The money shot

Pornography and the performance of pleasure 

Featured in

  • Published 20230207
  • ISBN: 978-1-922212-80-1
  • Extent: 264pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook

Readers are advised that this essay contains sexually graphic content and descriptions of sexual violence. 

AUSTRALIAN PORN PERFORMER Monica Mayhem is naked except for her black stilettos. She is having ‘reverse cowgirl’ sex so the camera can capture a full-frontal perspective. Behind her, Steve is sitting on the edge of the spa pool staring at Mayhem’s back, a look of intense concentration on his face. His is not an easy job.

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

About the author

Maree Crabbe

Maree Crabbe is an educator, writer, researcher and filmmaker and director of the violence prevention initiative, It’s time we talked. She is the author...

More from this edition

Wax

FictionI touch the wax of their pickaxes, then run my hand along the wax rock of the walls. One man squats a few metres away from the others, holding a pan. As I move towards him, I notice a label with descriptive text about Victoria’s gold rush, a reminder of the foundational gruesomeness of the enterprise – the colonial history of world’s fairs, or zoos, here insisting on itself in a minor carnival of the macabre. 

Taxidermy 

FictionReddit, I click. One post notes that mammals are difficult to taxidermise because it’s hard to find a dead mammal to practise on without hunting one yourself. It’s not like u can buy a dead animal with the skin still on at the butcher, BigKen62 posted. Try marine, TommyFishes America replied. I hover the mouse over the word. Then, click it. 

Same old new village

FictionWe pass the food market, and the dining hall, where each morning I would take my grandmother to eat yong tofu, hot noodle soup with fishballs and stuffed tofu. She said she always wanted to eat, but in reality she wanted to show me off to her old friends.

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.