We are pleased to reprint this press release from the office of Congresswoman Jane Harman: HARMAN INTRODUCES BIPARTISAN BILL TO HALT RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE MILITARY Lawmaker says “a female soldier in Iraq is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire” July 29, 2008 Washington, D.C. […]
Feminist Perspective
“The Double Ds of Desire and Despair”, a Poem by Teresa Leo
It is our pleasure to present this poem by Teresa Leo from her book, The Halo Rule, on sale now at Elixir Press. Reprinted with permission. The Double Ds of Desire and Despair are in the long, slow torso of a woman bent back, seeing and not being seen. It’s a cache problem: a steady […]
Making Today’s Marriage Work: Smart Women and Egalitarian Relationships
For all its protestations about being liberatory, most of today’s bestselling porn is atavistic and repressive. Women, goes the theme, should accept and enjoy abuse from men. In a recent study of 50 of the most popular hardcore films, “…I’m going to begin to talk about what it is that we found after looking at […]
A Closer Look at Sweden’s Success with Reducing Prostitution; Skeptics Rebutted
We have previously written with approval of Sweden’s approach to prostitution. In 1999, Sweden made it a crime to buy sex but not to sell it. The Swedes removed legal jeopardy from prostituted women but increased it for pimps and johns. After the police were trained in the implementation of the new law, the incidence […]
Northampton: Feminist Film Series on Sex Trafficking and Exploitation
Local feminists are screening films this month to raise awareness about sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. Both of the following will be shown in the Media Education Foundation Community Room, 60 Masonic Street, Northampton MA. Trade Saturday, June 21, 7pmWhen 13-year-old Adriana is kidnapped by sex traffickers in Mexico, her 17-year-old brother, Jorge, sets off […]
StopPornCulture! Launches Website; Online Slide Show Available
We welcome the launch of StopPornCulture!’s website at http://www.stoppornculture.org/. SPC is the newest evolution of a longstanding feminist movement against porn: …With the explosion of technology and increased accessibility of pornography via the internet in the late 1990s and early 2000s, feminists from around the country began to organize meetings to discuss the proliferation of […]
“Facing the Wall”, a Poem by Janet Aalfs
Janet Aalfs is a former Poet Laureate of Northampton and the director of Valley Women’s Martial Arts. Her poetry collection Reach was published by Perugia Press in 1999. The poem below is reprinted with permission from her chapbook Full Open (Orogeny Press, 1996). Facing the Wall 1. Someone found a heart on market street not […]
New Low-Cost Option for Institute on Media Madness, July 9-11, Boston
We are pleased to publicize this new low-cost educational opportunity from Wheelock College and Stop Porn Culture: We’ve had overwhelming interest in scholarships to the summer institute on Media Madness. In order to accommodate as many people as possible, we are offering a two and a half day training as an alternative to the full […]
Grand Theft Auto IV: Women Screwed, Run Over, Shot and Burned
The video game Grand Theft Auto IV presents the “Ladies of Liberty City”. A trailer shows prostituted women being run over and shot after having sex with a john. These disturbing videos express the disposability of these women in our culture: Long version: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/209411.html Short version: http://boinkology.com/2008/04/29/the-ladies-of-liberty-city/ Apparently the game publisher, Take-Two Interactive, has become […]
Valley Advocate Website Announces 2008’s “Best” Adult Entertainment Club; Holsopple’s Inside Report on Stripping (explicit language)
If you visit the Valley Advocate website today and click through to their “Best of 2008” page, you’ll see it leads off with “Adult entertainment club”, partly because this category starts with “A” and partly because the Advocate considers this to be just another leisure option, on par with “Art gallery” or “Charity event”… Within […]