Harry Brod explores what porn does to the male viewer in “Eros Thanatized: Pornography and Male Sexuality”. This essay appears in Men Confront Pornography (1990, p.190-206). The proper framework for discussion about the manufacture and distribution of pornography is neither sexual ethics nor civil liberties, but business ethics. Anti-pornography campaigns should be conceptualized not as […]
Month: January 2007
The Virtue of Civility: Bringing depth, respectfulness and integrity back to our national discourse
Melvin McLeod led this panel discussion on civility for Shambhala Sun (January 2005). The participants were: Patricia Schroeder: Member of the US House of Representatives from 1972 to 1996. She is now President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers. Mark Kingwell: Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and author of eight […]
Rebutting ACLU President Nadine Strossen’s Defense of Pornography
Long-time anti-pornographer Diana Russell takes on Nadine Strossen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union and author of Defending Pornography. Nadine Strossen’s OBJECTIVE in Defending Pornography is to destroy the reputation and achievements of the feminist movement against pornography. To this end, she dishes up the same tired old caricature of us as anti-sex prudes, […]
Rebutting the ‘Porn as Safety Valve’ Myth
Defenders of porn often argue that it serves a cathartic function, that porn satisfies its viewers’ desires so they feel no need to act them out in real life. Diana Russell and Natalie Purcell provide a strong rebuttal to this argument: According to the catharsis theory, the repeated exposure of males to pornography “leads to […]
Capital Video’s “Victoria’s Secret Standard”: Not Compatible with Northampton’s Signage Regulations
In December, Capital Video initially proposed a bondage display for the outside of their porn shop at 135 King Street. When some Northampton Planning Board members objected at the Capital Video Site Plan Review on December 14, Capital Video attorney Michael Pill withdrew the display and verbally asserted the company would instead adhere to a […]
Porn’s “Verbatim” Accounts of the Pleasures of Child Sexual Abuse Don’t Square with Reality
Here is the reality of child sexual abuse as described by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: Child sexual abuse has been reported up to 80,000 times a year, but the number of unreported instances is far greater, because the children are afraid to tell anyone what has happened, and the legal procedure […]
Knowledge: The Antidote to Porn Addiction
Like an abusive relationship, porn is a closed system. A great deal is left out. Knowledge is repressed. Break out of this mental prison, writes David Mura, there are better ways to seek fulfillment. From “A Male Grief: Notes on Pornography and Addiction”, from Men Confront Pornography (1990, p.131-141)… In imposing abuse, the abuser attempts […]
Porn Addiction Not Fun; Porn’s Repressive Vision
Porn likes to present itself as the embodiment of fun and freedom. For many, the reality is the opposite. David Mura writes in “A Male Grief: Notes on Pornography and Addiction”, from Men Confront Pornography (1990, p.125-126)… The addiction to pornography is not fun. Underneath all the assertions of liberty and “healthy fun” lie the […]