Table Of ContentCarnal Resonance
Carnal Resonance
Affect and Online Pornography
Susanna Paasonen
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2011 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any
electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information
storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.
Author’s note In various places throughout this book I have provided URLs for Web
sites that illustrate my analysis and that, I believe, will enhance the reader’s under-
standing of what I have to say. Some readers may find these sites offensive, however,
and should exercise caution in visiting the URLs. Readers should also be aware that
porn sites are sometimes infected with malware that can infect a visitor’s computer.
MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or sales
promotional use. For information, please email [email protected].
This book was set in Stone Sans and Stone Serif by the MIT Press. Printed and bound
in Spain.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Paasonen, Susanna, 1975–
Carnal resonance : affect and online pornography / Susanna Paasonen.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-262-01631-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Internet pornography—Research. 2. Internet research. I. Title.
HQ471.P33 2011
306.77—dc22
2011007758
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface vii
1 Introduction: Carnal Appeal 1
2 Bad Taste, Miasmic Forces, and the Ubiquity of Online Porn 31
3 Amateur Wives and the Attraction of Authenticity 71
4 The Literal and the Hyperbolic: Mapping the Modalities of Online
Porn 115
5 Visual Pleasures: From Gaze to Grab and Resonance 165
6 Absolutely Disgusting: Shock Sites, Extremity, and the Forbidden
Fruit 207
7 Conclusions: The Tactile Grab of Online Pornography 251
Notes 263
References 279
Index 305
Preface
Initially, this book was to be one article in my postdoctoral research project
on issues of location and interpretation in Internet research. Although it
seemed obvious to me that there was much to be said about online por-
nography back in 2002 when I was setting out to study it, little did I know
that I would be occupied with the project for years to come. By the time
my first article on online porn was published, I already disagreed with some
of its premises and conclusions. This experience—of disagreeing with my
essays even before they come out in print—has often been repeated, and I
find that forthcoming texts are already dated as my takes and stances on
the topic evolve. The longer I have investigated online pornography, the
more complex and interesting things have become. Things that seemed
straightforward at first turned out to be much more ambiguous and in acute
need of theorization. Although Carnal Resonance draws on my previous
work on porn spam email and online pornography, it results from a process
of constant rethinking and rewriting during which most things have not
remained the same.
This project evolved from a neat idea for one article-length case study
into a multiple-year exploration of the forms, paradoxes, and affective
dynamics of online pornography. During this time, I have worked in sev-
eral different research environments—the program for Media Culture at the
University of Tampere, the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University
of Turku, the Digital Culture MA program at the University of Jyväskylä,
and the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies at University of Helsinki,
where I was fortunate enough to be a research fellow for three years and
finished the first full drafts of the manuscript. Working in the Finnish aca-
demia involves constant instability and insecurity in terms of contracts (and
career), yet this environment also supports and appreciates investigations
viii Preface
into online pornography and its less avant-garde variations. My process of
thinking through online porn and its affective intensities has been shared
by friends, students, and colleagues, and I greatly appreciate their insightful
comments, questions, challenges, critiques, and encouragement.
A decade ago, Anu Koivunen, Mari Pajala, and I organized a conference
called Affective Encounters on rethinking embodiment in feminist media
studies. In hindsight, I realize that I was not quite able to grasp the diver-
sity of issues included under the conference topic, yet I have been lucky
to learn from Anu and Mari and continue to do so. Disturbing Differences:
Feminist Readings of Identity, Location, and Power, the research project with
Marianne Liljeström, Ilana Aalto, Johanna Ahonen, Katariina Kyrölä, Anu
Laukkanen, and Elina Valovirta at the University of Turku, has also been an
important intellectual resource and support in helping me think through
ways of working with affect in feminist research. I owe much to Kaarina
Nikunen and Laura Saarenmaa for the pleasurable collaborations on the
texts we coauthored, the two porn books we edited together, and the dis-
cussions we have shared on and off topic. Feona Attwood, whom I met
through textual collaborations, continues to impress and inspire me with
her analytical insights and intellectual enthusiasm. Without these kinds of
encounters and collaborations, I would not have studied porn for as long
or as intensely as I have.
I would like to extend my thanks to all those who have commented on
the various stages of my research in seminars, conferences, and peer review
processes over the years. These drafts have occasionally been raw indeed,
and with some of them, cooking has been possible only with this collegial
fuel. The Association of Internet Researchers and its annual conferences
have been one crucial framework and a social hub for this research. Michele
White has engaged me in fascinating discussions ranging from visible panty
lines to domestic filth, in addition to involving me in different networks
and constellations of queer, feminist, and postcolonial Internet researchers.
Ken Hillis keeps reminding me of how crucial it is to theorize online phe-
nomena with his own stellar example, while Terri Senft has made me revisit
the notion of transmission of affect with her contagious intellectual energy.
Jenny Sundén, my Swedish twin, has witnessed this book evolve from
scattered remarks to something more formulated and has made sophisti-
cated comments throughout. In addition, I would especially like to thank
Nancy Baym, Megan Boler, Mia Consalvo, Jillana Enteen, Charles Ess, Sal
Preface ix
Humphreys, Kylie Jarrett, Nalini Kotamraju, Ben Light, Sharif Mowlabocus,
Lisa Nakamura, and Irina Shklovski of the AoIR crowd (broadly defined) for
their enthusiasm and support. The netporn criticism conferences of 2005
and 2007 were wonderful catalysts for this project, and I much appreciate
being invited to the first one by Katrien Jacobs.
The input of the editors for the books and journals that I have con-
tributed to on this topic remains evident in the pages below, for which I
am grateful. The anonymous reviewers at the MIT Press provided feedback,
encouragement, and suggestions that were of great value as I was finishing
the book manuscript. My editor, Douglas Sery, has been extremely orga-
nized and supportive, and it is thanks to him that the book includes illus-
trations. In addition to those mentioned above, I would like to thank Kati
Åberg, Karen Boyle, Jordan Crandall, Nina Czegledy, Sari Elfving, Maria Fer-
nandez, Sara Heinämaa, Amanda McDonald Crowley, Brian McNair, Sergio
Messina, Emilia Palonen, Jussi Parikka, Leena-Maija Rossi, Ingrid Ryberg,
Tanja Sihvonen, Clarissa Smith, Johanna Uotinen, Annamari Vänskä, and
Adrianne Wortzel for listening to my trains of thought and helping me
forward. Witnessing Tarja Laine’s drive to finish her book on cinema and
emotion inspired me to focus on completing my own manuscript and to
set deadlines for making it happen. The company and friendship of the
Fab Five—Mari, Tarja, Eeva-Liisa Jokela, Maaretta Tukiainen, and Ilona Vir-
tanen—remains an ever-important anchor in the stormy seas of academe.
Soft-core pornography was introduced to Finnish national television
in the 1980s. The screening of the film Emmanuelle in 1987 was followed
by a series of X-rated films that were rendered less offensive to viewers by
the pink floating hearts that were placed on top of strategic body parts.
My family watched these films collectively in situations characterized by
ironic distancing comments, laughter, and acute self-awareness. This over-
all awkwardness efficiently stripped the films of their potential titillation
value while the parental regulatory gaze worked its alienating effect. These
uncomfortable viewing experiences taught me at an early age that there is
much more than sexual arousal to the affective dynamics of porn and that
porn can also be an object of shared curiosity. My parents, Eija and Asko
Paasonen, have taken great pride in my porn research, perhaps because
compared to some of my previous studies, this topic is something they can
relate to. I would also like to thank my sister, Sarianne, for being there with
me in all those awkward moments.
