John Stoltenberg writes about “Pornography and Freedom” in Men Confront Pornography (1990, p.60-71)… The popular concept of sexual freedom in this country has never meant sexual justice. Sexual-freedom advocates have cast the issue only in terms of having sex that is free from suppression and restraint. Practically speaking, that has meant advocacy of sex that […]
Month: December 2006
Porn: One Rapist’s Story (explicit language)
An account from Men on Rape (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1982), reprinted in Men Confront Pornography (1990, p.43-49)… Regularly beaten by his stepmother and stepbrothers from the age of five, at thirteen [“Chuck”] ran away from home and began a life of drug addictions and crime. At twenty, after two painful years of marriage, […]
FACT Member Ellen Willis Agrees: Porn Represents a Backlash Against Women
Ellen Willis was a member of the Feminist Anti-Censorship Task Force, a group critical of anti-porn feminists and associated with “sex-positive feminism”. Even so, Willis had this to say about porn: The aggressive proliferation of pornography is…a particularly obnoxious form of sexual backlash. The ubiquitous public display of dehumanized images of the female body is […]
Abusive Relationships and Porn: The Similarities (explicit language)
The National Domestic Violence Hotline website describes the characteristics of domestic violence and abuse: WHAT IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE? Domestic violence can be defined as a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Abuse is physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or […]
Northampton Site Plan Approval Requirements; Capital Video’s Plan Falls Short
We believe Capital Video’s Site Plan (PDF) for 135 King Street falls short of the requirements in Northampton’s Zoning Ordinance, and that citizens have grounds to appeal its approval. Here are elements we believe to be relevant from the zoning ordinance (emphasis added): Section 1.3 – Purpose This Ordinance is enacted for the following purposes: […]
CleanHotels.com: A network of lodging facilities that do not offer in-room, ‘adult’, pay-per-view movies
From the CleanHotels “Why Book Here” page: CleanHotels is a network of lodging facilities that–based on some of the best research available–do not offer in-room, “adult” (pornographic) pay-per-view movies. Although the amenities and management change constantly and nothing can be guaranteed from day to day, we believe we have done everything we can to provide […]
Reporting an Offensive Billboard
Citizens for Community Values provides the following suggestion in The Power of One (PDF): …Clear Channel and Media One, which own 50% of all the billboards in America, have adopted a policy not to accept advertising from sexually oriented businesses. Many other billboard companies also take pride in such a policy. Citizens have been successful […]
Academic Defenders of Porn Need to Engage with Reality (explicit language)
Gail Dines is a Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies at Wheelock College in Boston, and a long-time anti-porn activist. She writes in Pornography: The Production and Consumption of Inequality (1998, p.163-166): I have met hundreds of women and men who have stories to tell about pornography and the devastating impact it has had on […]
Feminists Confront Feminists Over Pornography
For a generation, there has been deep division within the feminist community about how to judge porn. Does it liberate women, or oppress them? Writing in Pornography: The Production and Consumption of Inequality (1998, p.9-35), Ann Russo strives to reconcile dreams of individual liberty with the realities of social and economic inequality. For anti-pornography feminist […]
Struggle Over “Love Shack” in Georgia; New City Adopts State-of-the-Art Adult-Use Ordinance
We are pleased to see another anti-porn blog initiated by citizens, this time the residents of Johns Creek, Georgia. Johns Creek is a newly incorporated city near Atlanta. At issue is a retail store called the “Love Shack”. Johns Creek has enacted ordinances regulating Sexually Oriented Businesses (SOBs), but Love Shack owner John Cornetta says […]