Defenders of porn often argue that it serves a cathartic function, that porn satisfies its viewers’ desires so they feel no need to act them out in real life. Diana Russell and Natalie Purcell provide a strong rebuttal to this argument: According to the catharsis theory, the repeated exposure of males to pornography “leads to […]
Capital Video’s “Victoria’s Secret Standard”: Not Compatible with Northampton’s Signage Regulations
In December, Capital Video initially proposed a bondage display for the outside of their porn shop at 135 King Street. When some Northampton Planning Board members objected at the Capital Video Site Plan Review on December 14, Capital Video attorney Michael Pill withdrew the display and verbally asserted the company would instead adhere to a […]
Porn’s “Verbatim” Accounts of the Pleasures of Child Sexual Abuse Don’t Square with Reality
Here is the reality of child sexual abuse as described by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: Child sexual abuse has been reported up to 80,000 times a year, but the number of unreported instances is far greater, because the children are afraid to tell anyone what has happened, and the legal procedure […]
Knowledge: The Antidote to Porn Addiction
Like an abusive relationship, porn is a closed system. A great deal is left out. Knowledge is repressed. Break out of this mental prison, writes David Mura, there are better ways to seek fulfillment. From “A Male Grief: Notes on Pornography and Addiction”, from Men Confront Pornography (1990, p.131-141)… In imposing abuse, the abuser attempts […]
Porn Addiction Not Fun; Porn’s Repressive Vision
Porn likes to present itself as the embodiment of fun and freedom. For many, the reality is the opposite. David Mura writes in “A Male Grief: Notes on Pornography and Addiction”, from Men Confront Pornography (1990, p.125-126)… The addiction to pornography is not fun. Underneath all the assertions of liberty and “healthy fun” lie the […]
Sexual Freedom and Sexual Justice
John Stoltenberg writes about “Pornography and Freedom” in Men Confront Pornography (1990, p.60-71)… The popular concept of sexual freedom in this country has never meant sexual justice. Sexual-freedom advocates have cast the issue only in terms of having sex that is free from suppression and restraint. Practically speaking, that has meant advocacy of sex that […]
Porn: One Rapist’s Story (explicit language)
An account from Men on Rape (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1982), reprinted in Men Confront Pornography (1990, p.43-49)… Regularly beaten by his stepmother and stepbrothers from the age of five, at thirteen [“Chuck”] ran away from home and began a life of drug addictions and crime. At twenty, after two painful years of marriage, […]
FACT Member Ellen Willis Agrees: Porn Represents a Backlash Against Women
Ellen Willis was a member of the Feminist Anti-Censorship Task Force, a group critical of anti-porn feminists and associated with “sex-positive feminism”. Even so, Willis had this to say about porn: The aggressive proliferation of pornography is…a particularly obnoxious form of sexual backlash. The ubiquitous public display of dehumanized images of the female body is […]
Abusive Relationships and Porn: The Similarities (explicit language)
The National Domestic Violence Hotline website describes the characteristics of domestic violence and abuse: WHAT IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE? Domestic violence can be defined as a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Abuse is physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or […]
Northampton Site Plan Approval Requirements; Capital Video’s Plan Falls Short
We believe Capital Video’s Site Plan (PDF) for 135 King Street falls short of the requirements in Northampton’s Zoning Ordinance, and that citizens have grounds to appeal its approval. Here are elements we believe to be relevant from the zoning ordinance (emphasis added): Section 1.3 – Purpose This Ordinance is enacted for the following purposes: […]