5 ms·

Struggle porn is a very uncomfortable term to use, perhaps you can think of something that doesn't invoke thoughts of rape? (Sincere comment, I'm not trying to

Struggle porn is a very uncomfortable term to use, perhaps you can think of something that doesn't invoke thoughts of rape? (Sincere comment, I'm not trying to shame the author).

commandlinefan 8y ago
Have to be honest, I thought that's what the essay was going to be about, too...
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
Mountain_Skies 8y ago
Same here. In general it's not a great development that the word porn is starting to become somewhat of a synonym for gratuitous.
bonniemuffin 8y ago
Something like "gratuitous struggle" or "struggle glorification" would be better -- a bit less emotionally charged, but it still gets the point across.
DoreenMichele 8y ago
Related terms: "Inspiration porn" and "disability porn." (There are also lots of SFW "porn" categories on Reddit, usually shiny pictures of some subject. Landscape porn. Woodworking porn. Etc.) I'm disabled and spent nearly 6 years homeless. I follow some other folks on twitter who have a chronic illness or are homeless advocates or similar. It is a legitimate complaint about how some subjects get treated. You get articles about, for example, someone helping a person in a wheelchair in the face of an unnavigable environment. It winds up being all kinds of "Awwww. They are sooo nice!" when the disabled community feels like "You are a bunch of assholes. If the environment complied with laws requiring it to be accessible, we wouldn't need your goddamned help. We could do it our damn selves." I've had lots of firsthand experience with people finding me all inspiring for my attitude or whatever the fuck in the face of adversity while not doing a goddamned thing to actually help me solve my goddamned (financial) problems. I'm sometimes rather cranky about that. So I have a lot of sympathy for people complaining that you are just getting off on my suffering by reading my story and this is not a healthy thing. (Disclaimer: I have yet to read the article. But the comment is on the title, so I don't think that's really a necessity per se to engage the comment.)
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
jf- 8y ago
How about “hardship porn”? Seems as punchy but less likely to be misinterpreted.
yardie 8y ago
When did porn become synonymous with rape?
- BugsJustFindMe 8y ago
  "struggle porn" specifically is a category of porn simulating rape. The problem isn't the word "porn", but rather both of the words used together when the pair already means something particular and broadly upsetting.
- DoreenMichele 8y ago
  I didn't even know that "struggle porn" was a particular type of actual porn simulating rape and I had no problem with the inference that the word pair invokes rapey imagery on the face of it.
lordnacho 8y ago
In my mind "porn" is the perfect word. I don't think it's inherently linked to rape. It's more that it's an unrealistic caricature of something, meant to excite the consumer in the basest way.
- BugsJustFindMe 8y ago
  "struggle porn" specifically is a category of porn simulating rape. The problem isn't the word "porn", but rather both of the words used together when the pair already means something particular and broadly upsetting.
  - lordnacho 8y ago
    Ah, I didn't know that. I have to get out of the house more.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

Struggle porn is a very uncomfortable term to use, perhaps you can think of something that doesn't invoke thoughts of rape? (Sincere comment, I'm not trying to shame the author).

commandlinefan 8y ago

Have to be honest, I thought that's what the essay was going to be about, too...

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

Mountain_Skies 8y ago

Same here. In general it's not a great development that the word porn is starting to become somewhat of a synonym for gratuitous.

bonniemuffin 8y ago

Something like "gratuitous struggle" or "struggle glorification" would be better -- a bit less emotionally charged, but it still gets the point across.

DoreenMichele 8y ago

Related terms: "Inspiration porn" and "disability porn." (There are also lots of SFW "porn" categories on Reddit, usually shiny pictures of some subject. Landscape porn. Woodworking porn. Etc.) I'm disabled and spent nearly 6 years homeless. I follow some other folks on twitter who have a chronic illness or are homeless advocates or similar. It is a legitimate complaint about how some subjects get treated. You get articles about, for example, someone helping a person in a wheelchair in the face of an unnavigable environment. It winds up being all kinds of "Awwww. They are sooo nice!" when the disabled community feels like "You are a bunch of assholes. If the environment complied with laws requiring it to be accessible, we wouldn't need your goddamned help. We could do it our damn selves." I've had lots of firsthand experience with people finding me all inspiring for my attitude or whatever the fuck in the face of adversity while not doing a goddamned thing to actually help me solve my goddamned (financial) problems. I'm sometimes rather cranky about that. So I have a lot of sympathy for people complaining that you are just getting off on my suffering by reading my story and this is not a healthy thing. (Disclaimer: I have yet to read the article. But the comment is on the title, so I don't think that's really a necessity per se to engage the comment.)

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

jf- 8y ago

How about “hardship porn”? Seems as punchy but less likely to be misinterpreted.

yardie 8y ago

When did porn become synonymous with rape?

BugsJustFindMe 8y ago
"struggle porn" specifically is a category of porn simulating rape. The problem isn't the word "porn", but rather both of the words used together when the pair already means something particular and broadly upsetting.
DoreenMichele 8y ago
I didn't even know that "struggle porn" was a particular type of actual porn simulating rape and I had no problem with the inference that the word pair invokes rapey imagery on the face of it.

lordnacho 8y ago

In my mind "porn" is the perfect word. I don't think it's inherently linked to rape. It's more that it's an unrealistic caricature of something, meant to excite the consumer in the basest way.

BugsJustFindMe 8y ago
"struggle porn" specifically is a category of porn simulating rape. The problem isn't the word "porn", but rather both of the words used together when the pair already means something particular and broadly upsetting.
- lordnacho 8y ago
  Ah, I didn't know that. I have to get out of the house more.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]