Even the ACLU opposes child pornography, at least when real children are depicted. Nevertheless, some people appear to remain irresistibly attracted to the challenge of arguing that possession of child porn should be legal. Cortelyou Kenney graduated summa cum laude with High Honors in Comparative Literature from Dartmouth College in 2005. Her thesis on political […]
Child Molestation
Testimony in Massachusetts: My Experiences with Men, Porn and Domestic Abuse (explicit)
Massachusetts legislators heard testimony about peoples’ encounters with porn at a hearing on March 16, 1992. This account appears in In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (p.372-378). Blanket statements that porn shops are about “romance” or that porn “enhances couples sex lives” are hard to credit in light of stories like the one […]
Testimony in Massachusetts: “He took things straight out of the movies and used them on me”
Massachusetts legislators heard testimony about peoples’ encounters with porn at a hearing on March 16, 1992. This account appears in In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (p.370-371). Testimony of Pat Haas My name is Pat Haas. I live in Brookline. I experienced from 1987 to 1989 in a two-year relationship with my batterer–from […]
Testimony in Los Angeles: Psychologists Underestimate the Role of Porn in Sex Offenses
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.357-359). Testimony of B. J. Cling I am a clinical psychologist in private practice in Los Angeles… I’m also about […]
Testimony in Los Angeles: Psychiatrist Rapes Patient as ‘Therapy’ for Her Inhibitions
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.353-354). Testimony of Elana Bowman I am a member of the WAVAW [Women Against Violence Against Women] Coordinating Committee [and] […]
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 […]
Incest Victims: Social Action Can Be As Or More Healing Than Individual Therapy
We are again indebted to Dr. Diana Russell for permission to reprint this selection from her essay, “Politicizing Sexual Violence: A Voice in the Wildnerness”. A version of this essay appears in Feminist Foremothers in Women’s Studies, Psychology, and Mental Health (1995). Dr. Russell argues that mental health practitioners who treat incest victims and survivors […]
Interview with Ex-Porn Star Traci Lords: Abused as a Child; High on the Set; Power, Not Arousal; Bad Pay
Larry King interviewed Traci Lords on CNN in 2003. Lords was born in 1968 under the name Nora Louise Kuzma. According to Wikipedia, Lords “achieved notoriety for her underage appearances in pornographic films and Penthouse magazine (she was 16 years old in her first film).” LORDS: …I started going by Traci Lords in 1984, and […]
Testimony in Indianapolis: Large amounts of porn in homes and cars of child molesters, used to train victims
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 […]
Child Porn Mogul: A View from the Inside (explicit language)
Anti-porn activists held a press conference in Minneapolis on July 25, 1984. This statement is published in In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (p.265-268). Statement of Ms. P. I saw a different side of my father [who had numerous teaching awards], he called it his play-time. I didn’t know why I posed nude […]