We have noticed that many of our opponents tend to confine their discussions to clean, safe realms of law and abstractions. Others like to talk about homeless shelters, churches or Wal-Marts, rather than concentrating on actual porn shops and other adult enterprises. Many also like to claim that if you are against porn, you are […]
Month: March 2007
Commerce, Addictive Products, and Harm: Lessons from The Cigarette Century
Porn is a product that addicts many, often with consequences that can be dire (loss of family, loss of job), affect innocent parties (abuse, molestation, secondary effects), and take a long time to manifest. During this time, the addict generates handsome profits for the companies that perpetuate his addiction. The industry, not surprisingly, aggressively protests […]
Testimony in Los Angeles: Freud Hears of Pervasive Sexual Abuse, Ultimately Decides to Portray It As Mere Fantasy
Members of the Los Angeles County Commission for Women heard testimony about peoples’ encounters with porn at a hearing on April 22, 1985. This account appears in In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (p.336-338). Testimony of Jeffrey Masson My name is Jeffrey Masson, and I’m a psychoanalyst [who taught] at the University of […]
How the Supreme Court Reconciles Adult-Use Zoning with the First Amendment
Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. (1976) is not a new decision, but it is worth revisiting for its discussion of the First Amendment. In this case, the US Supreme Court affirmed Detroit’s right to zone adult theaters. The Court recognizes the value of the First Amendment, but understands that it is not absolute, particularly […]
Jenna Jameson’s Cautions to Would-Be Porn Stars
In 2004, Salon reviewed Jenna Jameson’s How to Make Love Like a Porn Star. Jameson’s advice to newbies caught our attention: “In a worst-case scenario, a gonzo director will take a girl to a hotel room and have their friends shoot a cheap scene in which she is humiliated in every orifice possible. She walks […]
Now on Sale at Capital Video: Watch Women Eat Their Own Poop (explicit)
We agree that healthy erotica exists and that “feminist pornography” that empowers women might be possible to create. However, the reality remains that the substantial majority of porn sold in America is misogynistic and degrading to women. In addition, just because porn is produced by a woman is no guarantee that it will respect women. […]
How the People Reclaimed Oklahoma City from a Major Eruption of Adult Businesses and Crime
Publicity campaigns and pressure on city officials helped Oklahoma City recover from a proliferation of adult enterprises in the 1980s. Jon Stephen Gustin, Retired Sergeant, Oklahoma City Police Department, tells the story in QUALITY OF LIFE: A Look At Successful Abatement of Adult Oriented Business Nuisances in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (1984-1989) (PDF). Some excerpts: Traditionally […]
Pornography and Pop Culture: Boston Conference Starts Today
Pornography and Pop Culture: Reframing Theory, Re-thinking Activism, a three-day conference, opens today at Wheelock College in Boston. This conference will: feature recent feminist theory and research on pornography, prostitution and pop culture, and provide space for collaborative discussion on how we can prepare the ground for building a broad-based, energized and vibrant feminist movement […]
Connecticut Attorney General Files Amicus Brief to Support Town of Berlin; “Off-Site” Sexually Oriented Businesses are Fair Game for Zoning
On March 19 the State of Connecticut filed an amicus curiae brief (PDF) to support adult-use zoning in Berlin, CT. A chain of adult shops called VIP is trying to open a new store in Berlin, less than 250 feet from a residential area. The brief argues that it is constitutional to apply zoning regulations […]
Prosperous Minneapolis Commercial Area Blighted by Proliferation of Adult Enterprises
From the “Brief of the Neighborhood Pornography Task Force, Amicus Curiae, in Support of Appellant Hudnut v. American Booksellers Association, Inc.”, published in In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (p.321-324): The neighborhoods bordering on East Lake Street in South Minneapolis have been fighting the encroachment of pornography into their community since Ferris Alexander […]