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Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future
Shapiro captures a generation through first-person reporting, interviews with refugees from the porn industry, conversations with psychologist, educators, and students, and a telling cultural critique.
232 pages, Hardcover
First published May 20, 2005
118 people are currently reading
1767 people want to read
About the author
Ben Shapiro
37 books2,504 followersBenjamin Shapiro was born in 1984 and entered UCLA at the age of 16, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in June 2004 with a BA in Political Science. He graduated Harvard Law School cum laude in June 2007. Shapiro was hired by Creators Syndicate at age 17 to become the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the U.S.
His columns are printed in major newspapers and websites including Townhall, ABCNews, WorldNet Daily, Human Events, FrontPage Mag, Family Security Matters, the Riverside Press-Enterprise and the Conservative Chronicle. His columns have also appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Sun-Times, Orlando Sentinel, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, RealClearPolitics.com, Arizona Republic, and Claremont Review of Books, among others. He has been the subject of articles in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Associated Press, and Christian Science Monitor; he has been quoted on "The Rush Limbaugh Show," "The Dr. Laura Show," at CBS News, in the New York Press, in the Washington Times, and in The American Conservative magazine, among many others.
The author of the national bestsellers, Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth (WND Books, May 2004), Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future (Regnery, June 2005), and Project President: Bad Hair and Botox on the Road to the White House (Thomas Nelson, 2008), Shapiro has appeared on hundreds of radio and television shows around the nation, including "The O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "Fox and Friends" (Fox News), "In the Money" (CNN Financial), "DaySide with Linda Vester" (Fox News), "Scarborough Country" (MSNBC), "The Dennis Miller Show" (CNBC), "Fox News Live" (Fox News Channel), "Glenn Beck Show" (CNN), "Your World with Neil Cavuto" (Fox News) and "700 Club" (Christian Broadcasting Network), "The Laura Ingraham Show," "The Michael Medved Show," "The G. Gordon Liddy Show," "The Rusty Humphries Show," "The Lars Larson Show" (nationally syndicated), "The Larry Elder Show," The Hugh Hewitt Show," "The Dennis Prager Show," among others.
His columns are printed in major newspapers and websites including Townhall, ABCNews, WorldNet Daily, Human Events, FrontPage Mag, Family Security Matters, the Riverside Press-Enterprise and the Conservative Chronicle. His columns have also appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Sun-Times, Orlando Sentinel, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, RealClearPolitics.com, Arizona Republic, and Claremont Review of Books, among others. He has been the subject of articles in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Associated Press, and Christian Science Monitor; he has been quoted on "The Rush Limbaugh Show," "The Dr. Laura Show," at CBS News, in the New York Press, in the Washington Times, and in The American Conservative magazine, among many others.
The author of the national bestsellers, Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth (WND Books, May 2004), Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future (Regnery, June 2005), and Project President: Bad Hair and Botox on the Road to the White House (Thomas Nelson, 2008), Shapiro has appeared on hundreds of radio and television shows around the nation, including "The O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "Fox and Friends" (Fox News), "In the Money" (CNN Financial), "DaySide with Linda Vester" (Fox News), "Scarborough Country" (MSNBC), "The Dennis Miller Show" (CNBC), "Fox News Live" (Fox News Channel), "Glenn Beck Show" (CNN), "Your World with Neil Cavuto" (Fox News) and "700 Club" (Christian Broadcasting Network), "The Laura Ingraham Show," "The Michael Medved Show," "The G. Gordon Liddy Show," "The Rusty Humphries Show," "The Lars Larson Show" (nationally syndicated), "The Larry Elder Show," The Hugh Hewitt Show," "The Dennis Prager Show," among others.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
January 10, 2008
Ben Shapiro, Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future (Regnery, 2005)
When a book is blurbed by both Ann Coulter and Laura Schlesinger, that's as good as having your cover be a portion of one of those old maps that says, in the middle of the ocean, “here be dragons”. Anyone attempting to read such a treatise must immediately know that one must gird one's loins and prepare for a deeply distressing experience. Ben Shapiro's Porn Generation satisfies-- no pun intended-- on all counts.
The book's most glaring deficiency is that Shapiro condemns sex researcher Alfred Kinsey for being, in the words of Daniel Flynn, “a charlatan who embarked upon research to confirm his pre-drawn conclusions”(20), and then embarks on exactly the same quest himself. He sets the scene by outlining a moral standard (without footnotes, of course, though the book does contain copious footnotes), and then writes to that standard, grasping at whatever straws are necessary to advance his own viewpoint, no matter how questionable-- or outright ludicrous-- those straws may be. He never thought to question the statistic he cites that one in three brides in 1946 were pregnant when they wed? And if he did, why doesn't he at least mention it?
The footnotes themselves make for tremendous reading, better than the book itself. They read like a primer of places to go to get your daily fill of religionist nonsense. Is there truly anyone who would cite worldnet daily with a straight face? There is-- Ben Shapiro. But then, this should come as no surprise; the moral standard that Shapiro would hold us all to is, if course, the Christian moral standard. None other could possibly be valid.
Standing against this Christian moral standard is an enemy Shapiro defines as “social liberals.”All social liberals, of course, have the same mindset, the same agenda, and the same set of beliefs. All social liberals, for example, are proselytizers of sexual freedom, while simultaneously being fervently anti-gun and anti-smoking. It actually made me take out my gun permit and look at it to make sure it hadn't disappeared while I was reading this book and smoking my way through a pack of Maverick 100s. Thankfully, Shapiro's parallel universe, where “social liberals” march in lockstep and have as their sole desire to topple the moral foundations of this supposedly Christian nation, exists only in his mind.
Shapiro, as I intimated before, is also all too willing to simply take his sources at their word, never questioning whether they might, in fact, be slanting the truth, or not quite as cognizant of it as they think they are. Shapiro, citing wingnut Michelle Malkin, seems to think that, for example, self-injury is some sort of new fad. (The article of Malkin's he cites-- found on the wonderfully amusing townhall.com website-- is even called “The new youth craze: self-mutilation”.) A quick Amazon search on self-mutilation, or one on cutting, taking all of fifteen seconds, would have put paid to that idea pretty quickly. (It should be noted that Shapiro also publishes at townhall.com. Better yet, he cites his own articles. Now there's a source for you!) He also likes to use hyperbole for the effect hyperbole is usually used for, fearmongering. “If you spend any amount of time on the Internet, it's difficult not to find yourself in the midst of a hard-core porn site...” (171). Funny, I've been an IT professional for almost fifteen years now, and I've never “found myself in the midst of” a hard-core porn site when I haven't wanted to be there. Between my job, my research, the occasional game, booking trips, and the many other hundreds of things I do on the Internet, it's not an unreasonable assumption to say I'm on the Internet seventy hours a week, if not more. I drop by porn websites once every three years or so. Never by accident. So what?, you may ask. You're an IT professional. You know how these things work. Well, my mom is in her seventies and still can't set the time on the VCR. How many times has she been tricked into visiting a hardcore porn site? I'll take “zero” for two hundred, Alex.
I can't call this book entirely worthless; you can use the footnotes and the bibliography to compile a pretty comprehensive list of stuff you can use for your amusement when you feel like laughing at people who really believe that, to paraphrase the title of the townhall article Shapiro authored that he cites in Chapter One, the radical homosexual agenda is destroying American standards. As a piece of nonfiction, it's a joke; this is a two-hundred-thirty-two page op-ed piece at best, with every page dedicated to twisting and misinterpreting facts. (For, of course, no interpretation but Shapiro's could possibly have any merit.) As a joke, however, it's not funny enough to waste your time with. That there are people out there who would read this tripe and take it to heart pains me. If you must read it, please do so with enough of your critical thinking skills intact to at least realize that there are vastly different conclusions to be drawn from the facts Shapiro presents.
A thoroughly loathsome effort. (zero)
When a book is blurbed by both Ann Coulter and Laura Schlesinger, that's as good as having your cover be a portion of one of those old maps that says, in the middle of the ocean, “here be dragons”. Anyone attempting to read such a treatise must immediately know that one must gird one's loins and prepare for a deeply distressing experience. Ben Shapiro's Porn Generation satisfies-- no pun intended-- on all counts.
The book's most glaring deficiency is that Shapiro condemns sex researcher Alfred Kinsey for being, in the words of Daniel Flynn, “a charlatan who embarked upon research to confirm his pre-drawn conclusions”(20), and then embarks on exactly the same quest himself. He sets the scene by outlining a moral standard (without footnotes, of course, though the book does contain copious footnotes), and then writes to that standard, grasping at whatever straws are necessary to advance his own viewpoint, no matter how questionable-- or outright ludicrous-- those straws may be. He never thought to question the statistic he cites that one in three brides in 1946 were pregnant when they wed? And if he did, why doesn't he at least mention it?
The footnotes themselves make for tremendous reading, better than the book itself. They read like a primer of places to go to get your daily fill of religionist nonsense. Is there truly anyone who would cite worldnet daily with a straight face? There is-- Ben Shapiro. But then, this should come as no surprise; the moral standard that Shapiro would hold us all to is, if course, the Christian moral standard. None other could possibly be valid.
Standing against this Christian moral standard is an enemy Shapiro defines as “social liberals.”All social liberals, of course, have the same mindset, the same agenda, and the same set of beliefs. All social liberals, for example, are proselytizers of sexual freedom, while simultaneously being fervently anti-gun and anti-smoking. It actually made me take out my gun permit and look at it to make sure it hadn't disappeared while I was reading this book and smoking my way through a pack of Maverick 100s. Thankfully, Shapiro's parallel universe, where “social liberals” march in lockstep and have as their sole desire to topple the moral foundations of this supposedly Christian nation, exists only in his mind.
Shapiro, as I intimated before, is also all too willing to simply take his sources at their word, never questioning whether they might, in fact, be slanting the truth, or not quite as cognizant of it as they think they are. Shapiro, citing wingnut Michelle Malkin, seems to think that, for example, self-injury is some sort of new fad. (The article of Malkin's he cites-- found on the wonderfully amusing townhall.com website-- is even called “The new youth craze: self-mutilation”.) A quick Amazon search on self-mutilation, or one on cutting, taking all of fifteen seconds, would have put paid to that idea pretty quickly. (It should be noted that Shapiro also publishes at townhall.com. Better yet, he cites his own articles. Now there's a source for you!) He also likes to use hyperbole for the effect hyperbole is usually used for, fearmongering. “If you spend any amount of time on the Internet, it's difficult not to find yourself in the midst of a hard-core porn site...” (171). Funny, I've been an IT professional for almost fifteen years now, and I've never “found myself in the midst of” a hard-core porn site when I haven't wanted to be there. Between my job, my research, the occasional game, booking trips, and the many other hundreds of things I do on the Internet, it's not an unreasonable assumption to say I'm on the Internet seventy hours a week, if not more. I drop by porn websites once every three years or so. Never by accident. So what?, you may ask. You're an IT professional. You know how these things work. Well, my mom is in her seventies and still can't set the time on the VCR. How many times has she been tricked into visiting a hardcore porn site? I'll take “zero” for two hundred, Alex.
I can't call this book entirely worthless; you can use the footnotes and the bibliography to compile a pretty comprehensive list of stuff you can use for your amusement when you feel like laughing at people who really believe that, to paraphrase the title of the townhall article Shapiro authored that he cites in Chapter One, the radical homosexual agenda is destroying American standards. As a piece of nonfiction, it's a joke; this is a two-hundred-thirty-two page op-ed piece at best, with every page dedicated to twisting and misinterpreting facts. (For, of course, no interpretation but Shapiro's could possibly have any merit.) As a joke, however, it's not funny enough to waste your time with. That there are people out there who would read this tripe and take it to heart pains me. If you must read it, please do so with enough of your critical thinking skills intact to at least realize that there are vastly different conclusions to be drawn from the facts Shapiro presents.
A thoroughly loathsome effort. (zero)
August 17, 2017
Not a bad book in and of itself, but I had a couple major issues with it:
1. It's too dated.
Considering how fast modern society evolves and new trends come and go, PORN GENERATION simply isn't current enough to reflect the American landscape of today. The book focuses squarely on the years I was in high school and college (late 1990's, early 2000's), and I'm sure many of the things Ben Shapiro criticizes in this book will seem pretty toothless by today's standards. I mean, what reason is there to go after Britney Spears now that we have Lady Gaga, what reason to complain about FRIENDS now that everyone is obsessed with GAME OF THRONES? Why worry about Madonna and Britney's kiss on MTV now that TEEN VOGUE has published a guide to doing anal?
2. It's too obvious.
An alternate title for this book could have been THE SUN IS HOT AND OTHER SURPRISING OBSERVATIONS. Hey, did you know Marilyn Manson promotes nihilism? That rap music objectifies women? That girls' teen magazines often contain frank sex talk? That Madonna was both a bad role model and a fashion disaster? That Eminem writes violent lyrics? That Lindsay Lohan is unstable? Did you know heavy metal music often contains Satanic references and imagery? That Ozzy Osboune was a total drunk? Did you know college kids have too much sex and wish they could have even more?
If any of this surprises you, can I please get the address of the rock you live under? Maybe we could be roomies. Then again, if you live under a rock, why are you reading PORN GENERATION? Are you trying to make yourself angry over how rotten the world has gotten? How are you going to actually USE any of this information? Ah, but perhaps you have kids and are trying to educate yourself on the dangers in store for them. Well, sorry, but this book ain't gonna cut it (see Issue 1).
PORN GENERATION is a well-intentioned book that simply no longer retains any relevance it once had. I commend Shapiro for his strong moral stance, but I think he goes too far in some of his criticisms. I think it's fair to call Britney Spears "slutty", but flat-out calling her a "whore" strikes me as both mean and inaccurate. Saying Christina Aguilera has no talent means you know nothing about singing. Her songs may be total crap, but the girl's got pipes. Shapiro would do well to realize that subjective criticisms weaken the overall argument he is trying to make, which is that American pop culture has become quite toxic in recent decades.
Newsflash, everybody!
1. It's too dated.
Considering how fast modern society evolves and new trends come and go, PORN GENERATION simply isn't current enough to reflect the American landscape of today. The book focuses squarely on the years I was in high school and college (late 1990's, early 2000's), and I'm sure many of the things Ben Shapiro criticizes in this book will seem pretty toothless by today's standards. I mean, what reason is there to go after Britney Spears now that we have Lady Gaga, what reason to complain about FRIENDS now that everyone is obsessed with GAME OF THRONES? Why worry about Madonna and Britney's kiss on MTV now that TEEN VOGUE has published a guide to doing anal?
2. It's too obvious.
An alternate title for this book could have been THE SUN IS HOT AND OTHER SURPRISING OBSERVATIONS. Hey, did you know Marilyn Manson promotes nihilism? That rap music objectifies women? That girls' teen magazines often contain frank sex talk? That Madonna was both a bad role model and a fashion disaster? That Eminem writes violent lyrics? That Lindsay Lohan is unstable? Did you know heavy metal music often contains Satanic references and imagery? That Ozzy Osboune was a total drunk? Did you know college kids have too much sex and wish they could have even more?
If any of this surprises you, can I please get the address of the rock you live under? Maybe we could be roomies. Then again, if you live under a rock, why are you reading PORN GENERATION? Are you trying to make yourself angry over how rotten the world has gotten? How are you going to actually USE any of this information? Ah, but perhaps you have kids and are trying to educate yourself on the dangers in store for them. Well, sorry, but this book ain't gonna cut it (see Issue 1).
PORN GENERATION is a well-intentioned book that simply no longer retains any relevance it once had. I commend Shapiro for his strong moral stance, but I think he goes too far in some of his criticisms. I think it's fair to call Britney Spears "slutty", but flat-out calling her a "whore" strikes me as both mean and inaccurate. Saying Christina Aguilera has no talent means you know nothing about singing. Her songs may be total crap, but the girl's got pipes. Shapiro would do well to realize that subjective criticisms weaken the overall argument he is trying to make, which is that American pop culture has become quite toxic in recent decades.
Newsflash, everybody!
May 7, 2016
I can't do this anymore. It's boring, outdated and just annoying.
I am a conservative republican and I'm definitely not politically correct not do I like political correctness by any means. But I don't respect outright rudeness. The author is extremely rude and name calls just for the sake of it. You can present your arguments and get your point across without bashing people.
This book really just seems like a bad essay thrown together last minute by a college kids that hadn't started a paper that was due the next day. There's no real organization and no real point. Like, oh our culture is obsessed with sex? Tell me something I don't know please. We all know this. But he also exaggerates the extent to how obsessed with sex everyone is- or maybe I'm just naive. This is not what I expected and not what I wanted from this book.
I am a conservative republican and I'm definitely not politically correct not do I like political correctness by any means. But I don't respect outright rudeness. The author is extremely rude and name calls just for the sake of it. You can present your arguments and get your point across without bashing people.
This book really just seems like a bad essay thrown together last minute by a college kids that hadn't started a paper that was due the next day. There's no real organization and no real point. Like, oh our culture is obsessed with sex? Tell me something I don't know please. We all know this. But he also exaggerates the extent to how obsessed with sex everyone is- or maybe I'm just naive. This is not what I expected and not what I wanted from this book.
August 5, 2023
bro stop you’re driving half ur audience away with this
December 4, 2013
A very insightful look into a nation that has become desensitized to the most corrupt and degrading trends in our society. Shapiro is a very young writer but has wisdom beyond his years.
August 30, 2017
Whinily acerbic, this corybantic polemic explores in greatly unnecessary detail the elements of modern culture which the author finds deeply objectionable (which, it turns out, is pretty much everything). Shapiro’s torpid prose is a thin, manically polished veneer, clearly concealing a deep sea of all manner of repression, and his hysterical prudishness and unashamed enthusiasm for outright censorship are so sensationalist and backward as to make Ted Cruz look like an unfettered libertine in comparison.
October 3, 2016
This book was not what I expected. It is extremely conservative and judgmental. As a therapist who works with out of control sexual behavior and pornography addiction, the language in this book really bothers me. To call people immoral and deviant shames them which adds to the problem and does nothing to help the problem.
July 3, 2021
It's always a refreshing feeling when you think you have 40% left of a book and then find out that the rest of it is notes and references. It's like 'woohoo! I finished faster than I thought.' This is especially true when it's a book that you are not particularly enjoying.
I did not particularly enjoy this book.
I adore Ben Shapiro...when he's talking...I don't particularly enjoy his writing. This book is, for lack of a better word, histrionic. Not that what he is saying is wrong, in many cases, it's just how he chooses to say it that I don't particularly like. I guess I can only take so many adjectives like 'horrendous, vile, catastrophic, abhorrent' applied to one fact before I roll my eyes and wish we could just move on.
Again, this is not to say that what he has written is not true. It's obvious that he did a lot of research going into the book (30% of the kindle edition is just notes, for crying out loud), but it seems like the book was written from a more emotional journalistic perspective than from a critically reasoned and scholarly perspective. I don't particularly enjoy that style.
On the other hand, this was written when Ben was 21, so that youth may be what I am picking up on.
Finally, I didn't enjoy this book because I found it extremely disheartening. He is right when he says that Hollywood and advertising use sex to sell their products. As much as we have improved the lives of women in America we still use their bodies to sell stuff. It's disgusting.
I did not particularly enjoy this book.
I adore Ben Shapiro...when he's talking...I don't particularly enjoy his writing. This book is, for lack of a better word, histrionic. Not that what he is saying is wrong, in many cases, it's just how he chooses to say it that I don't particularly like. I guess I can only take so many adjectives like 'horrendous, vile, catastrophic, abhorrent' applied to one fact before I roll my eyes and wish we could just move on.
Again, this is not to say that what he has written is not true. It's obvious that he did a lot of research going into the book (30% of the kindle edition is just notes, for crying out loud), but it seems like the book was written from a more emotional journalistic perspective than from a critically reasoned and scholarly perspective. I don't particularly enjoy that style.
On the other hand, this was written when Ben was 21, so that youth may be what I am picking up on.
Finally, I didn't enjoy this book because I found it extremely disheartening. He is right when he says that Hollywood and advertising use sex to sell their products. As much as we have improved the lives of women in America we still use their bodies to sell stuff. It's disgusting.
December 28, 2021
Wow. This was really terrific and also horrifying. Shapiro gives us a pretty thorough history of how culture has been more than infected by pornography and sexual perversion. From a statistical standpoint alone, it has destroyed families and individuals and is a primary cause of depression and sexual impotency in our world today. What makes matters worse is that our culture not only allows it, but it furthers it by pushing it at such young ages through the public school system.
Never before in the history of the world has it been so available and easily accessed. Never before has it been so praised and accepted. Again, not even touching the moral aspects of it all, you will walk away disgusted with it and disgusted with yourself if you use it. This isn't a Left vs Right book. This is a good vs bad book.
Never before in the history of the world has it been so available and easily accessed. Never before has it been so praised and accepted. Again, not even touching the moral aspects of it all, you will walk away disgusted with it and disgusted with yourself if you use it. This isn't a Left vs Right book. This is a good vs bad book.
February 16, 2021
*shakes head in disbelief*
*looks at the sky in disbelief*
*cries violently for the existence of this book that is a disgrace on this earth*
oh my horror!
*looks at the sky in disbelief*
*cries violently for the existence of this book that is a disgrace on this earth*
oh my horror!
September 23, 2016
Well written, informative overview of the subtle conquest of America over the decades by the sexual revolution and the chilling consequences on the victims of porn. Parents, educators, and religious leaders should definitely read this book to become aware of the problem. The author concludes with a chapter “Taking A Stand” which offers suggestions of what to do to solve the problem.
December 31, 2016
If I could give less than 1 star - I would.
June 8, 2017
This book has to be taken with a grain of salt.
There are some pretty good points, especially at the beginning (the psychological effects of living in a society where the traditional moral values have been ripped apart), I think a lot of people can identify with that.
After the first, say, 40-50 pages, the book turns into a long list of "who's to blame for the moral decline" and a lot of the judgements are (in my opinion) off. Kate Winslet getting naked for Leo DiCaprio in Titanic certainly didn't raise the number of teen pregnancies.
Nevertheless, this book is an interesting read for both social conservatives and social libertarians. Regardless of what you believe, you should always listen to what the other side has to say and evaluate their point of view.
There are some pretty good points, especially at the beginning (the psychological effects of living in a society where the traditional moral values have been ripped apart), I think a lot of people can identify with that.
After the first, say, 40-50 pages, the book turns into a long list of "who's to blame for the moral decline" and a lot of the judgements are (in my opinion) off. Kate Winslet getting naked for Leo DiCaprio in Titanic certainly didn't raise the number of teen pregnancies.
Nevertheless, this book is an interesting read for both social conservatives and social libertarians. Regardless of what you believe, you should always listen to what the other side has to say and evaluate their point of view.
April 25, 2019
Since the book was written in 2005, the references are outdated, but that doesn’t detract from the argument made throughout the book on the sexualization of culture. I enjoyed being able to look at what I was raised on from Ben’s perspective. I’d say we share similar opinions. It’d be nice to have an addendum to the book for the culture of 2005-2019, as I’m sure the statistics are different and the culture references, while similar in nature, would be different as well.
July 14, 2019
He had some good points but overall it read like a very long, a little biased, Wikipedia article.
November 17, 2019
Explain very well how the porn industry is destroying the future of today's youth. This book applies to India too.
June 18, 2019
Porn Generation, I think that's a perfect name for our generation. I came across this book by a total coincidence. I picked it up to read just because Ben Shapiro authored it and I was curious what a book by him would be like to read. I had no idea going into it what the book was about. This book is well researched and written. I agree with the many arguments Ben makes in the book. I also had a change of opinion regarding how porn has impacted our generation and how media mediates everything use sex as the main ingredient. One of my favorite parts was the argument about pop stars and hip hop singers. I had a change of perspective when I listened to this part of the book regarding music artists and their impact on teens. Overall it was an informative read and a lot of times the topics he mentioned conflicted with what I have come to believe and had a hard time accepting his arguments and a few times I did not agree with his arguments and his message did not resonate with my beliefs.
January 26, 2019
Okay. So this book is super dated. Anyone younger than millennials will not understand his references. However, I do think he makes super valid arguments about the jadedness of our culture and the influence of porn in this world. Only other thing I didn't like is that he compared Hillary Duff to Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Lindsay Lohan. Granted I have the benefit of seeing how she turned out different than the trajectory Ben thought she was on. Hillary Duff is awesome. Haha I almost wish he would update this book. Great insights nonetheless.
October 18, 2019
While I like the premise of the book, the sarcasm and name-calling got old after a while and, in my opinion weakened the impact of the message. I think Shapiro’s THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY is a much better written book and avoids this trap.
November 18, 2019
Many don’t realize the negative impact this subject has on society and to which scale—Ben Shapiro does. This book has become one of my favorites.
June 8, 2024
Este é mais um daqueles livros reacionários e conservadores que vão na esteira de falar mal da cultura pop e não de analisá-la criticamente. Quem lê o título do livro pode se enganar: achar que o autor vai falar da pornografia per se e como ela pode afetar uma geração. Mas o trabalho é muitíssimo mais raso do que isso. Capítulo a capítulo, o autor vai destacando determinados elementos da cultura pop e despejando acidez reacionária sobre como esses conteúdos ameaçam a família heteronormativa. Mas a publicação brasileira tem um detalhe muito específico. Apesar da capa modernosa, a VIDE Editorial trouxe para o Brasil de 2021, um livro que foi publicado nos Estados Unidos em 2005, ou seja, as referências pop do livro estão completamente datadas. O autor cita por exemplo o beijo de Britney Spears e Madonna no MVA como algo recente. Esse é só um pequeno exemplo da hipocrisia e má fé editorial que as editoras de extrema direita brasileira praticam com os incautos leitores. Obviamente que este livro foi comprado num sebo por menos da metade do preço de capa. E ficou perdido no quarto de hotel porque esse sim, era um peso morto para ser levado na mala.
September 1, 2019
An interesting book but underwhelming. I agree with Shapiro's general thesis but his approach is clunky. I think his views and approach have evolved a fair amount since this early work. Basically, his point is that society has become overly sexualised and desensitised - a general moral degradation of sorts. I think this is somewhat true. But the problem is that he's often not clear, doesn't distinguish between degrees of things, his evidence is inconsistent and some of his arguments completely miss the mark.
First of all, he never clarifies the difference between a healthy interest in something and an obsession or addiction. That might not be easy to define exactly, but it's a key point to raise and one which he seems to ignore. Whether it's porn, video games, TV or even books or music, it's foolish to label a whole genre or type of media as either good or bad. They vary widely in quality. Some pornography is very aggressive, rough and explicit. On the other hand, a nude woman posing could be considered artistic - what's wrong with nudity or masturbation? What if someone uses a fully-clothed image of a celebrity as "inspiration" for a pleasurable solo activity? Is it then pornography? Is it unhealthy? Shapiro risks coming across as overly uptight, as a religious zealot trying to control people's personal lives, by not clearly stating where he draws the line.
Ironically, this book lists tens of cases of movies and music videos with raunchy parts in them. If you wanted to explore softcore nudity, this book is a modest compendium to aid you in that quest. He mentions lesbian scenes in Wild Things for example, which I haven't seen. It comes across half as an advertisement - probably not his intention...
One of Shapiro's worst arguments in this book regards a famous serial killer who apparently claims pornography made him want more, something more extreme to appease his appetite. This line of reasoning is deeply flawed. Most people who see pornography do not become serial killers. And many serial killers have not had any particular fondness for pornography. A lot of people don't like porn or violence in the first place and they choose to avoid it. It's not like a harmless, innocent person can get exposed to one thing and turn into a psychopath - I've never heard of a single case of that. No, perpetrators of serious crimes already have major issues. For Shapiro to help increase the fame of a murderer is also stupid and irresponsible. It's insane that people can name more serial killers than astrophysicists off the top of their head, in part thanks to the fact that we keep talking about them.
What is more distressing is the far left's normalisation of abnormal behaviour. These days, that includes trans women competing in women's sport, children being encouraged to "choose" their gender and the morbidly obese being praised as "beautiful". Shapiro mentions the way teen magazines often talk about sex. I do think that's pretty messed up. One doesn't have to be religious to have basic morals or to think that children should be sheltered from some things. I think sex education has been a complete failure and taken control away from parents in terms of the values their children have and what they get exposed to. I don't think it's healthy for teens to be sleeping around in their teens, even if others would say it's "open-minded".
When Shapiro covers these kinds of issues, I think he's spot on. But some of his sources are weak. Polls only reflect what a group of people said at a particular time. It needn't reflect the truth or even what these people actually do, as opposed to say they do or would do. He also uses a handful of quotes from teen magazines which could be interpreted in multiple ways. I didn't think all of the advice was quite as terrible as he apparently did. I also don't think Madonna or Britney Spears have caused major harm to young people. You may as well say that Elvis shaking his legs started to tear down the pillars of decent civilisation. He also seems to assume the causal direction - that celebrities cause lower standards in decency. But maybe standards were lowering and celebrities simply reflected this trend.
He cites a lot of statistics, but without full context, they aren't always convincing. I need to see whether things have changed or not - some kind of comparison. Shapiro also seems to assume that his conclusions are obvious when there may be different valid interpretations. He often says "a full" or "only" before percentages which might make his writing more persuasive, but for me it's just annoying and gets in the way of the numbers. Let ME decide if it's surprisingly high or low and what, if anything, to make of it.
It's disappointing that Shapiro makes little mention of various liberal policies of the 1960s, in particular welfare, minimum wage increases and later affirmative action. I think they've had much more direct effects on society and degradation than a slew of random pop stars. The movement towards softer punishments for criminals and more rehabilitation has also caused a lot of harm, in my opinion.
This book is okay for some of the points and stats Shapiro raises but it's nothing special. I think he's become a much more articulate and interesting figure now and he probably has mixed feelings about the content of this book, considering how far he has come.
First of all, he never clarifies the difference between a healthy interest in something and an obsession or addiction. That might not be easy to define exactly, but it's a key point to raise and one which he seems to ignore. Whether it's porn, video games, TV or even books or music, it's foolish to label a whole genre or type of media as either good or bad. They vary widely in quality. Some pornography is very aggressive, rough and explicit. On the other hand, a nude woman posing could be considered artistic - what's wrong with nudity or masturbation? What if someone uses a fully-clothed image of a celebrity as "inspiration" for a pleasurable solo activity? Is it then pornography? Is it unhealthy? Shapiro risks coming across as overly uptight, as a religious zealot trying to control people's personal lives, by not clearly stating where he draws the line.
Ironically, this book lists tens of cases of movies and music videos with raunchy parts in them. If you wanted to explore softcore nudity, this book is a modest compendium to aid you in that quest. He mentions lesbian scenes in Wild Things for example, which I haven't seen. It comes across half as an advertisement - probably not his intention...
One of Shapiro's worst arguments in this book regards a famous serial killer who apparently claims pornography made him want more, something more extreme to appease his appetite. This line of reasoning is deeply flawed. Most people who see pornography do not become serial killers. And many serial killers have not had any particular fondness for pornography. A lot of people don't like porn or violence in the first place and they choose to avoid it. It's not like a harmless, innocent person can get exposed to one thing and turn into a psychopath - I've never heard of a single case of that. No, perpetrators of serious crimes already have major issues. For Shapiro to help increase the fame of a murderer is also stupid and irresponsible. It's insane that people can name more serial killers than astrophysicists off the top of their head, in part thanks to the fact that we keep talking about them.
What is more distressing is the far left's normalisation of abnormal behaviour. These days, that includes trans women competing in women's sport, children being encouraged to "choose" their gender and the morbidly obese being praised as "beautiful". Shapiro mentions the way teen magazines often talk about sex. I do think that's pretty messed up. One doesn't have to be religious to have basic morals or to think that children should be sheltered from some things. I think sex education has been a complete failure and taken control away from parents in terms of the values their children have and what they get exposed to. I don't think it's healthy for teens to be sleeping around in their teens, even if others would say it's "open-minded".
When Shapiro covers these kinds of issues, I think he's spot on. But some of his sources are weak. Polls only reflect what a group of people said at a particular time. It needn't reflect the truth or even what these people actually do, as opposed to say they do or would do. He also uses a handful of quotes from teen magazines which could be interpreted in multiple ways. I didn't think all of the advice was quite as terrible as he apparently did. I also don't think Madonna or Britney Spears have caused major harm to young people. You may as well say that Elvis shaking his legs started to tear down the pillars of decent civilisation. He also seems to assume the causal direction - that celebrities cause lower standards in decency. But maybe standards were lowering and celebrities simply reflected this trend.
He cites a lot of statistics, but without full context, they aren't always convincing. I need to see whether things have changed or not - some kind of comparison. Shapiro also seems to assume that his conclusions are obvious when there may be different valid interpretations. He often says "a full" or "only" before percentages which might make his writing more persuasive, but for me it's just annoying and gets in the way of the numbers. Let ME decide if it's surprisingly high or low and what, if anything, to make of it.
It's disappointing that Shapiro makes little mention of various liberal policies of the 1960s, in particular welfare, minimum wage increases and later affirmative action. I think they've had much more direct effects on society and degradation than a slew of random pop stars. The movement towards softer punishments for criminals and more rehabilitation has also caused a lot of harm, in my opinion.
This book is okay for some of the points and stats Shapiro raises but it's nothing special. I think he's become a much more articulate and interesting figure now and he probably has mixed feelings about the content of this book, considering how far he has come.
January 16, 2018
Like another reviewer said, it is dated. I wondered how the pornography addiction rates in 2005 compare to 2017, as well as the video game addiction rate and social media addiction rate in 2017. Movies and TV are oversexualized, and of questionable morality. Once I became a parent I noticed. A more relevant book on the current social liberalism would probably be one about college campuses and the media, such as Milo Yiannopoulis' book "Dangerous" or "Unlearning Liberty" by Gregg Lukianoff. Impressed that Ben Shapiro wrote this book at such a young age. His contemporary observations of his peer group was interesting. I did not agree with everything but it yielded a few books I will look into.
February 21, 2024
The book is another bore fest on the "evils of porn"what with the epidemic of opiods,marijuana,abortion,etc.,and this is what this guy chose to write about?. Refugees from porn?.Seriously who'd he talk to?.Desi Foxx who pushed her own daughter into porn?.Maybe the late Shelley Lubben whose behavior was borderline schizo?.Perhaps one of the three notorious liars Lisa Ann,Jewels Jade,or Mia Khalifa,the pro Palestinian lover.Maybe Stormy Daniels,who tried bringing down President Trump or those false preachers Brittni De La Morna and Cristina Moran?. This just seems to have been written by your preachy grandfather who thinks people should marry solely to have babies and makes you feel guilty for liking sex.He's a lightweight on writing compared to the likes of,people may disagree with me here and that's fine,Michelle Malkin and the late Kate O'Beirne,she wrote The War On Boys.So pardon me if in good conscience I don't recommend this cliched anti porn book when it's the least damaging thing our society has to worry about compared to drug usage,alcohol abuse,illegal alien crime,mental health issues,etc.
November 5, 2025
Not quite my view
August 8, 2020
i thought i would agree with this despite not being a Ben Shapiro fan because i am also anti-porn, and i did, to an extent, but it’s all so shallow. his analysis is next to nonexistent, it’s just wading through endless facts and quotes. there is no bite! he decides in the opening that radical feminists are a main part of the cultural decline of the US (this view is presented without any persuasion) but he spends a whole chapter utilising their views on porn without their direction, goal or articulation. it’s extremely aimless, which leads to the conclusion that he’s floundering because he agrees with his least favourite uppity bitches, or at least isn’t smart enough to disagree, when coupled with the fact that his main (only) critique of the radical feminist stance is they’re “schizophrenic”. when you look at it side by side with “Bullies”, there’s some weirdness - “Bullies” asserts that indoctrinating children leftwards through school is one of the direst issues facing society, but one of his tactics in this is to indoctrinate children with his views? it’s extremely strange to have that juxtaposition when this book is really just 300 pages of Shapiro being extremely smug about how virtuous and principled he is. his morals are presented as perfect, everything else is presented as a gateway to the downfall of society, with no background on why his values are as vital for us all as he says - it’s an extremely typical book from him, written exclusively for his little echo chamber, and there isn’t even any literary merit. there’s some guy at the end who has decided the way his children will develop Strong Minds And Backbones is through being homeschooled. it’s truly demented to think that what will lead to strong convictions is coercing your child to emulate your views exactly over exposing them to a variety of stances and letting them come to their own nuanced conclusion. it’s even more demented to think that that isolation and coercion is the ethical choice. Shapiro’s either not clever enough or not up for expending the required effort to actually follow through on the subtitle and tell us what the future will be like, outside of “it will SPIRAL beyond your WILDEST DREAMS” it’s very strange. and to top it all off, a completely unconscionable amount of hatred toward single mothers and homosexuals. i have never seen a book as worthless before, there’s generally always something to take even from ones you consistently and virulently disagree with, but this one might’ve done the job.
July 2, 2022
Holy shit is this book a buttload of fucking swears and slurs.
Summary: Ben Shapiro took his tiny little hands and wrote a shit ton of racist slurs, writes in full ebonics, spews racism, and this book is already dated severely.
The longer takeaway is below.
I'm not one for political books, though this is probably targeting people like me a bit, it really misses the mark at being educational and much more than Ben Shapiro word salading while using voice to text in the bathroom during a long shit. Also, there are enough song lines and quotes to be a fanfiction from the 2006 area, so that's got my eyes wanting to bleed.
I really don't know why he hates African Americans so much, besides clear racism showing its ugly face, but see the next paragraph for more on that.
This book fixates on African Americans a lot, in an excessive fear-mongering manner. Regularly and habitually Ben refers to people with melanin as terms that are equivalent to "savages". He regularly drops such racial ebonics like the n-word, talks about rappers being at fault for horny kids(???), and seems to miss that we've had pornographic music made by white people even pre-dating obvious ones like Cyndi Lauper and Divinyls, clearly, Shapiro forgot Madonna's Like a Virgin performance where she was told she can't stroke her hands along her body due to how sexual it was. This book's aim is to say the 2000s+ invented horniness and porn.
Included in the ebonics is the n-word started with a w, which is such a 2000s staple and nobody really uses it anymore, that it's surreal to see it in this book. Then Shapiro uses "bitches and hoes" unironically while removing the e from "hoes" for some reason. I don't get Ben one bit.
I just cited multiple artists flooding the system with horny songs in the very dawn of the 80s, clearly Ben is late. Eminem was a mid-2000s singer. Porn magazines began in the 1950s and were massive in the 60s-90s(dying off in the latter). Pornography like the Playboy Bunny/Mansion was made massive in the 60s. Again, Shapiro has everything dated, which doesn't work in the present day, where it's forty years plus ago on a good day!
This is a book that blames porn existing while being extremely racist for no reason, if I had to guess, Shapiro's real message would be in line with Uncle Ruckus', and we don't need that. African Americans did not invent pornography or porn addictions, and I think this book is very racist propaganda.
I do not recommend this book.
It was already outdated on the day it was published.
Summary: Ben Shapiro took his tiny little hands and wrote a shit ton of racist slurs, writes in full ebonics, spews racism, and this book is already dated severely.
The longer takeaway is below.
I'm not one for political books, though this is probably targeting people like me a bit, it really misses the mark at being educational and much more than Ben Shapiro word salading while using voice to text in the bathroom during a long shit. Also, there are enough song lines and quotes to be a fanfiction from the 2006 area, so that's got my eyes wanting to bleed.
I really don't know why he hates African Americans so much, besides clear racism showing its ugly face, but see the next paragraph for more on that.
This book fixates on African Americans a lot, in an excessive fear-mongering manner. Regularly and habitually Ben refers to people with melanin as terms that are equivalent to "savages". He regularly drops such racial ebonics like the n-word, talks about rappers being at fault for horny kids(???), and seems to miss that we've had pornographic music made by white people even pre-dating obvious ones like Cyndi Lauper and Divinyls, clearly, Shapiro forgot Madonna's Like a Virgin performance where she was told she can't stroke her hands along her body due to how sexual it was. This book's aim is to say the 2000s+ invented horniness and porn.
Included in the ebonics is the n-word started with a w, which is such a 2000s staple and nobody really uses it anymore, that it's surreal to see it in this book. Then Shapiro uses "bitches and hoes" unironically while removing the e from "hoes" for some reason. I don't get Ben one bit.
I just cited multiple artists flooding the system with horny songs in the very dawn of the 80s, clearly Ben is late. Eminem was a mid-2000s singer. Porn magazines began in the 1950s and were massive in the 60s-90s(dying off in the latter). Pornography like the Playboy Bunny/Mansion was made massive in the 60s. Again, Shapiro has everything dated, which doesn't work in the present day, where it's forty years plus ago on a good day!
This is a book that blames porn existing while being extremely racist for no reason, if I had to guess, Shapiro's real message would be in line with Uncle Ruckus', and we don't need that. African Americans did not invent pornography or porn addictions, and I think this book is very racist propaganda.
I do not recommend this book.
It was already outdated on the day it was published.
July 12, 2020
What I liked:
- I found this book interesting and informative as it seems I have been living a little bit under a rock: I knew rap/hip hop and rock songs had rude or depressing lyrics, but not to the extent the books shows. Awful! no matter the language, parents should check on the lyrics before playing songs with their children present.
- taking "god" out of he book, it talks about bringing back good old values. Though at times it exaggerates. A. Lot. I don't agree with all he says, but overall I think it is a good book if reading it with a critical mind.
What I didn't like:
- Shapiro uses a lot of adjectives that make parts of the books sound like an emotional rant. Not good for someone who talks about the importance of facts. Sure, he gives facts about Britney Spears, but it is mean to talk about her as a w*0r3 instead of stating that she dress and behaves sl*tty
- the book has aged bad. Shapiro was single when he wrote this. He said pop singers with piercings was "self mutilation". His wife has earrings. Doesn't that count as "self mutilation" too? maybe poking holes in the right Shapiro approved place make it less "mutilating".
There are a couple of examples like that, but the biggest stingiest one:
a whole book complaining (sometimes exaggerating) about how sex is everywhere...to years later post on twitter a photo smiling with a Game of Thrones T-shirt! he also has videos commenting on the season blah and the season bleh. He is a fan, all right, and it looks so bad after this book. He "forgot" about sex on GoT because he likes the tv show enough.
- I found this book interesting and informative as it seems I have been living a little bit under a rock: I knew rap/hip hop and rock songs had rude or depressing lyrics, but not to the extent the books shows. Awful! no matter the language, parents should check on the lyrics before playing songs with their children present.
- taking "god" out of he book, it talks about bringing back good old values. Though at times it exaggerates. A. Lot. I don't agree with all he says, but overall I think it is a good book if reading it with a critical mind.
What I didn't like:
- Shapiro uses a lot of adjectives that make parts of the books sound like an emotional rant. Not good for someone who talks about the importance of facts. Sure, he gives facts about Britney Spears, but it is mean to talk about her as a w*0r3 instead of stating that she dress and behaves sl*tty
- the book has aged bad. Shapiro was single when he wrote this. He said pop singers with piercings was "self mutilation". His wife has earrings. Doesn't that count as "self mutilation" too? maybe poking holes in the right Shapiro approved place make it less "mutilating".
There are a couple of examples like that, but the biggest stingiest one:
a whole book complaining (sometimes exaggerating) about how sex is everywhere...to years later post on twitter a photo smiling with a Game of Thrones T-shirt! he also has videos commenting on the season blah and the season bleh. He is a fan, all right, and it looks so bad after this book. He "forgot" about sex on GoT because he likes the tv show enough.
April 7, 2018
While I deeply admire Shapiro and rabidly consume his more-current material, this book is simply not up to par. He wrote it quite early in his career (he was 21 at the time), and the book is dated in both setting and writing ability. The premise of the book I agree with - but there were little actual insights from Shapiro. Most of the book consists of a laundry list of media sins and quotes from other authors/media. It was akin to reading a hall monitor's list of student misdemeanors. I did not like this focus or the author's tone.
It also felt like there was no real reason for reading the book. If you already agree with Shapiro's perspective, this book does little but give you an inflated sense of self-righteousness. If you don't agree, there's little material in here that's actually persuasive.
His other books are far more worth reading. I'd only recommend this if you (like me) are intent on reading all the books by Shapiro you can. Just put it near the bottom of the list.
It also felt like there was no real reason for reading the book. If you already agree with Shapiro's perspective, this book does little but give you an inflated sense of self-righteousness. If you don't agree, there's little material in here that's actually persuasive.
His other books are far more worth reading. I'd only recommend this if you (like me) are intent on reading all the books by Shapiro you can. Just put it near the bottom of the list.
February 28, 2019
One is part of the whole, and the actions of individuals do effect the fabric of society.
Of course we have to have laws to protect and govern the state, society, and the citizens; but there has to be more than just the law forcing what is right and preventing wrong doings. Everybody is unique, so everybody has his/her own moral code.
I would want to do lots of horrifying things, but I don't; because not just that my actions will have bad consequences, but also if I get caught, I will face punishment (the law), and if I do not get caught and die, God will judge me and I will get punished.
Those who have slaughtered and burned hundreds and thousands of people and got away with it in this life, will show up for trail in the hereafter.
It is correct; religion imposes lots of restrictions on freedom, but it makes us act in a certain way that if everybody acted that way, things will be good for every one overall.
Of course we have to have laws to protect and govern the state, society, and the citizens; but there has to be more than just the law forcing what is right and preventing wrong doings. Everybody is unique, so everybody has his/her own moral code.
I would want to do lots of horrifying things, but I don't; because not just that my actions will have bad consequences, but also if I get caught, I will face punishment (the law), and if I do not get caught and die, God will judge me and I will get punished.
Those who have slaughtered and burned hundreds and thousands of people and got away with it in this life, will show up for trail in the hereafter.
It is correct; religion imposes lots of restrictions on freedom, but it makes us act in a certain way that if everybody acted that way, things will be good for every one overall.
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