Porn: Most Consumers Are Men

Talk Back Northampton prominently quotes literature from the Feminists for Free Expression that asserts “that half the adult videos bought or rented in the US are done so by women or women in couples”. TBN seems to be suggesting that since lots of women buy porn, it’s OK that much of porn exploits and abuses women. We question both […]

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VIP General Manager: Zoning, Community Protest Are Factors in Porn Shop Location Decisions

VIP (Very Intimate Pleasures) has giant sex shops in Hartford, New Haven/Orange and Manchester, and they’d like to expand. Sometimes they encounter resistance. Recently city officials and residents countered their plans for another Connecticut location (Berlin) with a new ordinance.What factors does VIP general manager Rick Lederman weigh when searching for new sites?“There’s a lot to […]

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A Review of Andrea Dworkin, “Pornography, prostitution, and a beautiful and tragic recent story”

NPN’s Jendi Reiter reviews an essay by Andrea Dworkin, “Pornography, prostitution, and a beautiful and tragic recent story”. This essay is published in Christine Stark & Rebecca Whisnant, eds., Not for Sale: Feminists Resisting Prostitution and Pornography (North Melbourne, Australia: Spinifex Press, 2004, pp. 137-145).This is the third in a series of reviews of the […]

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A Review of Gail Dines, “King Kong and the white woman: Hustler magazine and the demonization of black masculinity” (explicit language)

NPN’s Jendi Reiter reviews an essay by Gail Dines, “King Kong and the white woman: Hustler magazine and the demonization of black masculinity”. This essay is published in Christine Stark & Rebecca Whisnant, eds., Not for Sale: Feminists Resisting Prostitution and Pornography (North Melbourne, Australia: Spinifex Press, 2004, pp.89-101).This is the second in a series […]

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Gazette: “Sweetening the deal? Free ads for owner if porn shop goes away”

Today’s Gazette reports on David Russell’s recent offer to the Goldbergs. Mr. Russell owns Commercial & Investment Properties magazine serving Western Massachusetts and Connecticut. The Goldbergs own 135 King Street in Northampton, which they are proposing to lease to Capital Video Corp. to be a large porn shop.Mr. Russell pledges to “run a free full-color […]

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Capital Video Fills Out King Street Plans

In written correspondence with Carolyn Misch, a Northampton Senior Land Use Planner, Capital Video fills out the details of its plans for 135 King Street. We present it here for public consideration. This document includes diagrams of the site.Capital Video Plans for 135 King Street – September 2006 (PDF)On page 2 of this file, Ms. Misch […]

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Gazette’s “Northampton Porn Debate” Page Useful But Not Complete

We’re glad the Gazette has put up a convenient Northampton Porn Debate web page to consolidate news and opinion on the issue. People should be aware, however, that this page may omit certain material we feel is important, such as blog posts that describe the porn that Capital Video sells. In particular, our October 8 […]

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Hustling the Left

Feminist Nikki Craft created this site to highlight the racism, sexism and human rights abuses endemic to the adult industry, and to challenge Leftists to include pornography in their critique of commercialism and corporate greed. Hustling the Left says liberals should not be taken in by Hustler publisher Larry Flynt’s self-presentation as a persecuted dissident.As […]

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Letter to Gazette: “Porn does not represent real people and real love”

Today’s Gazette publishers a letter to the editor by Sarah Metcalf of Northampton: …I hear people describe porn as “sex”. But porn is not sex, if we understand sex as a relationship betwen live human beings, who usually feel for each other sparks of attraction and affection. Porn is the representation of sex in words, […]

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Gazette: “Hearing to take up porn regs on Thursday”

Monday’s Gazette notes an important public meeting is on tap this week. We encourage all concerned citizens to attend. If there hasn’t been enough public discussion yet on the issue of pornography in the city, there’s yet another opportunity this week, when the Planning Board and Ordinance Committee continue a public hearing on proposed regulations […]

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