Pleasure, Pain, and Authenticity in Pornography

This book explores the role of positive emotions such as pleasure, affection, satisfaction, and the intersection of these emotions with pain and authenticity in today’s pornographic industry. It offers surprising insights into the relationship between gender and pleasure.

Readers will be able to gain a better understanding of the role and historical development of positive emotions in mainstream pornographic videos and of pornography viewers’ attitudes and perspectives regarding these emotions. These insights rely on a systematic content analysis of more than 600 mainstream online pornographic videos, as well as more than 300 in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of frequent viewers of mainstream pornography.

The book is written primarily for scholars, including professors, graduate students, and advanced undergraduate students in the social sciences and humanities. It will also be of interest to various non-academic audiences, including feminist and religious activists, educators, parents, and pornography consumers. The book is written in accessible language and avoids technicalities, making it approachable to these wider audiences.

Eran Shor is Professor in the Department of Sociology, McGill University in Montreal, Canada. His research on sexuality examines the social dynamics of sexual attraction, aggression, and pleasure. His previous book, Aggression in Pornography: Myths and Realities (2021), was also published by Taylor & Francis.