Many things make no sense in Pornoland. The latest example is the position of Renegade Evolution, a porn advocate, “a bit pathological about the rights of free speech,” who objects to our linking to her public statements without permission (even though she linked to NoPornNorthampton on July 8 with no prior notice) and our referencing […]
First Amendment
US Appeals Court Upholds Daytona Zoning and Public Nudity Ordinances; No Grandfathering for Lollipop’s Gentlemen’s Club; Rebutting Daniel Linz
To celebrate July 4, it is our pleasure to present this ruling fresh from the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Here we see our Constitution being applied intelligently and with compassion for people who live and work around adult enterprises. Attorney Scott D. Bergthold helped the city of Daytona, Florida win a […]
Crime, Nuisances Motivate Cities to Regulate the Location of Adult Entertainment Uses
In 1988, Bruce Freeland, planning director of Bellevue, WA, surveyed the experience of other cities with adult enterprises. He finds that increased crime (e.g. rape, prostitution, drugs, robbery) and nuisances (e.g. noise, litter) often attend these businesses. Here are excerpts from his report: …adult entertainment regulations must seek to mitigate the secondary impacts of the […]
MacKinnon: Framing Torture as Porn Magically Makes It Acceptable
Catharine MacKinnon, Elizabeth A. Long professor of law at the University of Michigan, observes that torture and abuse typically get a free pass when they’re framed as commercial entertainment. Some excerpts from “X underrated”, published in The Times Higher Education Supplement (May 20, 2005): A…magical framing move occurred in connection with the scandal surrounding Abu […]
The Impact of Internet Pornography on Marriage and the Family: A Review of the Research
Jill Manning is a Social Sciences Fellow in Domestic Policy for the Heritage Foundation. She testified about the impact of porn to the US Senate in November 2005 (transcript). She summarizes her findings: Since the advent of the Internet, the pornography industry has profited from an unprecedented proximity to the home, work and school environments. […]
D.A. Clarke: Women Adopting Men’s Bad Habits Is Not the Answer
Recently “Sarah Coeur d’Or” criticized us for not publishing some of her comments. If we claim we care about the participation of women in public debates, she argues, then we are obliged to publish the comments from all people claiming to be women, regardless of the merits of these comments. We disagree. That an opinion […]
The Latest Film to Glorify Larry Flynt (explicit language)
We would like to call your attention to a new documentary about the publisher of Hustler: “Larry Flynt: The Right To Be Left Alone”. Here is how Full Frame, a Durham, NC festival that premiered this film, describes it: This film celebrates and examines an unabashed vulgarian first known for Hustler magazine’s lack of restraint. […]
Abuse and Threats Drive Women Out of Online Participation (explicit language)
Without self-restraint, the First Amendment becomes a tragic document. Free speech degenerates into who has power, money and aggression. Many who are too kind or wise to return bile for bile retreat from public forums. Their contributions are lost. The April 30 Washington Post reports that threats and harassment are driving women out of Internet […]
Testimony in Massachusetts: Porn and a Hostile Learning Environment at M.I.T.
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.408-411). Testimony of Ann Russo My name is Ann Russo, and I’ve been teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the last five years. I teach […]
How Spread of Porn Could Give the Illusion that Rape is in Decline (explicit language)
Last week, we pointed out that the United Kingdom represents a large counter-example to the theory that the spread of Internet porn is reducing incidences of rape. During 2000-2005, rates of Internet penetration and rates of reported rape both soared at the same time. We will now further explore why it’s risky and irresponsible to […]