Laurel
Kitty Mama
- Joined
- Aug 27, 1999
- Posts
- 20,685
Spun off Lavender's thread...
Please read the link below (it's a short, well-written article) and respond based on what's contained in the article. Please don't go off on "feminazi" rants or comment on feminism & porn in general.
A quote from the article:
A Feminist Defense of Pornography
by Wendy McElroy
"Feminist positions on pornography currently break down into three rough categories. The most common one - at least, in academia - is that pornography is an expression of male culture through which women are commodified and exploited. A second view, the liberal position, combines a respect for free speech with the principle "a woman's body, a woman's right" and thus produces a defense of pornography along the lines of, "I don't approve of it, but everyone has the right to consume or produce words and images." A third view - a true defense of pornography - arises from feminists who have been labeled "pro-sex" and who argue that porn has benefits for women.
Little dialogue occurs between the three positions. Anti-pornography feminists treat women who disagree as either brainwashed dupes of patriarchy or as apologists for pornographers. In the anthology Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism (1990), editor Dorchen Leidholdt claims that feminists who believe women make their own choices about pornography are spreading "a felicitous lie" (p. 131). In the same work, Sheila Jeffreys argues that "pro-sex" feminists are "eroticizing dominance and subordination." Wendy Stock accuses free speech feminists of identifying with their oppressors "much like ... concentration camp prisoners with their jailors" (p. 150). Andrea Dworkin accuses them of running a "sex protection racket" (p. 136) and maintains that no one who defends pornography can be a feminist.
The liberal feminists who are personally uncomfortable with pornography tend to be intimidated into silence. Those who continue to speak out, like American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen (Defending Pornography) are ignored. For example, Catharine MacKinnon has repeatedly refused to share a stage with Strossen or any woman who defends porn. "Pro-sex" feminists - many of whom are current or former sex-workers - often respond with anger, rather than arguments.
Peeling back the emotions, what are the substantive questions raised by each feminist perspective?"
read full article at:
http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/mcelroy_17_4.html
Please read the link below (it's a short, well-written article) and respond based on what's contained in the article. Please don't go off on "feminazi" rants or comment on feminism & porn in general.
A quote from the article:
A Feminist Defense of Pornography
by Wendy McElroy
"Feminist positions on pornography currently break down into three rough categories. The most common one - at least, in academia - is that pornography is an expression of male culture through which women are commodified and exploited. A second view, the liberal position, combines a respect for free speech with the principle "a woman's body, a woman's right" and thus produces a defense of pornography along the lines of, "I don't approve of it, but everyone has the right to consume or produce words and images." A third view - a true defense of pornography - arises from feminists who have been labeled "pro-sex" and who argue that porn has benefits for women.
Little dialogue occurs between the three positions. Anti-pornography feminists treat women who disagree as either brainwashed dupes of patriarchy or as apologists for pornographers. In the anthology Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism (1990), editor Dorchen Leidholdt claims that feminists who believe women make their own choices about pornography are spreading "a felicitous lie" (p. 131). In the same work, Sheila Jeffreys argues that "pro-sex" feminists are "eroticizing dominance and subordination." Wendy Stock accuses free speech feminists of identifying with their oppressors "much like ... concentration camp prisoners with their jailors" (p. 150). Andrea Dworkin accuses them of running a "sex protection racket" (p. 136) and maintains that no one who defends pornography can be a feminist.
The liberal feminists who are personally uncomfortable with pornography tend to be intimidated into silence. Those who continue to speak out, like American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen (Defending Pornography) are ignored. For example, Catharine MacKinnon has repeatedly refused to share a stage with Strossen or any woman who defends porn. "Pro-sex" feminists - many of whom are current or former sex-workers - often respond with anger, rather than arguments.
Peeling back the emotions, what are the substantive questions raised by each feminist perspective?"
read full article at:
http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/mcelroy_17_4.html
