Topics Sex

Question Pornography is a topic often battled over. If the person is of legal age and accessing pornography by non-illegal means then what is the problem with it? Why do so many people have such outrage against it and want to close it down or belittle those who access it?

Accepted:
November 22, 2007

Comments

This is a large question with many different answers. Much, a ton, has been written about it, by scholars and by polemicists. The best I can do for you, without merely repeating myself (a tedious task), is to send you to my books Pornography, Sex, and Feminism (Prometheus, 2002) -- which is reader-friendly, i.e., I stay away from jargon and present the views in a comprehensible way -- and my much earlier and quite different (yet still accessible) Pornography: Marxism, Feminism, and the Future of Sexuality (Yale Univ. Press, 1986) -- a rather pretentious title, I must admit now. You might also find interesting Chapter 6 ("Pornography") of my Sexual Investigations (NYU Univ. Press, 1996). I'm sure other panelists can send you to their own favorites on the topic, including Catharine MacKinnon's Only Words. A helpful bibliography on porngraphy is listed at the end of my Philosophy of Sex, 5th edition (2007) -- a wide spectrum of views is represented. Good luck.

Question Pornography is a topic often battled over. If the person is of legal age and accessing pornography by non-illegal means then what is the problem with it? Why do so many people have such outrage against it and want to close it down or belittle those who access it? Accepted:November 22, 2007