For the month of October, Pornhub (exactly what it sounds like) has pledged to donate 1 cent for every 30 porn videos watched. However, the videos have to fit into one of two categories – “big tit videos” or “small tit videos”, which is where the charitable donation begins to seem quite problematic. At the time of writing this article, the most recent screencap I found was at 9,364,609 views – amassing to $3,121.53 that would be donated. According to Pornhub, these categories reach $70-90 million per month, meaning that the donation could total up to $30,000.

In a surprise twist, the intended recipient, Susan G. Komen’s For the Cure Foundation, has rejected their donation, stating that they “are not a partner, not accepting donations” from Pornhub, and “have asked them to stop using our name.” At first glance, a charity rejecting donations seems bizarre. But after reading the pre-controversy press release from Pornhub, the decision of the For the Cure Foundation starts to make a little more sense:

It doesn’t matter if you’re into itty-bitty-titties, the perfect handful, jumbo fun-bags or low-swinging flapjacks, what matters most is that your kind and selfless gesture will go a long way towards helping our sisters to find a cure.

This isn’t the first time Pornhub has taken action to combat breast cancer. Six months ago, the website brought their “Save the Boobs” bus to NYC to rescue Manhattan’s mammories by spreading awareness. So how can you help save the boobs this time around, you bravely ask?

Simply visit the landing page on Pornhub’s site (link available upon request) and follow the prompts, or head to the ‘categories’ tab on Pornhub.com’s home page and choose either “Small Tits” or “Big Tits” videos, then sit back and let the good times bounce.

The Save the Boobs web page will keep track of the total unique visits for the month so be sure to encourage your red-blooded friends and family (yes, tell your fathers too) to become a hero of the headlamps and a champion of the cha-cha’s!

The language is clearly problematic – “letting the good times bounce” isn’t possible for women who have undergone a mastectomy,  and “letting the good times bounce” sounds more like a taunt than a call to arms. Let’s not even talk about how the press release implies that only men watch porn.

Additionally, the Bree Olson Boobs Bus was a highly sexualised event, with half the website’s page about it emblazoned with images of porn stars and sexual euphemisms. Being open and positive about sex is something our society could benefit from, and donating to these foundations is noble. The issue in this case is that Pornhub’s attempts at charity continually appear to objectify women and their breasts, and breast cancer should command a little more respect than that. A few comments on the Reddit thread about Pornhub’s donation further illustrate the point:

“Oh my god. Time to fulfill my destiny and cure cancer by watching lovely little titties.”

“I’ve dated girls with all different sizes, and I have to say that the smaller breasted girls have been more fun. Maybe that’s because the larger breasted girls have been psychotic.”

“Sometimes smaller packages offer greater reward. I’ve personally had much better experiences with petite breasts than with large breasts, though the happy medium is pretty fantastic.”

Instead of a polite discussion about the benefits of raising money for breast cancer, the discussion dissolves into a debate about whether women with small breasts are better than women with big breasts. Again, there are only two available options. It’s clear that while Pornhub’s intentions may be to help, they’re really only bringing attention to breasts – and only the select kinds that are allowed, as per the regulations of the male gaze.

The male gaze does not need to extended to the idea of making cancer survivors sexy. I doubt women who have breast cancer, or are survivors of breast cancer, want to be represented by ample-bosomed porn stars that have not suffered from cancer.  Additionally, only donating when videos in the categories of “big tits” or “small tits” just screams “objectification!”. Women don’t just have big tits or small tits. Women have medium breasts, and sometimes their breasts have scars and lumps and sometimes they have ample stretch marks, often one is bigger than the other. Often, women with breast cancer have mastectomies. And that’s okay.

Trying to be charitable is not the time to start making women feel insecure about their own bodies, and indirectly shaming those that do not fit into either of these fetishized ideals – especially if the women Pornhub are attempting to support have suffered something as traumatic as breast cancer, and have potentially undergone mastectomies.

My advice to Pornhub: donating money to the breast cancer cause is a noble, and wonderful thing to do. But bringing in sex, objectification, and making it all about the breasts of porn stars is not the way to achieve breakthroughs for breast cancer.

What are your views on this? Do you think it matters HOW money is raised for charity as long as it’s raised? Do you think the Foundation was right to reject the donation?

Written by Jessica Bagnall