The Jaguar and the Anteater: Pornography Degree Zero

by Bernard Arcand

Over the last two decades, pornography has become not only one of the most spectacularly profitable industries in the West but also, in its own way, the most innovative, with the development of more and more individualized technologies of sexual stimulation and simulation. At the same time, it has been the focus of ever fiercer political, ethical and judicial. Despite the media’s expanding sexual obsessions, pornography remains largely a matter of public shame, while being privately consumed by millions of citizens, now female as well as male. It is a unique phenomenon of our time, and one whose real significance is still little understood.

In this remarkable study Bernard Arcand approaches pornography as an anthropologist, in an attempt to explain precisely why it exists in these forms at the moment, and with what consequences. To do so, he has assembled data on the state of the industry and its technology, on its history, and on the polemics it has engendered, especially, but not exclusively, among feminists. The result is probably the most comprehensive overview of the subject ever published.

But Arcand’s main concern in The Jaguar and the Anteater is to elucidate the ways in which pornography is a mirror of our modernity—how we get the porn we deserve and need. Drawing on the work of social theorists such as Lasch, Sennet, Baudrillard and Lipovetsky, he examines the consumption of pornography and its wider significance in terms of privatization, specialization, isolation and extremism. And, while stressing the peculiar originality of contemporary porn, he uses anthropological material, particularly from South American tribal societies, to suggest that the phenomenon is also a new and uncertain response to a series of elementary questions concerning modesty and desire, masturbation and inhibition, death and illusions of eternal youth.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, Sexuality

286 pages, Hardcover

Published September 17, 1993

Reviews

[Luis Cabrera López · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante el capítulo sobre la sexualidad en el medievo en la India, el enfoque del libro se ha quedado obsoleto sin que pueda haber menciones a Internet o a los cuestionamientos actuales feministas.

[whimsicalmeerkat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredibly insightful look into the way pornography evolved and has altered our culture. The overall implications of the changes and spread are addressed in a very fair manner. My only regret is that it was published at the beginning of the Clinton administration. I wish Bernard Arcand would write an update, because there have been so many cultural changes since that time. The book was actually begun as an attempt to justify the existence of the anthropology department at the university where Arcand teaches. I also highly recommend "Pornography: The Secret History of Civilisation" by the BBC.

[Mar Xinmas]

Sólo me han gustado los tres últimos capítulos. El resto son unas vagas y someras descripciones sobre la pornografía moderna y algunos aportes curiosos sobre la censura de la misma. Antropológicos sólo los capítulos finales con unas conclusiones y aclaraciones sobre el Génesis muy apreciables.

[Isabelle]

Ok ok...je sais que ça fait weird comme titre...mais on m'avait suggéré cet essai dans un cours à l'uqàm et à date c'est vraiment intéressant !