It doesn’t seem like it was all that long ago when people were actually ashamed to admit they viewed pornography. Those days are far behind us, apparently, as evidenced by actress Anna Kendrick’s admission yesterday that her typical online shopping experience eventually ends in her watching online pornography.
More noteworthy than the porn habits of Anna Kendrick, however, is the bizarre outrage and debate that followed her tweet that saw countless twitter users gravely concerned about upholding the dignity of sex work
Here’s the tweet that started it all:
My online shopping style:
Put everything I like in the cart.
Edit.
Edit more.
Edit until I’m down to one item.
Decide it’s not even worth typing out my credit card info.
Watch free porn.
— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) May 21, 2018
Kendrick was trying to be funny, and indeed won praise from many of her 7 million + faithful followers. Fellow celeb Zach Braff tweeted his endorsement of Kendrick’s porn viewing with one simple word: “wife.”
Wife.
— Zach Braff (@zachbraff) May 22, 2018
But the tweet also garnered quite a bit of backlash – but not for the reason you might expect.
The anger came from those who felt Kendrick was way out of bounds for watching free porn, and thus dissing the “hard working” sex performers trying to earn a living working sex cams and porn videos.
Really.
Parents with impressionable children who admire Kendrick weren’t complaining. People who understand that pornography destroys families, promotes a lack of respect for women, ruins intimacy, negatively effects your brain, causes shame, and more – they weren’t anywhere to be found.
But sex workers and their (apparently) many supporters were incensed that Kendrick would dare encourage people to watch porn for “free” on the internet.
Instead of buying things with money you earned from people who support your work, you steal from sw'ers who pay for your content with their hard earned money?
Disappointing.— Vanessa Sweet (@SweetWitchCoven) May 21, 2018
This is disgusting. #payforyourporn Sex workers deserve to be respected & rightfully compensated for their HARD WORK. Watching free porn means you don’t see sex workers as performers who deserve to be paid for the pleasure they are providing you. How does it feel to have a orgasm
— Kaat🐱 (@KaatMonroe) May 21, 2018
Kendrick may have been joking, but to the casual observer that wasn’t immediately clear. She started recommending “cam girls” for people to support financially “if cam girls r your jam” the actress said.
I actually favor a couple of the various gonewild subs but uh, fucking hell this all kicked off. Get your life tho!! And friends if cam girls r your jam, there is a pretty badass one right here 👆 (+ these replies turned into a small directory… happy shopping adult friends!) 💳
— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) May 22, 2018
Perhaps that was a joke, too, and she was just continuing the gag from the first tweet. Either way, however, it doesn’t matter – the most disturbing thing about this entire episode is the consensus that sex work is something to be praised and supported and dignified.
This response mirrors the disturbing trend unfolding in America today, which is not only that porn is being viewed by more and more people – but that it’s becoming increasingly viewed as a “morally acceptable” activity.
A majority of Americans, overall, still believe pornography is wrong – but nearly half of millennials (45%) believe it is morally acceptable.
That’s a shocking statistic, one that should concern every parent (and everyone) in America today.