The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America's Obscene Obsession

by Kelsy Burke

For readers of Peggy Orenstein and Rebecca Traister, an authoritative, big think look at pornography in all its facets - historical, religious, and cultural.

In the 1960s, sex researchers Masters and Johnson declared the end of the fake orgasm. Nearly two decades later, in 1982, evangelical activist Tim LaHaye foretold that the entire pornography industry would soon be driven out of business. Neither prediction proved true. Instead, with the rise of the internet, pornography saturates the American conscience more than ever and has reshaped our understanding of sexuality, relationships, media, and even the nature of addiction.

Dr. Kelsy Burke has spent the last five years researching and interviewing internet pornography's opponents and its sympathizers. In The Pornography Wars, Burke does a deep dive into the long history of pornography in America and then turns her gaze on our present society to examine the ways this industry touches on the most intimate parts of American lives. She offers a complete understanding of the major players in the debates around porn's place in society: everyone from sex workers, activists, therapists, religious leaders, and consumers. In doing so, she addresses and debunks the myths that surround porn and porn usage while showing how everything from the way we teach children about sex to the legal protections for what can be published is tied up in the deeply complicated battles over pornography.

Sweeping, savvy, and deeply researched, The Pornography Wars is a necessary and comprehensive new look at pornography and American life.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Feminism, Sociology, Sexuality, Psychology, Politics

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 24, 2023

About the author

Kelsy Burke is associate professor of sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she studies how sex, gender, and religion collide in contemporary America. Her first book examining online Christian sex advice is the award-winning Christians under Covers: Evangelicals and Sexual Pleasure on the Internet (2016). She has published numerous scholarly and popular articles on topics ranging from racism in evangelical women’s ministries, debates over pornography addiction, as well as religious freedom laws and LGBT rights.

Reviews

[Kara Babcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Famously, I was told the internet is for porn. That can’t be true, of course, because as far as I am concerned, the internet is for writing book reviews! Anyway, The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Obscene Obsession is yet another entry in a long line of books that looks at how people have lined up against one another to support or oppose the creation, distribution, and consumption of pornography. Some people on both sides call themselves feminists. Kelsy Burke looks at who the people are on these sides, and how we got here. Thanks to NetGalley and publisher Bloomsbury USA for the eARC!

I’ve read several books that touch on similar themes. Way back in 2018, I read the much older Female Chauvinist Pigs , which Burke cites here. More recently, I’ve read The Pornification of America and Why We Lost the Sex Wars , both through NetGalley as well. Why do I keep coming back to this topic? I think it has to do with a fascination with the limits of feminism. I identify as a feminist, but I also recognize that my views on feminism have been shaped by my privilege as a white, able-bodied person with a good education and job. A lot of my learning in recent years has focused on unlearning my white feminism in an attempt to look at things more intersectionally. Porn, and its influence on our culture, is at the centre of a lot of debates about what it means to be feminist. As usual, historically, it has been middle-class cis white women leading the charge, while sex workers are disproportionately poorer women and non-binary people of colour.

Burke’s book intrigued me because, while didn’t go so far as to promise objectivity, it did say it would strive to include multiple perspectives on “the pornography wars” and to critique those perspectives. This was something I felt was sorely lacking in Levy’s Female Chauvinist Pigs, which despite professing feminist views and a neutrality towards porn, interviewed mostly people one would describe as anti-porn. In contrast, The Pornography Wars has data and stories gathered from across a vast spectrum, ranging from interviewees who are staunchly anti-porn on moral grounds to people who are staunchly pro-porn to people who are just confused, unsure, or who don’t like porn for their own reasons but aren’t opposed to its existence socially.

Although I’m not going to get into it here, you can imagine, I hope, that my own relationship to porn, as a 32-year-old asexual transgender woman, is complicated. Indeed, Burke elucidates how most people’s relationship with porn is a complicated one, which is why this subject needs to be studied and discussed. Though I would largely describe myself as “pro-porn, sex-positive, pro-sex-worker,” I must admit that Burke’s work has me feeling more negative towards the porn industry than ever before.

Now, I knew already about how problematic PornHub/MindGeek are. But as Burke peeled off the layers of corruption and dysfunction within the industry, I started to realize that the idea of “ethical porn” is problematic, to say the least. It’s great that one can pay for one’s porn, but that only solves a single problem and doesn’t address the underlying abuse of sex workers within the porn industry. A consumer must embark on more extensive research—has that talent ever been accused of sexual assault of a fellow talent?—to feel confident in the ethics of one’s pornography. Suddenly the idea of consuming porn ethically feels closer to the idea of consuming meat ethically—and while I haven’t gone vegetarian, I am all for dramatically reforming the meat industry.

At the same time, Burke is careful not to repeat, and indeed she calls out, when critics of the porn industry cherry-pick the most sensational stories of abuse. As the subtitle of this book implies, part of her examination of the history of the pornography wars involves the battle to have pornography declared “obscene.” Burke is very careful to delineate between opponents of pornography who hold it as immoral versus those who see it as unhealthy (although there is often overlap).

Her exploration of whether or not there is science to support the idea of porn addiction reminds us that science is a tool prone to being biased or misused. Plenty of evangelicals are seizing on science, albeit often junk science, to back up gender-essentialist ideas of brain function and sexuality. Though out of the scope of Burke’s thesis, these findings hint at the underlying problem in American society—a general dismantling of scientific literacy to the point where what counts as science and fact is now up for debate.

As Burke points out, the pornography wars have become increasingly polarized and moralized. She wants to demonstrate that there is common ground between those who would describe themselves as anti-porn or pro-porn (or at least, porn-neutral). This might seem like an impossible task, but I think through the patient exploration of her topic from different angles, she succeeds. At the very least, The Pornography Wars shows that the history of smut, obscenity, and pornography in America is not as simple as many of the people on either side of this battlefield might claim. I really enjoyed learning about that history, and I think Burke did a great job of presenting different perspectives in a way that truly challenged my own existing views on pornography, both as a concept and as an industry.

Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Porn is a very polarizing subject. People have very strong opinions about it and they often want everyone to feel the same way they do. I'm obviously old but I am young enough to have always been able to access free porn from the internet if I wanted to. Obviously as a young person you want to explore sexual things because it seems cool and wrong. I don't personally see anything wrong with porn as long as everyone is an adult and consenting. I've watched porn but it's not really for me i find all the moaning incredibly annoying but I don't think it's wrong if others enjoy it.

The Pornography Wars explores the decades long battle over porn. Porn has been around for as long as visual media(cameras, videotapes, dvds, and the internet) has existed. It's been debated as a harmless past time or the end of civilization for just as long. Kelsy Burke explores all sides of the war from Pro porn advocates, anti porn advocates, sex workers and professional researchers. She addresses and debunks myths about porn and porn addiction( porn addiction seems to be based on your relationship with religion and politics more than brain chemistry). While she doesn't express her own opinion on porn it's pretty clear to me that she doesn't have any moral issues with it.

The Pornography Wars was a well researched and engaging read. It can be explicit at time with graphic descriptions of some porn scenes but overall I think this book is a refreshing and informed read for anyone who is interested in the past, present and possible future of porn and sex work.

I highly recommend this book!

[Steven F · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough history but the author makes some ridiculous errors that would have benefited from better fact checking.

The author contends that "by the late 1970s, public theaters were mostly rejecting hard-core features... The industry appeared headed for decline...until..." VHS came along.

The author seems to have forgotten Betamax, which came first. Okay, maybe she is conflating VHS with all VCRs but she does use that term as well so I don’t know what she means.

But the notion that cinemas simply chose to stop showing porn is preposterous. Porn cinemas folded or went back to showing conventional fare because VCRs put them out of business. She would have you believe they chose to stop showing porn and luckily for the porn industry, along came the VCR. Um no...along came the VCR and goodbye porn cinemas. People may prefer cinemas for regular movies for the big picture, big sound, and seeing movies with an audience. But for porn, they would much rather view at home. For one thing, they can take care of personal needs without fear of arrest.

In a later chapter, the author calls Atari (of the 80s) a Japanese company. Nolan Bushnell, the founder of this American company, would not be pleased. How'd this make it passed fact checking? Or was there any?

I hate when such glaring errors make it into print because it calls into question the research and fact checking and there may be other errors where the author can say anything and I have no way to know if it's true.

[BookStarRaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Pornography Wars by Dr. Kelsy Burke is a deep dive into the history and clashing ideas in regards to pornography. Growing up in a fundamentalist Christian household, I had a one-sided perspective on this issue and thought this book might give me some insight into an issue that is more complex than it first appears.

The Pornography wars covers a wide range of topics including the history of pornography, the ethics of the porn industry, the effects of watching pornography and common ground between the different viewpoints.

My takeaways:

1. Whether you agree with porn or not, it probably isn’t going away.
2. There is a way for porn to be made ethically some people are working to make the porn industry better.
3. Christian men are more likely to believe they have a “porn addiction” even though they are watching less porn than the general non-religious population.
4. There is no one research-backed definition of pornography addiction.
5. Both sides, anti-porn and pro-porn, want the same thing - to live a happy and sexually fulfilled lives. It’s how these are accomplished that differs.

I came out of this book with a more nuanced perspective on the porn industry and porn in general. My main complaint about the book is that at times it comes across more as a work debunking common myths about the porn industry rather than a narrative for or against something. Especially in the first half of the book, it sometimes lacked a cohesive stance on the porn industry but also didn’t come across as nuanced or unbiased. I would still recommend this book to anyone interested in seeing both sides of the argument for or against pornography.

[grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I should start off with the disclaimer that I am asexual. I’ve never watched porn. So this book was sort of like studying a dead language or an ancient civilization. Read with the notion that I am just going to have to take your word for it!

The thesis starts off strong though with: ”Pornography names an argument, not a thing.”
That’s what really got my hooked. The idea that pornography isn’t a thing, but an arguement in a society based on norms and cultural aspects. Because what one would find to be pornographic in America is different than India. And what was pornographic in 1930s America is different than 2030s America.

“Being Pornography isn’t an intrinsic property of anything… pornography is best understood not as a noun but as a verb. It does something for us as a society. It is a socially constructed concept, like money or language, and meaningless without a collective agreement.”
Burke also goes on to talk that porn even references a specific type of relationship. One in which we were the payoff without the labor of doing the work. In food porn we get to see delicious food without cooking just as in erotic porn we see sex without having the work of a sexual relationship.

Another realization I had was that pornography and obscenity are NOT the same thing, and the distinction is actually incredibly important. Since the 1970s, the courts have consistently distinguished pornography from obscenity: the former is protected under the 1st Amendment while the latter is not. It is not just your desire to watch porn, it is your God given American RIGHT to watch two people raw dawgin’ it on screen. I watch porn because I am a PATROIT.

There is also the fact that Larry Flynt, the owner of Hustler Magazine was running for president in 1984. “I am running as a Republican rather than as a Democrat because I am wealthy, white, pornographic. If elected my primary goal will be to eliminate ignorance and venereal disease.” Just. Wow.

And finally, the grand finale of porn used to be a genital shot – proof that penetrative sex was taking place. It was not until the 1970s, that the “money shot” (a man’s ejaculation) became the standard final scene. Who knew?

As for the content of the book, Burke does a remarkable job of portraying all sides of the porn argument, from pornographers, to feminists, to conservatives, to people who say they have porn addictions, without any bays towards one side or another. There is no clear side Burke takes and thus really allows you as a reader to form your own thoughts and opinions about all the thoughts and opinions presented.

There are people who are pro-porn and there are people who are anti-porn. The people who are anti-porn are anti-porn in different ways, but ultimately want the same thing. The end of porn. What Burke notes though is, “The timeless truth of the pornography was that those who promote censorship are necessarily just as obsessed with sex and porn as those who are being censored.”

Burke writes about the several groups and politicians who think about porn just as much as pornographers do, in an attempt to censor the media. This creates an ironic notion that some of the most conservative people are the ones who know the most about porn.

Burke also brings attention to the fact that when politicians or religious groups aim to censor media, it’s often not because they actually care about the morality behind the media. “This censorship is often described as a “symbolic crusade”. Whatever social panic of the day is. They reveal an effort to promote a particular political or cultural agenda. Temperance was championed by white, middle class protestant, not because they cared about drunkenness, but because they saw themselves as a “doomed class”. Their attitudes about temperance symbolized their deeper opposition to minority groups who were growing in size.”

I had to explain this same concept to my co-work who asked why prostitution wasn’t legal. It’s not that we actually care about things like venereal disease or violence against women. It’s that prostitution allows sex work for the minority class and therefore gives them capital to pull themselves up in “standing”. Laws and policing in the United States work to police the lower class, specifically black Americans, to act as a new kind of Jim Crow.

The idea of how to police porn has shifted in recent years though. Now instead of seeing watching porn as a moral failing, it is seen as a health and wellness issue. Whether or not porn is actually addictive is also up for debate, something I didn’t know before reading this book. Burke explains that someone’s personal connection and perception of porn has the most to do with shaping how they view porn.

“People beliefs about pornography influence the consequences they experience from viewing it. People who perceived themselves to be addicted to porn were more likely to show signs of physiological distress then people who used porn more often but who did NOT identify as addicted.
Protestant men are more likely than any other group, including those with no religious afflictions to perceive themselves to be addicted to pornography. And yet, protestant men as a whole actually watch less porn than their non-evangelical counterparts. Several studies have found that religious commitment is a better predictor for a perceive porn addiction than actual porn use.”

It also gave me the same feeling as the Defunctland “Shape world is Animal Kingdom”, to discover that the health and wellness industry has now taken up the crusade for porn censorship in the same way feminists and evangelicals have been doing for decades. It is the same soup just reheated.
“No longer used simply to signal the absence of disease, healthism reflects the value that Americans today attach to health: that wellness represents goodness. To name porn as a health crisis may seem to distance an antiporn position from religious believers of feminist connotations, but the language of health can also be a tool wielded from broader goals.”

Furthermore, by viewing porn consumption as a disease, one takes the blame off of the viewer and puts it onto society. It perpetrates the notion that men just have higher sex drives and therefore NEED to watch porn. However, this falls apart when you think about the women with porn addictions, and the shame that then comes along with that. Burke also comments how ironic that is, “In these ways, porn addiction commentary about men and women inadvertently recreate some of the most damaging gender stereotypes of pornography itself.”

There is also the effect that the internet had on porn – which is not the effect you think. There is this thought that everyone started watching porn when the internet came about but I am happy to announce that everyone was ALREADY watching porn and the internet just made it free. It’s the free-ness of porn now that is causing a lot of problems.

The internet did cause a jump in porn consumption, but for most Americans that increase was small. 32% in 1973 to 33% in 2000. What REALLY mucked everything up is that MindGeek owns 90 percent of all pornographic content on the internet.

The wealth in porn has shifted from those who are acting in the porn to those who are distributing the porn. MindGeek manages to make money, despite services like Visa, MasterCard and Paypal not rendering their services, through advertising on the website. The porn actors don’t see any of this money – and since people are watching for free, or have to be directed elsewhere to pay, it means that the only people making money is the website. Even OnlyFans, which is largely used for porn, takes a percentage of creator’s earnings since they are taking the risk of being sued for hosting such materials (due to obscenity laws).

Therein lays the number one problem with modern day porn. It is the ethics and problems that come along with the expectation of free porn. As one porn performer discusses, porn isn’t like it was in the 2000s where you get paid well for your work. It’s become a hustle culture.

Speaking of the ethics of porn. You have another side of the antiporn debate which comes from a very different came than the Evangelicalists, and that is the feminist critique of porn. Burke notes that, “Pornography is like patriarchy on steroids. Widespread misogyny is bigger than pornography online, but pornography feeds off and into patriarchal culture…”
Porn engagement might have not increased with the internet, but the types of porn being made have. 21st century porn is more violent and that violence is directed unevenly with members of marginalized groups most likely to be depicted as victims. So the making of porn has changed to require performers to do a lot harder scenes.

When Burke talks to porn performers, the talk about how it is difficult to have total consent for anything happening on a job, because within the porn industry, choice and coercion operate on a continuum. If you need to do your job and get paid, how do you say no to one thing you might not be completely comfortable with if that’s what needs to be done. They compare it to doing things at your 9 to 5 that you wouldn’t be comfortable with, but you go home at the end of the day and it’s over.

I don’t envy the difficult decisions porn performers have to make, especially when the describe how producers will often times stop hiring girls for shoots if they are not totally cooperative. Then there is also the discussion if porn should be authentic, and porn performers would get real pleasure out of scenes. I found it interesting that that discussion is something porn performers don’t care at all about. They view themselves as actors and more than anything, DON’T really want to feel true pleasure, because it’s not about them and what they want, it’s about doing a good job.

Burke also touches on how so many antiporn advocates seem to be against hardcore porn and opens the floor to the discussion that, technically, hardcore porn is no safer than any other porn. “Culturally, we tend not to think of vanilla sex, or the heteronormative pairing, as dangerous in comparison to queer or kinky sex. Yet there’s nothing inevitably or automatically safer, in porn or real life, if sex is vanilla than if it’s not.” Eliminating porn would not actually eliminate racist of misogynist violence.

At one conference Burke attended, a Black woman tries to talk about racism within the porn industry and society at large, but the women do not want to hear about the complex issues of racism, the just want to talk about how bad porn is. They don’t want to talk about WHY porn is bad. Just that it is.
Which leads to one of the best paragraphs in this book (in my humble opinion),
“And here is the sticking point for a feminist position against pornography. Antipornography feminists must assume that they know what is best for women collectively, and that individual women who indicate otherwise (women who work in porn) are little more than dupes. “False consciousness” is used to discuss why factory workers throughout Europe put up with dismal working conditions and did not revolt. The bourgeoisie managed to control the proletariat, convincing them that it was in their best interest to continue their work without organizing unions. Similarly, antipornography activists suggest that the reason women participate in porn is that they think it is good for them when actually it is not.”

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Bloomsbury USA, Bloomsbury Publishing for an advanced copy of this new cultural and historical book.

The subject of pornography can lead to some of the oddest comments, outside of the subject of sex in general, either for or against, and hardly ever in between. On one hand you can have the pornoisseur who can list classic movies, actresses, actors, even the homes that various scenes have been filmed at. The other side can list the evils sometimes for religious, sometimes for feminist, sometimes even for criminal reasons sometimes even mentioning addiction. For some there is only one reason, not the right reason, or the wrong reason, but their reason. And this is where discussions can get cloudy, and or antagonistic quickly. Dr. Kelsy Burke in The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Obscene Obsession walks the middle path giving both sides views with science, history and plenty of well thought out questions and research.

The book begins with a personal history of the author, describing Dr. Burke 's upbringing and turn to religion in middle school. Along this time Dr.Burke also discovered Playboy, which opened her mind to a world that she never thought about, but one that she leaned a lot about herself, and her sexuality. From there is is discussions of pornography, starting about the Civil War and the the efforts of Anthony Comstock to act as a moral guardian for the people, making certain items illegal by mail, and pursuing early sex advocates as equal as dirty book or picture peddlers. Famous trials are covered, laws are passed, cinema begins, and so do film shorts, which were played at men's club called smokers, for the amount of cigar smoke that filled the room. VHS tapes changed the industry, and soon the Internet ruined that with conglomeration of various internet sites under one banner. All the time religious and feminist groups protested pornography, calling for an end of its exploitation of females, and freeing men of their addiction to sex and pornography. Sex workers, religions and addiction experts are profiled and interviews, science is studied, and an interesting summation about pornography and the future is presented.

The writing is very clear and without a jokey sense or a feeling of wow can you believe this goes on, which is prevalent in writing about sex or pornography. And it is not dry or dull, even when listing a lot of history, that many people might not have as much interest in. The narrative floats between both sides very well, and everyone and their opinion is treated fairly even and balanced.

Not a book to be read for fun. In fact many of the people that appear, with a few exceptions seem happy with what they are doing, either pro or anti. Everyone comes across as human, and strong believers in what they do, again, except for a few that seem to see dollar signs in addiction, but even they are given a chance in the spotlight. Dr. Burke does not praise or damn, but leaves it to the reader to make their own decisions based on the work.

[Nusar Milbes · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you need an introduction to the topic of pornography in America, this may be a good place to start. The first half of the book which covers censorship laws and how these laws have evolved is far more interesting that the second half of the book. I do believe that the author of this work, Kelsey Burke, was trying so hard to be neutral (clearly not neutral) at times that it made the book so much more disappointing.

Having said that, especially if you’re porn critical I’d pass on this one. Gail Dine’s, Pamela Paul’s, Gary Wilson’s, Rachel Moran’s books are far better. All four authors I just mentioned are secular writers. Other works that may be more useful are Big Porn Inc and also Feminism and Pornography (this one is a little dated), the latter is a collection of essays written by feminist who are pro and against pornography.

I understand this review may be bias, I am 100% porn critical and my research has led me to truly believe that.

Lastly, if you’re reading this and are pro “sex work”, due yourself a favour and read Moran (mentioned above) memoir. As former prostitute herself, she sums up pretty clearly why selling your body is never empowering.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at different sides of the pornography debate. Burke first goes through the history of pornography and laying groundwork with American obscenity laws. With this established she takes us through to today, showcasing the arguments and research done by antiporn and porn-positive people.

While the history was interesting to read and so were several of the case studies, the points of the book often felt repetitive. I understand her point was to prove how much anti and porn-positive people overlap, however, I don't think that often landed. I think this is both in terms the interviews included and the layout of the chapters. Instead, it just felt like reading a back and forth transcript of a debate with neither side offering anything new to the discussion.

[Bryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thorough and well-researched, but lacked a coherent argument/narrative beyond “it’s complicated”

[Chantelle Tuffigo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this should be more highly rated. I guess it’s more controversial than I expected but that’s clearly my bad in hindsight.

Idk why so many people are saying the author wasn’t neutral. First of all, I found it pretty neutral and thorough. Second, she literally addresses in the introduction that although she has done her best to remain neutral in her analysis, she is not - actually - neutral, she is a person and therefore has bias 😭

[Anna R. Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book overall was full of informative and interesting information. However I felt that at times the writing was dense and academic. I also felt like the writing repeated itself often, sometimes sharing the same idea multiple times.

[Annalise · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, dry read about Pornography in America. Some of the interviews were not well integrated into the book and could have used some smoother editing. Overall informative and fairly well balanced.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Book Was Better Than Modern Star Wars

This was a fine book.

I learned a few things here-and-there, but all-in-all it was just an okay book.

It really went deep into the past, and tackled a bit of the present, but it could have gone more into the future - in my opinion.

Check it out if it sounds good ... I am not recommending it.

2.9/5

[anna renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good read! This covers all the bases & keeps it engaging— it’s hard to be dense & fun to read at the same time but apparently not for Kelsy Burke. Enlightening & question-raising (& answering) in a way that texts of this kind don’t always get right. It might be perfect

[J.J. Lair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a smutty description of porn. Not preaching either side. A history of Comstock laws and obscenities. This is an analysis of the topic in a mature manner.

[Erin Krajenke · Rating 2 out of 5]

"A timeless truth of the pornography wars is that those who promote censorship are necessarily just as obsessed with sex and pornography as those who are being censored."

I feel like the entire book reiterated the same points over and over. Not even any interesting facts. If you are a right-wing Christian, you will think porn is bad for you and wrong. If you are a left-wing liberal, you will think porn is okay.

[Eady Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

In “The Pornography Wars” Kelsy delves into the history of obscenity and laws around mailing sexually explicit material. She addresses how extremes in banning sexual content can lead (and have led) to extremes in limiting sex-education.
“Only fifteen states [in the USA] have passed laws requiring that sex education be medically accurate, and only sixteen require teaching about contraception, aligning with a comprehensive model.”

Some feminists fight for the right to create porn that is more stimulating for women (not just for men), porn that is more pleasure and consent based. Other feminists stand against pornography because of the exploitation, abuse and trafficking of women and children, in particular.
“Both sides of the porn wars share concerns over safety and consent, risks of violence, and sexual health. Yet this common ground is lost in efforts to crack down on sex trafficking within the porn industry, given that the activists leading the charge conflate trafficking with all forms of sex work.”
However, the fact the porn depicts misogyny, racism, rape etc. is more a product of our social problems than of problems specific to the porn industry. It is arguable that a more consent-based society will depict consent-based pornography.

Sex workers also have varying experiences of working for fair pay and under ethical conditions, versus being sexually abused and exploited within their employment arena. Again, this seems to be more of a reflection of society than of the porn industry itself. Ethical pornography is about workers being paid appropriately, actors fully consenting to each and every scene produced, people regularly testing for STI’s and rules around STI safety. Ethical porn often costs viewers money to watch, whereas mainstream porn is often free.

Kelsy delves into whether or not pornography viewing can become addictive. Many argue that it can and does, while many others say the science is, at best, ambiguous. Some prefer the language of “compulsion.” People who believe porn is addictive are more likely to identify as porn-addicts even if they view less porn than many other people around them who weren’t taught to believe that porn is addictive.
“Protestant men are more likely than any other groups, including those with no religious affiliation, to perceive themselves to be addicted to pornography. And yet, evangelical men as a whole actually watch less porn than their nonevangelical counterparts… Several studies have found that religious commitment is a better predictor of perceived addiction than actual porn use.”

While some claim that porn destroyed their marriage, in marriages in which both partners view porn together, couples often report higher satisfaction maritally and/or sexually.
“Some studies have found that married women who watch porn report higher levels of satisfaction in their marriages to men than women who don’t. Findings like these suggest that it’s not pornography that affects marital quality, but rather, the context in which the porn is viewed.”

There is something to be said for “what you think is what you are.” There is a strong case for pulling down the shame around watching porn, in order to reframe porn use in a healthier context. But by the same token, some people can’t seem to moderate their intake of porn and rely too much on the dopamine boost they receive from viewing pornography.
Stephanie Carnes was quoted to have said: “Not all sexual behavoir is benign. Some people hurt themselves and cross lines that are dangerous and get them in trouble.”

This book looks at how the brain responds to porn, how brains and bodies often respond with pleasure and therefore want “more.” But, as the book points out, we as a society neither ban alcohol, nor ban AA meetings, we try to lean toward “everything in moderation.”
“For most of us, we can enjoy pleasurable activities in moderation. But for others, these behaviors (eating, shopping, sex) become compulsive, excessive, and disruptive to everyday life. Pleasurable behaviors stimulate the dopamine system, and we have a strong urge to repeat these behaviors and reactivate this pleasure center in our brains.”
Is it possible that porn might be more compulsive or addictive to some, but not others, and we should work at reducing the shame around porn use, while also encouraging people to use other outlets for dopamine hits—aiming toward moderation?

I loved the questions offered to teenagers for critical thinking around pornography. These questions boiled down to analyzing the consent of actors/actresses.
“Pornography may depict “people experiencing painful things,” and this could have a number of different backstories: a performer consented to do it, and they enjoyed it; they consented to it not because they enjoy it, but because of the payment they will receive; or they don’t enjoy it and did not agree to it. Discussion questions then ask teens how the changed scenario changes the way they think about pornography itself and porn performers.”

Children are exposed to pornography at very young ages and they need to be thinking critically about what they are seeing. They need to understand that pornography is not always realistic and that, while it can be educational, many scenes are not replicable in their sex lives. I believe, critical thinking about porn at an early age could help reframe it realistically and reduce compulsive viewing.

This book really gave a moderate overview of pornography—the industry, the viewers, experiences around addiction, the positives and negatives of porn consumption, and how the pendulum can swing too far in either direction. On the one hand suppressing all education around sex and sexuality is helpful for no one. We are sexual creatures. On the other hand, there are people with unhealthy compulsions, relying on pornography to entertain them for hours and hours of the day, and struggling to lead healthy, functioning lives.

Yes, the pornography industry has problems. I don’t like the idea of rape-porn, racist-porn, or women being sexually exploited and abused in order to create pornographic content, etc., however, I don’t think we will ever get rid of porn and shaming people or porn use does more harm than good. I like the ideals of ethical porn, some feminist porn and I think we can advance toward healthier porn use and sex education as a society, instead of being so extreme about trying to avoid, suppress and ban vs claiming it is never harmful, nor addictive.

If you’re ready to reframe your view of porn in a more moderate light, I recommend you read this book!

[Pumpkin+Bear · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a world we live in! The other day, I sincerely told my teenager that if I’d known, at her age, that one day I’d live in a future in which Spotify Premium* exists--nearly all the world’s music at my fingertips for just eleven bucks a month!--it would have literally been my own personal “It gets better” moment. Seriously, all. That. Music! And every day I find something new! I’m still low-key in my deep dive of comparing different versions of “The Nutcracker” as played by different professional orchestras, and yesterday, I found a cover of “Life on Mars” sung by Sophia Anne Caruso. What a world!

*This is not an ad for Spotify Premium.

Simultaneously, the fact that you can also now find nearly all the world’s porn at one’s fingertips has gone mostly unnoticed by me, but I love myself a social history, so I was interested enough to dip into this book… and now I might possibly have found myself obsessed with the history of pornography?

But to be fair, Burke drew me in right from the start with a history/analysis of the Venus of Hohle Fels, the earliest figurative depiction of a human yet discovered, and y’all KNOW how I feel about the art and artifacts of early peoples!

Just by looking at it, the Venus of Hohle Fels is pretty porny… and off we go into the history of porn!

There wasn’t as much history of bygone eras as I’d wanted--I wanted to read about Victorian porn!--but I was very interested in Burke’s analysis of a few more contemporary key historical moments that changed how we make and consume pornography. There’s the internet, of course, which made commercial porn shoots less viable because nobody really needs to rent backroom DVDs anymore, and the Pornhub monopoly, which made those shoots now nearly worthless, because why buy a website subscription when you can get raunchy clips for free? It was enlightening to see interviews in which sex workers who said that they could once upon a time earn a living filming porn on contract now have to operate more like gig workers, with porn shoots, camming, public appearances, and escorting. Apparently not even OnlyFans is a one-stop solution for most sex workers, especially when it can’t ever seem to decide if it will take major credit cards or not.

There is actually less history overall in this book than I’d been anticipating. I guess I’d expected a timeline/analysis of seminal works (lol!) and their various historical impacts, and we do get some of that, from the Venus of Hohls Fe to Deep Throat (you should read Roger Ebert’s review of that film!) to the Girls Gone Wild franchise that I remember from my own misspent 20s… but also with a lot of present-day first-person narrative of what it’s like to attend an ethical feminist porn shoot or an anti-porn convention or a sex workers conference, etc. I never could quite nail down (lol!) the author’s thesis, I guess, or even really how she wanted her analysis to flow, which often left me confused about the purpose of what I was reading and/or weirdly displaced in time--there was a very long passage about commercial shoots, for instance, that I was very interested in, but I could not for the life of me figure out if this was a contemporary shoot or something from, say, the early 00s? Based on Burke’s later discussion of the ways that MindGeek/Pornhub has made commercial shoots obsolete, I’m guessing it was the early 00s.

I was also less interested in the lengthy discussions of the various contemporary anti-porn movements. Historical anti-porn movements, sure--the California Measure B legislation in 2012-2017ish is super interesting, and to my mind has a lot of connections with ongoing legislation across the country to limit/determine what public school teachers can do--but the discussions of the contemporary stances against porn just went round and round: feminists are against porn for these reasons, religious conservatives are against porn for these reasons, etc. The feminists who are opposed to porn have a point, at least, but so do the feminists who are okay with porn, as do the sex workers involved in creating it, as do the free speech laws. I did have a fun time looking up an author’s reading of Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr.: A Simple Plan to Protect Young Minds and snickering over it, though--my teenager, who was also watching this reading with me, kept shortening Jenson’s call to arms of “Turn, Run, and Tell” to “Turnt,” which… snicker! But what I really wanted, and didn’t get, was Burke’s final conclusion and stance; after all, she’s the one who just wrote a book about it! She must have opinions!

Instead, you are not going to BELIEVE what she does in the final paragraph of her book: she spoils the series finale of The Good Place?!?!? I mean, yes, fine, the show has been out for a few years, but still: it was a big twist! And she didn’t even give a spoiler warning first!

Although I got frustrated with the various philosophical stances since they were portrayed as, and seem to remain, unrectifiable (lol!), I was very interested in Burke’s references to a few cultural artifacts that seem like they could be more revealing, notably Rashida Jones’ documentary, Hot Girls Wanted, that seems to portray porn’s incessant acquisition of 18-year-old talent as VERY close to human trafficking, and the Twitter controversy involving August Ames, which seems to have as much to say about mental health as it does homophobia. As well, there’s a short mention of Dan Savage’s amateur porn film festival, Hump, and of a few performers who’ve done some compelling advocacy (including TEDTalks!) that I would have loved to have seen an entire chapter on; this feels like the closest society has come (lol!) so far to true feminist, ethical porn.

I left the book with a lot of topics in mind that I’m still curious about: IS feminist ethical porn possible? Is there an ethical way to legitimize sex work? What do popular trends in porn say about the society that creates/consumes it? How has the takeover of “indie”/”pro-am” porn affected the marked sizeism, colorism, and racism clearly evident in most commercial porn? Burke did a little bit of semiotic analysis of a couple of commercial films that have historical resonance, primarily in her discussion of racism and pornography, but I’d love to read more about that. I mean, she barely touched (lol!) 50 Shades of Grey!!!

[Lexi gluck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book isn’t about pornography, per se, but more about the culture wars surrounding pornography and its rise on the Internet. Many groups share the same goal of shutting the porn industry down, albeit for different reasons. Anti-porn feminists argue that all porn perpetuates the abuse of women through sex work + sex trafficking. This ignores the fact that many women feel empowered and emboldened by the work they do, some even receiving more autonomy and safety than ever before with the rise of Internet camming. Religious conservatives argue that porn enables men to sin. This ignores the fact that men will sin away — this is not a porn problem, it’s a male sexuality/lust problem. Health-forward conservatives argue that porn is a curable addiction to be treated. This ignores the fact that most “scientific” porn studies are conducted by deeply biased men who obscure data to argue that sex differences are inherent rather than socially reproduced. All of these players in the “porn wars” seem to be ignoring the fact that the problems that are arising from Internet porn are just a reflection of issues already deeply embedded into society. Yes, there should be more consent-based porn centered on female pleasure, but that isn’t where the demand is. If we transition to a society where consent and female pleasure (rather than objectification and exploitation) are valued and centered, this would be reflected in the popular porn that is produced.

On a personal note, my friends and I have observed a trend among college-aged men where they are unable to get off the first time they have sex with a woman. Only after multiple encounters, or through the help of ED meds, are they able to correctly function sexually, if ever. I feel like this MUST be a result of the massive increase in porn consumption coinciding with the childhood development of my generation. If these men are accustomed to porn as the sexual experience that gets them off from a young age, and that idea is reinforced over and over as they continue to consume porn through their teenage years, how is their body meant to naturally feel aroused at the sight of a “normal” woman in front of them??? It’s actually an epidemic and needs to be talked about because why can almost every healthy, fit, 22 year old man my friends or I have come in contact with not function sexually in one way or another. Anywayssssss, save the boys and men, the American government needs to wake the fuck up and regulate Internet porn, and parents need to be educated about the longstanding effects of porn consumption from immediately upon birthing a boy. Because this shit is placing terrifying, ultra-explicit ideas into young boys’ heads that they would NEVER have ideated on their own. Yes, this is a male problem, but it becomes a female problem when sexual violence spikes (or even becomes normalized) and men are chronically impotent.

Some quotes 2 remember -----------------------------
❤️‍🩹Sex is inherently a product of social phenomena:
“Sexual scripts, in which not only what we think about sex but also how we think about it, stems from the social world in which we live. In the 1970s, Simon pioneered the radical claim that our deepest physical and private sexual feelings and desires are, in fact, produced within a specific social context. They are never pre-social, that is mere biological drives, as was the focus of much early sexological research. Nor are they supra-social, repressed psychic desires, as was the focus of Freud and the psychoanalyst. Rather, the social world teaches us a series of sexual scripts that we learn and internalize over the course of our lives. Perhaps the efforts of feminist and ethical pornographers to literally change the script in porn films, is one strategy to change our internal desires. But until then, given that we all experience sex with society at our side, any assertion about authentic sexuality is pretending that sex can ever leave its social baggage behind.”

❤️‍🩹 Porn as anti-capitalist:
“Porn work in the digital age is precarious. And yet… precarity brings insecurity, but it also nurtures the nimble creativity workers need to navigate uncertainty in life and work… Many [porn performers] describe parallels with other forms of work, including drudgery, anxiety, and exploitation. And at the same time, named the pleasure of porn work as a distinguishing feature. This, she insists, is what makes sex work uniquely poised to undermine and resist capitalism’s overwhelming and stifling hold in the 21st century.”

❤️‍🩹Is sex inherently pro-patriarchy?:
“Sex is simultaneously a domain of restriction, repression, and danger as well as a domain of exploration, pleasure, and agency. Vance was speaking to the 1970s and 80s feminist debates about whether women who had sex with men were inevitably reproducing patriarchy, and the tension between the structural conditions of sexism and the choices that individuals made for their lives to be more bearable, even pleasurable. Sex is never fully removed from broader inequalities embedded in the social world, yet it is not completely determined by these inequalities either. Culturally, we tend not to think as vanilla sex as dangerous in comparison to queer or kinky sex. Yet there is nothing inevitably, or automatically safer in porn, or in real life, if sex is vanilla.”

❤️‍🩹 Porn as an addiction:
“In the same way that a junkie requires more and more of a drug to get a buzz, or even feel normal, regular porn consumers will end up turning to porn more often, or seeking out more extreme versions, or both, to feel excited again. And once the porn habit is established, quitting can even lead to withdrawal symptoms similar to drugs.”

❤️‍🩹Female support groups for wives of porn-addicted men flipping theological scripts of female as lustful and Male as spiritual:
“Puritan men influenced a dominant belief about femininity in order to cope with their own anxieties around sin. Following a theological model dating back to the apostle Paul, Puritans began to emphasize a proper femininity that was always dependent upon, in reference to, and less than a male Christian ideal. Women, like Eve, were by their nature impure or lustful — representations of the original sin. Masculinity became associated with God, and with the presumption that men could and should control and lead women both spiritually and sexuality.”

[Kevin Dufresne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi,

I hope all is progressing well.

The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Obscene Obsession by Dr. Kelsy Burke, PhD, explores the becoming, if one will, of pornography in connection with fabrics of social psyches (particularly geographically connecting with America). I decide to buy then read the book out of curiosity: what pornography wars? The text navigates pornography historically, ideologically, psychologically, behaviorally, socially, religiously, spiritually, economically, and practically amongst other ways. I find the text maintains a non-bias voice offering information relevant to one better understanding landscapes of pornography.

Here are a few of my ponderings while reading the text; it's not un-Christian (or un-religious) to have a/ fetish(es); might the consideration of the seemingly addictive portion of pornography be more in line with creating behavioral patterns (perhaps of masturbation) somewhat in tune with muscle memory and/or a/ trigger initiatior(s)?; how one seeks to respond to content may determine how one may understand how to navigate content; acknowledging body curiosity in connection with body autonomy is so important (especially without entwining political [or religious] contexts), especially with regard to sensuality; attractiveness seems to be an undercurrent of curiosity in connection with sexual parameters which needs adherence so as to explore mysteries of desire healthfully, non-toxically; being able to communicate about different contexts mindfully is really healthy, parameters of sex being no different than any other context, especially where one grows to navigate contexts toward reasonably understanding, even if not knowing completely; children are alive in worlds of their own, before even pornography, find no surprise in what peer-to-peer interactions occur without adult and/or media influence in the worlds of children, without technology.

Additionally, I find the following texts may assist with further deliberating concepts of contexts within The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Obscene Obsession by Dr. Kelsy Burke, PhD: Come Together: The Science (and Art!) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections by Dr. Emily Nagoski, PhD, It's Your Body: The Young Woman's Guide to Empowered Sexual Health by Dena Moes, RN, CNM, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Dr. Daniel Goleman, PhD, All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today by Dr. Elizabeth Comen, MD, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud About Senior Sex by Joan Price, Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing (Newly Updated and Revised 5th Edition) by Dr. Christiane Northrup, M.D., The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did) by Philippa Perry, a Psychotherapist, The Girls' Guide to Growing Up Great: Changing Bodies, Periods, Relationships, Life Online by Sophie Elkan with Laura Chaisty and Dr. Maddy Podichetty as well as Illustrations by Flo Perry, Better Sex Through Mindfulness: How Women Can Cultivate Desire by Dr. Lori A. Brotto, Men's Complete Health Guide: Expert Answers to the Questions You Don't Always Ask by Dr. Neil H. Baum, MD, Dr. Scott D. Miller, MD, MBA, Dr. Mindi S. Miller, PharmD, and Dr. David F. Mobley, MD, FACS, The Penis Book: A Doctor's Complete Guide to the Penis—From Size to Function and Everything in Between by Dr. Aaron Spitz, M.D., A Man's Guide to Healthy Aging: Stay Smart, Strong, and Active (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book) by Edward H. Thompson, Jr., and Lenard W. Kaye (with contributions from contributors which receive credits at the end of the book), Come As You Are (Revised and Updated): The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life by Dr. Emily Nagoski, Ph.D, The Joy of Sex by Dr. Alex Comfort, M.B., D.Sc., The MindBody Code: How to Change the Beliefs That Limit Your Health, Longevity, and Success by Dr. Mario Martinez, It Didn't Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle by Mark Wolynn, You Are Not Broken: Stop "Should-ing" All Over Your Sex Life by Dr. KJ Casperson, MD, Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Dr. Sabrina Strings, PhD, Tantric Orgasm for Women by Diana Richardson, Love Worth Making: How to Have Ridiculously Great Sex in a Long-Lasting Relationship by Dr. Stephen Snyder, M.D., Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century by Barbara Carrellas, The Love Prescription: Seven Days to More Intimacy, Connection, and Joy by Dr. John Gottman, PhD, and Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman, PhD, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex by Dr. John Gray, PhD, Why Good Sex Matters: Understanding the Neuroscience of Pleasure for a Smarter, Happier, and More Purpose-Filled Life by Dr. Nan Wise, PhD, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, Perv: The Sexual Deviant in All of Us by Dr. Jesse Bering, PhD, The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis, She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman by Ian Kerner, Sexual Happiness for Women: A Practical Approach by Maurice Yaffe and Elizabeth Fenwick, The Ultimate Guide to Orgasm for Women: How to Become Orgasmic for a Lifetime by Mikaya Heart, Exploring Sexuality and Disability: A Guide for Human Service Professionals with contributions and edits by Dr. Shanna Katz Kattari, PhD, MEd, CSE (with further contributions from contributors which receive credits at the beginning of the book), The Sex Talk You Never Got: Reclaiming the Heart of Masculine Sexuality by Sam Jolman, MA, LPC, The Right to Sex by Dr. Amia Srinivasan, PhD, and Hatha Yoga Pradipika: Light on Hatha Yoga by Yogi Swatmarama (in tandem with extensive exploratory commentary on the basis of practical research of Swami Muktibodhananda).

Onward and Upward,
Kevin Dufresne
www.Piatures.com
IG: @Dufreshest

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging and informative overview of the pornography industry in the US. The Pornography Wars includes the history of pornography and the laws surrounding it, how the industry developed along with emerging technologies, an exploration of the experiences of those who work in the industry, and the many pro and anti pornography movements that have existed throughout history and still operate in the modern day.

I found this book to be well researched and nuanced in its exploration of the many different perspectives on the adult film industry and its impact on society. I particularly enjoyed the ways this book expounded on the often unspoken and unintended consequences that anti sex-trafficking and pornography safety laws have on sex workers.

Overall, a very interesting and thorough take on a subject I knew little about before. Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for the advanced copy.

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pornography is our little secret.
Millions have seen it, millions enjoy it, and millions feel guilty about it.
Kelsey Burke is here to tell readers, with a wink, that it's OK to watch, and maybe masturbate, but you might go to Hell and ruin your life in the process. It is a little frustrating that Burke draws no conclusions or recommendations. Instead, she gives voice to the most extreme and fringe elements in the debates on pornography. I remember the popular debates between Ron Jeremy and Craig Gross, or Jenna Jameson debating various folks on the topic. All three people are barely mentioned in the book, as Burke avoids generalizations or popular attitudes in favor of focusing on the extremes.

Well, actually, only side offers extremes. The book is full of anti-porn activists who argue that for health, religious, and financial reasons porn is harmful. The opposition offer some bland counter arguments that porn addiction is not a medically-identified disease because it does not not exhibit the biological affects of drugs, tobacco, and alcohol addiction. Scientists can only document excitement and enjoyment chemicals released in the brain - regardless of what anti-porn commentators argue. However, the "porn addiction" does not exhibit the same withdrawal symptoms in other sins.

I don't recall much discussion about masturbation in the book, although it tends to go hand-in-hand with porn. The Bible tells us it is wrong to spill a man's seed. Lust, of course, is a sin. But Burke documents how anti-porn voices have pivoted away from religious arguments since the Sexual Revolution and more towards pseudo-science, a stance they continue to push. The evidence relies mainly on anecdotal stories and "patient" self-evaluations. The story about the porn addict who masturbated in the car to the airport, security, food court, airplane, car, and treatment facility sounds as silly as it is absurd. Another Christian looking at porn for 8 hours a day is excessive. But both stories probably have additional problems, if not underlying illnesses.

Speaking of Christians, readers may be surprised to hear that 90-95% of porn addiction treatment facilities contain a strong religious component. It turns out that Christian profess themselves to have greater problems with porn than non-Christians. What does that mean? Who knows? Burke is trying hard not to make any conclusions or recommendations. However, she does document a strong correlation between the anti-porn voices, addicts, and treatment centers. Maybe that is concluding enough.

Seemingly half of the book focuses on porn addiction. Burke does not define it, because it is undefinable. And yet, that occupies a huge portion of the book. It sort of dovetails into the science - pseudo-science debates about porn addiction; but there are other ways to frame a debate. And the text lacks seemingly any discussion about popular attitudes. American society has become increasingly tolerant of sexual deviance from white heterosexual sex. But Burke offers little more than to say most pornography remains white heterosexual couples. Perhaps the sex is increasingly rough and unrealistic; but the text is strangely documented.

Burke's documentation style includes many references. I am surprised at how many of her references were popular trade publications rather academic studies. The text reveals that there are academics studying pornography. That is why we know how pornography affects the brain. But I am surprised by how few academic studies are cited in this book. It is almost as if Burke is discouraging further research. Even the chapter on "ethical porn" (I am still uncertain what that is) is so strangely cited as to hinder readers in connecting with ethical feminist pornographers. I still don't know what that is, or why I should care.

Overall, this book reminds me of the HBO series Real Sex. It promised sex and nudity, but in such a quality as to be un-stimulating. Yes, you can learn something about an exciting and taboo topic, but you will be bored with it. Ron Jeremy was an English teacher before he became an actor. He had some cogent and provocative arguments. Craig Gross, the pastor, also had some good one-liners that never appear in the book. Watching those debates was fun and informative. This is slow and repetitive. There is some good information - presented as dryly as possible.

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this audiobook in 3 days. i later looked up a copy of the bibliography.

4.5, rounded down to 4 because i wanted a better bibliography & it sometimes runs cover for fascists (in this case largely christian nationalists). however the ethnography & the history discussions & interviews are actually focused on something more like political economy & less like book reviewing fictional scenes. (yes i hated the book "tomorrow sex will be good again".) in other words, the bar is so low due to whorephobia that this book is a big improvement in terms of the discussions.

I read this book in order to learn more about sexuality grammars & how pornography developed. It's good at descriptivism, like it seeks to describe the social groups involved. (Specifically, it's ethnography.)

Personally the bibliography is kind of disappointing. I didn't like the citation style, but it is a style, and it mainly focuses on the mainstream that is kind of treated as the center I guess?

The biggest kicker (i forget if this was in the book, or was in an article that the book's author also wrote) was that people who are anti-porn are organizationally largely christian nationalists while feminists are largely focused on workplace rights. If someone is an antiporn feminist they are either very alone or else speaking a euphemism for (christian) nationalism.

I'm going to spell some stuff out that I think didn't get spelled out in the book, partly because they can be gotten from other sources & she would've been kicked out probably.

I didn't like the ending because it didn't say how free marketism was a euphemism for white separatism went unsaid ("white flight" by kevin m kruse) yet freemarket rhetoric was cited as a coalition/consensus building challenge, and further it kind of conflated horizontal ethics w/ vertical ethics (which as an argument comes off as saying fascists can be ethical when their ideology of unending waves of genocide disagree), but the author explained that since affiliation/stance depends on who your social circle is, this is a big mood. That being said, I don't think she would've been able to research if she called out the vertical ethicisticians as fascists (that is disability & environmental justice is literally horizontal ethics), but whatever.

For example, I know from studying people's histories that this "marriage betrayal" is related to the war rape culture against enslaved captives (I'm thinking angela davis's "women race & class", Stephanie E Jones-Rogers's "They were her property", as well as chapter 13 of "global anti-vice activism" edited by pliney) but that the people involved would still be white enslavers. I also know the censorship involved largely has to do with how the gender binary is related to white separatism. Like what I just said are like basic critiques of white feminism & TERFs.

there were interesting interviews regarding sex ed that comes from sex worker parents, people trying to deal with anti-racism in regards to porn etc, along with an interview with a director for a company basically talking about how she's haunted by how her genre of movie ended up attracting an audience of serial killers. but yeah, talking about the production process was great, especially because media literacy & ettiquette, accomodations/horizontal ethics rely on not being alienated from the production processes, etc.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Pornography Wars by Kelsey Burke is an excellent overview of how we got to where we are as well as showing the nuance in what many perceive to be monolithic and absolutely opposite views.

I was pleasantly surprised at both how engaging and how informative the historical background was presented. Many of us have read or heard about parts of the history but this makes it into a coherent narrative. Burke also made it very readable, which is more unusual than it sounds when the historical background is not the main purpose of a book.

The presentation of various viewpoints and arguments were far more fair and balanced than I expected. If you have any strong opinions at all you will likely find yourself thinking she is being slanted in the direction of the viewpoints you oppose. Take a deep breath and keep going, Burke is trying to give us the perspectives of the people on every side of these debates. By doing so we are ultimately shown that there is a lot more common ground than we probably thought, and probably more than we are initially comfortable acknowledging. When you want to argue with Burke, take a moment and look more closely at your biases and again at what is written. Maybe, as I often did, you will have to accept that it is less us vs them and more some of us vs some others of us. And in our polarized environment, that is a difficult concession to make.

One particular strength of the book, for me, was the broad approach to the debates around pornography. This is not about whether this or that video should be illegal. It is about how we live our lives, who can or cannot tell us how to live our lives, and what terms every side will use to dress up their argument in the most ethical and moral way while making others sound evil by comparison. So we look at the differences between obscenity and pornography, between trafficking in a strict sense and in the sense that incorporates every aspect of an industry. These various distinctions can gain supporters in some places while turning others off because they are so hyperbolic.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to know and understand the "pornography wars" better, no matter where you might stand on any of the issues involved. I would especially recommend this to those who think of it as a black or white issue with no gray areas. We ca all benefit from more nuance and more understanding of what is at the core of the various positions.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Kat Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're already interested in this subject matter and engaged in reading about it, most of the information is not going to be particularly new, but this is the first volume to really place everything--the history, the most current facets of debate, the most important stakeholders, etc.--in one place. This took a little bit to get into, but once we get the rise of the internet, the book really picks up speed. It is also somewhat scattered in terms of organization, but given the enormity of the topic, I suppose that should be expected.

There's nothing I'd necessarily criticize about this book; I see it being a useful tool in women's and gender/sexuality studies classes, and it's certainly accessible enough for nonstudent readers to pick it up and understand it. I personally find the debate about whether or not porn addiction is real to be pretty tedious, but I obviously understand its role in a book like this. It couldn't be left out, but it takes up a lot of space.

Maybe this was for legal reasons, but I genuinely don't know how you write this book and overlook Facial Abuse, especially when there were natural opportunities to go there. The book touches on Hot Girls Wanted, and one performer featured in the documentary shoots a scene with them. Then the book references Belle Knox, who also shot a scene for them (which kind of troubles her narrative of her time in the industry for several reasons). I mention them because they seem like a microcosm of so much of what the anti-porn crusaders think the entire industry is about. Plus there's the sensational story of how one of their key male performers wound up in federal prison for trying to plan racist bombings . . .

I also would have liked to see more analysis of trends in porn--why was anal such a big deal in the early aughts? Why is faux-incest such a popular category? There's some discussion of interracial porn and racism, but not specifically how this plays out within the actual industry. What about some of the debates surrounding raising the age of performing to 21? What about the whole notion of the barely legal genre in general? I could go on and on, and it's not fair to review this book based on what was left out considering how much is included. Perhaps this could be basis for further inquiry?

[Kasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Pornography Wars” by Kelsy Burke offers a sociological analysis of both sides of the pornography debate - pro and anti. As I listened to the audiobook, I was able to dip back into the qualitative research class that I took for my undergrad social work degree. I’m not an expert on either side of the debate, hence the reading of this book, but I feel like I came away with a decent overview of both sides. At no point did Burke propose an answer to any of the questions, but that’s not the purpose of this book. As the subtitle suggests, it did provide some history and context to the “past, present, and future” of what could be considered pornography. 

One may argue that what is considered obscene is also considered pornographic. However, throughout history, obscenity laws have been used to attack and demonize queer bodies and anything against the societal norm. Unfortunately, history is nothing but cyclical as we now face the legislation of trans bodies and the banning of books based on what goes against societal norms. 

Due to my positioning as a bookstagrammer, I couldn’t help but think about the rising popularity and social acceptance of ‘smut books’ as I listened. A spice rating is frequently attached to reviews and fellow readers rave about specific scenes in particular books, using it to market to new readers. While both sides of the porn debate seem to agree about how little women watch porn (I don’t really believe that), it begs the question of correlation or causation. Do women read smutty books because it’s an ‘acceptable’ alternative? I don’t necessarily have any thoughts on the topic, but it feels like it warrants an internet search or two to satisfy my curiosity.

It’s hard for me to rate nonfiction books 5 stars, as very few have gone above and beyond. However, if you’re interested in books covering this topic, I would absolutely recommend “The Pornography Wars.” I didn’t realize until the end of the book that the author was another Lincoln-ite. It’s exciting to a Midwesterner pursue this kind of analysis publicly.

[Jan Goericke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do you stand in the porn wars? Are sex workers victims or workers like everybody else? Is porn addictive? Is there ethically made porn? Why is so much porn “free” on the internet? What are the dangers to our children? Why is the porn recovery industry dominated by evangelical Christian organizations? Is there only pro versus con porn? What is “sex positive?”

I listened to the book read by the author. After a short exploration of the history of sexually explicit material and “pornography” and explaining her approach for the and bias, the author jumps right into the topic of pornography from different perspectives and backgrounds. Readers with preconceived notions may be disappointed not finding their bias not confirmed in this book. Why? Like many other topics in society, and maybe even more so on the subject of sex, the subject is not black and white, but emotions run high, and the opposing parties are “dug into their trenches” to keep with the military themed title. The author takes the reader on a journey trying on different perspectives and views. One therefore develops an understanding for each side.

I wish I had read the portion on sex education earlier so that I could have used the information provided for the education of my kid. Children are the actual victims of pornography twice over; once, because they are exposed to it at a very young age (10-12 years), and then again, because schools and parents are not willing or able to educate kids on the subject of neither sex nor porn. However, there is secular and progressive child education available that can also help parents to prepare children for the unavoidable moment, they are exposed to pornography due to the availability of the internet on so many handheld devices, but also in movies, shows and on TV.

I highly recommend this book for anybody interested in the topic but especially to parents.

[Mikey B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I reached almost half-way through this book and gave up.

Given the subject material, I found it rather dry and repetitive. Perhaps it was the sociological approach that I disliked – or maybe the mechanical nature of the porn business itself was a turn-off. The text was all over the place and lacked structure.

We are told over and over again of the pro-porn and anti-porn camps. The anti-porn camp is made of assorted Christian coalition groups and feminist groups. The pro-porn camp also consists of some feminists and of course the porn industry. The author cites all kinds of studies and viewpoints – some say the porn business is making lots of money, others that it isn’t; sex workers say that the legal restrictions are bad for their health and they have to go even more underground (meaning less money); porn is bad for you especially young people, others that it isn’t; porn workers are exploited (surely some are) and some porn workers say they enjoy the work…

The author was too neutral. She presents so many points of view that the picture gets muddled. She examines both mainstream porn and some of the fringe.

I wish the book would have focused more on how the internet has radically changed pornography, making “hard-core” much more accessible to anyone with a PC. How does all this viewing affect young boys and men, the target audience? There’s a vast difference of a young male teenager looking at Playboy centrefolds in the 70s to that of viewing hardcore films on the internet that started proliferating in the 1990s.

A lot of porn is coming from Eastern European countries, which is not addressed in her book. Much of the porn industry is linked to organized crime, which is also not discussed.

This book left out a lot. The discourse was too rambling, with important issues overlooked.

[Spencer Ellsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good treatment of a complex subject. Burke's research is best summarized in the last chapter, in which she explores the different ways in which one woman has found sexual validation and personal worth fighting against porn, while another who came from similar circumstances has found that validation and worth making porn. You start to understand why, for all that people reach for easy answers--'it's evil' or 'it's harmless' being the most popular--sexual media is as complicated as any other aspect of human sexuality. I think that a lot of people who think porn is horrifying would benefit from reading about the sex workers who genuinely like what they do--and a lot of people would be surprised to see how those who fight for stringent porn laws aren't uptight prudes but very often are normal people trying to maintain some firewall between sexualized media and kids' sexual development.

Burke's most obvious-in-hindsight observation is that free porn hosted on Pornhub and other sites is almost always harmful. Often the performers weren't paid fairly, or the studio was manipulative, and those services are not designed to funnel viewers or money to the kind of camgirl/OnlyFans-type porn that give performers both more control over their circumstances and more potential profit. Therefore, the kind of on-the-sly free porn viewing that the anti-porn movement demonizes is genuinely bad for sex workers as well.

I hope everyone who's ever bought into easy assumptions on this topic will challenge them and read the book.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the pornography wars did a good job of presenting the views of both sides in the debate over pornography and also showing where both sides have agreement.

My favorite person to read about in the book was Gordon B whose father was an actor in pornographic films in the late 1970's and early 1980's. It was interesting to learn how Gordon B was raised to be sex positive. Gordon B is a sex educator.

When I started reading the book I was not sure I wanted to continue reading it. I was not that interesting in the Supreme court cases Kelsy wrote about.

I started liking the book more when I started reading Chapter 4: Porn Chic. Which talks about porn from the 1970's and I think into the 1980's. I liked learning about the magazines and movies that she talked about in that chapter.

It was interesting to learn that both sides of the porn wars think that the have science on their side. She also writes about the science of addiction which I found interesting.

So I thought The pornography was was a very in-depth look at people who are pro pornography and people who are anti-pornography. Some of it I liked a lot like Chapter 4: porn Chic and other parts I did not find as interesting to read.

After reading it I certainly know more about some of the people involved in the battle over pornography.