Attempting to address this question using insights from Theodor Adorno may be somewhat challenging, but an intellectual-bourgeois perspective allows for a constructive approach to the topic. This method aims to elevate the discourse surrounding the phenomenon, removing adult content from its perceived “dirty corner” and allowing for a nuanced exploration that intersects the shameful aspect with solid philosophical inquiry.
This resolution occurs through an insistence on alleged and always verifiable authenticity, a crucial element in adult content. This commitment is exemplified by the proud depiction of ejaculation, serving as evidence of the content’s authenticity.
On the subject of authenticity, Theodor W. Adorno says the following:
Authenticity becomes the last reliable point of reference when the norms and values of a known world dissolve. Proving the authenticity of pornography finds its ultimate expression in the depiction of the final ejaculation. What better way for a porn film to assert its authenticity of porn than the depiction of ejaculation.
The initial reaction to the “cumshot” might be associated with the perceived humiliation of the woman by the man’s action. While this perspective may have some validity, it is not the sole rationale behind this phenomenon. Viewing the act solely as a form of humiliation suggests that ejaculation is inherently dirty and soils the woman. The notion that a woman could be tainted by consensual sexual activity, no matter how it appears, is not a particularly progressive idea. Furthermore, such an idea does not align with women’s diverse expressions of lust or pleasure or their own needs.
That’s the exciting thing about the world of pornography: it provides a safe space where fantasies can closely mirror reality. It’s important to keep in mind that fantasies are satisfied only when realized. For instance, having the fantasy of a “gangbang” doesn’t necessarily entail enacting one in reality.
A basic tenet of porn is that everything that is happening is real. It’s about real sexual interactions between two people, where you can see the penus and the vulva, buttholes, sweat, and the body’s folds and fluids. The absolute proof of authenticity lies in ejaculation, the dramaturgical and physical climax of the narrative. In a traditional dramatic structure, the story changes after the climax; in conventional hetero-porn, the storyline concludes with the male orgasm. In porn, the narrative moves from climax to climax.
But why does the climax always land on the woman’s face? The notion that a man would use himself or his surroundings as a canvas for these Jackson Pollock-like paintings does not occur—in straight porn, at least—and neither does it seem intentional that the man comes on the woman. Something would be withheld from the audience.
In classic porn, the bodies are smooth, the buttholes bleached, and the penises trimmed. Not a single hair is visible. The actors, as elegant as gymnasts and panting like boxers, engage in a highly demanding display of athleticism and sport. Within this setting, often more reminiscent of a gym than the dark and erotic thickets in which reality moves, free-flying ejaculation might be a final anarchic greeting from a force that cannot be captured, controlled or regulated.
In a world which sells control over the body as an aesthetic, the free shot can perhaps be understood as the ultimate bastion of the inexplicable mystery of the human body. Coming on a partner’s face also feels like acceptance. A partner’s back or breasts carry different connotations, but the face, with its openings, is vulnerable. It is also an important point of connection where diseases may be transmitted, non-verbal information exchanged and communication with the world occurs.
Presently, we find ourselves covering our faces with masks for self-protection and the protection of others. This underscores how much communication happens through our faces. Seeing someone’s eyes alone is not enough to read the person in front of you. Thus, the gesture of sperm flying onto a face becomes an act of absolute surrender to a partner—one that requires strong trust. Perhaps it is this element that renders it so erotic for many.
Traditional porn, as known until now, suggests an athletic performance rather than an authentic sexual experience, akin to coffee without caffeine or butter without fat—“deprived of its substance,” as philosopher Jean Baudrillard describes hyperreality. This concept is often used to interpret the state of image-focused media and intense information societies. In this context, sperm becomes the anchor grounding the film in the real human world. Without it, the interaction could be happening between two sex robots. In this case, semen suggests humanity.
Baudrillard characterizes the world as a reality show that has lost its essence, now composed of mere cyphers. Semen, in this context, can be interpreted similarly—a code representing humanity and freedom, and a final greeting from a world where bodies, despite relentless self-optimization, remain strange and sometimes repulsive, yet exciting and erotic.
In a world increasingly detached from the human body, on the brink of being enlivened by artificial intelligence, with companies embracing social freezing as the norm and the rise of completely controlled smart cities, the freely ejaculated secret might be the last rebellion of somatic anarchy that is slowly disappearing.
