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 […]
Impact of Porn
Valley Advocate: “Springfield Porn Store Comes Under Fire”
We are pleased to see the Valley Advocate cover the Amazing.net/Apremont Triangle situation in its May 31-June 6 edition. The article is similar to a May 24 post at Heather Brandon’s Urban Compass blog. From the article: Springfield Mayor Charles Ryan addressed a group at a May 17 event downtown to say that he will […]
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. […]
“Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes” Screens in Northampton on June 3; Q&A with Director Byron Hurt
Men’s Resource Center for Change invites the public to a screening of Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes. Showtime is this Sunday night, June 3, 7pm at Northampton’s Academy of Music. The screening will benefit VOICE MALE: The Magazine of the Men’s Resource Center for Change. It will include remarks and Q&A with director Byron Hurt. […]
“Spousal Use of Pornography and Its Clinical Significance for Asian-American Women”
Eunjung Ryu published her research paper, “Spousal Use of Pornography and Its Clinical Significance for Asian-American Women: Koren Women as an Illustration”, in Journal of Feminist Family Therapy 2004 (Vol.16 No.4). The complete article is available from The Haworth Document Delivery Service. Ryu examines the impact of porn on sexual attitudes, relationships between couples, and […]
The Evidence of Relationships Between Adult-Oriented Businesses and Community Crime and Disorder
Some people deny that Capital Video’s porn shop in Springfield (Amazing.net) is bringing prostitution to the Apremont Triangle neighborhood and retarding economic development there. Others cite a handful of studies to suggest that it is debatable whether adult enterprises impose a risk of secondary effects on their surroundings (e.g. crime, blight), ignoring the clear preponderance […]
The Lies of Mainstream ‘Lesbian’ Porn (explicit language)
Some porn defenders suggest that lesbian porn is an example of porn that is harmless, something that women freely and positively choose to do, and that sends no bad messages about women. While this may be true for a handful of films, it is not true for your typical commercial production. Biting Beaver explains in […]
I Was a ‘Self-Esteem Vampire’: A Woman’s Journey Out of Watching Porn (explicit language)
For blogger Biting Beaver, the special ‘juice’ of porn lay not in the sex but in the domination, the degradation of others for her viewing pleasure. She describes her journey into–and out of–watching porn: Women and Pornography: My Story …It’s almost as if the phrase, “But BB, women look at porn too” is intended to […]
Testimony from Northampton Shelter for Battered Women: Half of Abusers Use Pornography as a Part of the 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.423-425). Submission of Gail Kielson, Boston, Massachusetts My name is Gail Kielson and I work at Necessities/Necesidades, an organization in Northampton, Massachusetts that provides services to battered […]
New York Times: “The Girls Next Door”; Worldwide Sex Trafficking; Role of Porn
Our opponents like to focus on the handful of women who have become relatively rich selling sex, women who have achieved a measure of choice and control in their lives (example). The reality for vast numbers of other participants in the sex trade is far less appealing, as The New York Times makes clear in […]