When we think about the adult entertainment and pornography industries, the United States instinctively reigns as the king of sexual diversion. This thinking is understandable when we consider that the United States grosses more than $10 billion dollars each year from this one industry alone. While the United States is the most popular and prolific producer of pornography, it is certainly not the only country who makes a mint off of selling sexual fantasy.
The United Kingdom has its own cult following in the pornography industry, one which earns close to $2 billion dollars annually. While this is far less than the earnings in the United States, it is still a large chunk of change. The large grossing income of the adult entertainment and pornography industry in the United Kingdom is now in great danger of collapsing, thanks to a new set of Decency Laws that were recently enacted.
Through these laws, a number of common and obscure sexual acts have been deemed as illegal in regards to the filming of pornography in the country. These new laws were created as a result of major crimes that have gone to trial in the last two decades, each of which involved an element of extreme sexual behaviour. While some of the thirteen sexual acts which have now been labelled illegal for production have an obvious connection to violence, others are quite tame.
Thirteen Sexual Acts Which Are Now Illegal in British Pornography
- Physical Restraint
- Humiliation
- Spanking
- Strangulation and/or Auto-erotic Asphyxiation
- Consensual and Non consensual Abuse, Either Physical or Verbal
- Face Sitting
- Penetration By Any Object Associated With Violence
- Role-Playing As Non Adults/Minors
- Fisting
- Caning
- Aggressive Whipping
- Female Ejaculation/Squirting
- Urination
How These Decency Laws Really Came to Be
Following the above list of illegal pornographic sexual acts, some of the items listed are obvious and understandable. The violence associated with strangulation, asphyxiation, abuse, pseudo-pedophelia, and caning or aggressive whipping make sense if the law makers are attempting to blame the pornography industry on major crimes.
After a very public and sensationalized trial took place in 2003, where a teacher was strangled during sex by a friend who insisted it was all in good fun, the United Kingdom powers that be have sought to tie extreme and fringe pornography to these types of criminal cases, and therefore ban them from production. Thankfully, the extreme adult entertainment industry in the country is only a small sect of the overall industry, which is far more mainstream. While those who seek to participate, film, or watch the types of pornographic films which would feature these elements are outraged by the Decency Laws, the business on a whole has not suffered too much.
What is Characterized as Violence in the United Kingdom?
If we are to compromise and agree that some of the newly listed illegal offences truly are violent in nature, and therefore dangerous, it is only fair that we examine the other items on the list. It is unclear why, and moderately ridiculous, that the acts of physical restraint and female ejaculation are on this list of banned sexual acts.
Physical restraint, or bondage, has been a practised and well loved sexual act for centuries. While it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it appeals to a vast majority of sexually active persons. The acts of bondage and dominance and submission are far less rooted in the concept of violence, and more concerned with the ideas of trust and openness. On the same token, female ejaculation is a naturally occurring physical process in many women. It is not something that can be controlled, nor is it anything violent. Female ejaculation is no different whatsoever from male ejaculation, though apparently in the United Kingdom it is not “indecent”.
