porn is needed since there is little information on subject: “Compared with other common activities, the evidence on the impact of watching pornography is unusually poor,” she explained. “That is partly because it is almost taboo to study it. Academics report finding it difficult to get funding for research into sexual functioning in general and pornography in particular.”
According to The Economist, the debate is 11-days long, beginning on November 17 with the publication of articles by Gallop, Jensen, and Joyce. Three days later responses to each person’s arguments will be published along with closing segments the following week, before concluding on November 27. The website’s registered users will be able to vote throughout the debate period to determine which side is presenting their argument better.
About Casey Calvert:
Casey Calvert, the fetish model turned rising adult star began watching porn at a young age, but didn’t lose her virginity until she was 21. Recognizing a deep-seated desire to act out her strongest sexual urgings, Casey decided to wait to for the perfect fetish-themed experience to have sex for the first time. Self-admittedly kinky before she knew what it was, Casey has experimented with all types of fetish play, and takes pleasure in pushing the boundaries of BDSM. With a first name deriving from “K” and “C”, the initials of her celebrity crushes’ children, and a last name stemming from a college professor who taught her about first amendment law and pornography, the athletic and curvy newcomer embraces porn as a way to “explore fantasies that aren’t safe in the real world.” A recipient of numerous AVN and XBIZ Awards nominations, as well as the 2015 XRCO Unsung Siren award, Casey regularly performs for the adult industry’s most popular studios and boasts modeling credits in Hustler’s Taboo and the Mammoth Book of Erotic Photography. The University of Florida magna cum laude grad’s resume also includes writing about sexuality and culture for outlets, such as The Huffington Post and AVN, along with a featured essay in the book Coming Out Like a Porn Star: Essays on Pornography, Protection, and Privacy. Casey also educates on the topics of BDSM and fetishes through live appearances around the country, such as speaking to university students at UCLA, USC, and Chapman. Additionally, adult e-tail site GameLink.com enlists her services as its official BDSM & Fetish Expert. Open-minded, adventurous, and open to try anything at least once, Casey is focused on seizing the moment and on making her mark as a star, director, and producer. Find more information about Casey Calvert at www.caseycalvert.com/, and follow her on social media at www.twitter.com/caseycalvertxxx and www.instagram.com/caseycalvert.
About the Economist:
Established in England in 1843 to campaign on one of the great political issues of the day, The Economist remains, in the second half of its second century, true to the principles of its founder. James Wilson, a hat maker from the small Scottish town of Hawick, believed in free trade, internationalism and minimum interference by government, especially in the affairs of the market. Though the protectionist Corn Laws which inspired Wilson to start The Economist were repealed in 1846, the newspaper has lived on, never abandoning its commitment to the classical 19th-century Liberal ideas of its founder. The Economist considers itself the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability. It has backed conservatives such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. It has supported the Americans in Vietnam. But it has also endorsed Harold Wilson and Bill Clinton, and espoused a variety of liberal causes: opposing capital punishment from its earliest days, while favoring penal reform and decolonization, as well as—more recently—gun control and gay marriage. The Economist is online at www.TheEcomomist.com.
