[LAF] FW: A Call for an Open Discussion of Mass-Marketed Pornography (article) Pornogr

[Joy Wood]

>Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:23:20 +0000
>
>
>A Call for an Open Discussion of Mass-Marketed Pornography
>By Robert Jensen
>
>Source: AlterNet Posted February 10, 2007.
>
>The fear of anything resembling censorship prevents us from confronting 
>what pornography tells us about the cruelty of our culture, and the white 
>supremacy and misogyny that abounds in America.
>
>At a progressive media reform conference dedicated to resisting corporate 
>control of mass media, where many of the participants focus on gender and 
>racial justice, it shouldn't be difficult to interest people in the 
>feminist critique of mass-marketed pornography.
>
>After all, the pornography industry creates a steady stream of relentlessly 
>sexist and racist films and web sites that undermine attempts to build a 
>healthy sexual culture, while filling the pornographers' pockets with 
>substantial profits. A general critique of the effects of misogyny, white 
>supremacy, and predatory corporate capitalism on mass media dovetails 
>perfectly with the feminist critique of sexual-exploitation media.
>
>Yet as I circulated at last month's National Conference on Media Reform and 
>distributed fliers for an upcoming feminist conference on pornography (see 
>below), the responses I got were often skeptical and sometimes hostile. The 
>questions that were commonly asked of me that weekend revealed the need for 
>the left/progressive political community to deepen its understanding of the 
>issue.
>
>The most common of those questions was, "Is your conference an anti-sex 
>project?" reflecting the common distortion that feminist critics of 
>pornography share the right-wing's obsessions about containing sexuality 
>within traditional "family values."
>
>My co-author Gail Dines has developed a clear response to the question, 
>which I borrowed during the weekend in Memphis: When we criticize 
>McDonald's for its unhealthy food, environmentally destructive business 
>practices, and targeting of children through manipulative advertising, does 
>anyone ask whether we are "anti-food"? Of course not, because no one 
>conflates McDonald's with food; we recognize that there are many ways to 
>prepare food, and it's appropriate to critique the more toxic varieties. 
>The same holds for pornography; pursuing a healthy sexuality does not mean 
>we have to support toxic pornography.
>
>Another common response was, "Do you support censorship?" reflecting a 
>distortion of what feminists have proposed as remedies to the problem of 
>pornography. First, the original feminist anti-pornography movement in the 
>1980s rejected state censorship that works through existing obscenity law 
>and proposed a civil-rights approach that would give people hurt by 
>pornography a chance in court to prove the harm. There are questions to ask 
>about any legal strategy involving expression, and concerns about 
>suppression of free speech are important; there are even disagreements 
>within the feminist anti-pornography movement about this. But that 
>discussion should start from an accurate account of the alternatives.
>
>Second, at this point in the feminist anti-pornography movement the focus 
>is on public education. The goal is to begin an honest conversation about 
>the way in which "mainstream" pornography, the bulk of which is marketed to 
>heterosexual men, is increasingly cruel and degrading to women and more 
>openly racist than ever -- at the same time that it is increasingly 
>accepted as mainstream entertainment. It's ironic to be accused of trying 
>to suppress free speech when trying simply to exercise free speech in 
>critique of profit-driven sexism and racism.
>
>There was much insightful criticism at the conference of the subtle sexism 
>and racism that still pervades mainstream corporate-commercial mass media. 
>Although men and white people -- including in progressive circles -- are 
>sometimes resistant to that analysis, no one argues that it's an 
>inappropriate topic for discussion. Yet for some reason, many of those same 
>progressives -- men and women alike -- don't consider a 
>left/feminist/anti-racist critique of pornography to be part of the media 
>reform/media justice agenda. Why? I think it has to do with fear.
>
>Facing the pornography industry forces us to acknowledge the deep misogyny 
>and white supremacy that still exists in the culture, even with the gains 
>of the feminist and civil-rights movements. Both women and men might 
>understandably be afraid of confronting what pornography tells us about the 
>cruelty of our culture, our own sexual socialization, and the difficult 
>struggles we face to create a world free of sexual violence.
>
>That fear is real, and all the more reason to confront the issue of 
>pornography more openly.
>
>Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at 
>Austin, and the author of, most recently, The Heart of Whiteness: 
>Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege (City Lights Books).
>

http://www.whrnet.org/docs/perspective-jensen-0702.html

>
>
>Pornography and Pop Culture: Reframing Theory, Re-thinking Activism
>March 23-25, 2007
>
>Free of Charge
>
>FOR MORE INFORMATION!
>email: Pornography & Pop Culture pornographyandpopculture at gmail.com
>
>The so-called "porn wars" that were fought over the feminist critique of 
>contemporary mass-marketed pornography derailed important academic and 
>activist work. It is time to move on by reframing our thinking on 
>pornography, especially in light of the important changes that have 
>occurred in both technology and pop culture over the past two decades.
>
>In the world of the internet, cell phone porn, shock jocks and sexually 
>degrading reality TV, the central insights of the critical feminist 
>perspective are more important than ever. What was once called soft-core 
>pornography has become the norm in mainstream pop culture, while hard-core 
>porn has become increasingly accepted and increasingly misogynistic. What 
>do such economic and cultural shifts mean for feminist theory and activism, 
>and how can we rebuild a vibrant feminist movement that addresses the harms 
>of misogynist images that help define our culture, our visual landscape and 
>our sexuality?
>
>These issues will be addressed at a national conference on March 23-25, 
>2007, at Wheelock College in Boston. Titled "Pornography and Pop Culture: 
>Reframing Theory, Rethinking Activism," this conference will feature recent 
>feminist theory and research on pornography, prostitution and pop culture, 
>and provide space for collaborative discussion on how we can prepare the 
>ground for building a broad-based, energized and vibrant feminist movement 
>that can address the harms of pornographic images in the context of a more 
>general political and cultural crisis.
>
http://wheelock.edu/ppc/
>
>Workshops topics - http://wheelock.edu/ppc/ppc_agenda.asp (with a
plug for second wave feminist analysis!!)
>
>
>

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