Transgender Porn Ads Promote Misogyny and Degradation
Pornography can teach viewers what sexual ideals are considered desirable or acceptable, and since most content produced for viewing by heterosexual male viewers could promote abuse against transgender people or promote transphobia and degeneration in real life.
As such, pornography has an outsized influence on society’s understanding of transgender people – particularly young viewers exposed to shemale porn, which depicts trans women in an aggressive or sexualized fashion. Shemale porn has particular dangerous implications when depicted sexually exploitative ways.
Shemale porn (also referred to as “chicks with dicks” or “tranny porn”) targets an audience of straight, cisgender men who enjoy fantasizing about being penetrated by trans feminine embodiments. Blogger tranzfat notes that shemale porn perpetuates an inaccurate depiction of what trans women look like by portraying them as stereotypically beautiful, sexily dressed and toned individuals – as well as featuring artificial breast enhancement which reinforces the notion that only cisgender women possess large breasts.
Shemale porn’s rise coincides with an upswing in searches for queer sex on Pornhub, with searches increasing significantly since 2016. While this increase could be attributable to greater awareness about queer identity exploration or simply reflecting current political climate trends, it’s alarming that it occurs at a time when conservative lawmakers are suppressing and rolling back rights for non-binary and trans people.