Only Words, a slim volume by University of Michigan law professor Catharine MacKinnon, published in 1993, might be considered the Bible of the radical feminist anti-pornography movement, providing a theoretical and legal framework to complement the more personal evidence presented in Andrea Dworkin‘s impassioned memoirs. MacKinnon’s intelligence and thirst for justice are undeniable, but some […]
Continue reading A Review of Catharine MacKinnon’s Only Words
The journal Nature reports that the long-term mental suffering caused by psychological abuse is similar to that of physical abuse. To us, this further undercuts the notion that porn is just harmless fantasy. Many porn scenarios involve psychological abuse, as we will show below. But first, Nature: The long-term mental anguish caused by psychological torture […]
Continue reading Nature: Psychological attacks rank high on torture list (explicit language)
We are excited to hear that Gloria Steinem, 1956 Smith graduate and feminist legend, will return to campus on May 20 to give the commencement address. Steinem’s early freelance work includes an undercover article for Show magazine on the working conditions of Playboy bunnies. Her stance against porn is clear: If you have two groups […]
Continue reading Anti-Porn Legend Gloria Steinem to Give 2007 Commencement Address at Smith College
A correspondent brought to our attention this insightful interview published on the Media Education Foundation website. Jackson Katz, Ed.M. is one of America’s leading anti-sexist male activists. He is the co-founder of the Mentors In Violence Prevention (MVP) program, the leading gender violence prevention initiative in college athletics. He is the director of the first […]
Not satisfied with the high degree of correlation between porn consumption and sexual callousness, our opponents keep pressing us to elaborate the mechanism that links porn and behavior. It looks like a clue lies in the role of testosterone. This hormone has many good qualities, but it is also linked with aggression and promiscuity. The […]
Continue reading Time to Explore the Links Between Porn, Testosterone, Sexual Behavior and Violence
The American Psychological Association finds that media and marketing have a big impact on girls, reports the Washington Post (2/20/07): American girls, say experts, are increasingly being fed a cultural catnip of products and images that promote looking and acting sexy. “Throughout U.S. culture, and particularly in mainstream media, women and girls are depicted in […]
As reported in today’s Gazette, Adam Cohen and Jendi Reiter from NoPornNorthampton recently wrote to Northampton Building Commissioner Anthony Patillo, asking him to revoke the building permit issued to Capital Video for their proposed porn shop at 135 King Street. We wrote: Section 1.3 of the [Northampton zoning] ordinance includes these criteria for site plan […]
Continue reading Gazette: “Couple appeals porn shop’s building permit”
Indianapolis city officials heard testimony about peoples’ encounters with porn at a hearing of the Indianapolis City-County Council Adminstration Committee on April 14, 1984. This account appears in In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (p.276-280). Testimony of Mary My name is Mary and I came here today because I was a victim of […]
Some porn merchants claim that adult bookstores (as opposed to adult theaters) only have off-site consumption of porn, that they generate no signficant secondary effects, and that they should be exempt from adult-use zoning. The US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals disagrees (PDF), and just found that the City of Kennedale, TX has sufficiently demonstrated […]
Science Daily reports these findings from a new University of Alberta study… A total of 429 students aged 13 and 14 from 17 urban and rural schools across Alberta, Canada, were surveyed anonymously about if, how and how often they accessed sexually explicit media content on digital or satellite television, video and DVD and the […]