Pornography: The Production and Consumption of Inequality

by Gail Dines, Robert Jensen, Ann Russo

No other issue has divided the feminist movement in the past two decades quite like pornography. By providing the first book to engage in an empirical investigation of the pornography industry itself, the authors--each grounded in the radical feminist anti-pornography movement--move beyond the rhetorical bomb-tossing of an often polarized debate.

The authors engage in a systematic examination of the politics, production, content, and consumption of contemporary mass-market heterosexual pornography, thereby contributing to a fuller understanding of pornography's role in the cultural construction of gender, racial and sexual identities, and relations. They begin with an overview of the social and political history of the feminist anti-pornography movement and the debate over pornography within feminism. Then they address the various rhetorical dodges--definitional, legal, and causal--used to distort the fact that institutionalized pornography helps maintain the sexual and social oppression of women within a patriarchal system.

Exploring the beginnings of the commercial pornography industry, the book focuses in part on the history of Playboy magazine. It also analyzes the content of contemporary mass-market videos. Dines, Jensen, and Russo argue that the sexual ideology of patriarchy eroticizes domination and submission, with pornography playing a significant role in how these values are mediated and normalized in American society. They discuss the effects of pornography on the lives of those who use it and those against whom it is used. In so doing, the authors hope to contribute to creating a world in which sex is not a site of oppression but of liberation.

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Sexuality, Pornography, Philosophy, Feminist Theory, Politics

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Gail Dines is an English–American feminist author, anti-pornography activist, professor, and lecturer.

Reviews

[Mona · Rating 3 out of 5]

With texts from different authors, this book offer a good introduction to the impacts of the pornography industry on women's lives. It deconstructs the liberal idea that presents this industry as being liberating for women, when it is one of capitalism's most exploitative ones. It is absolutely horrifying to see how normalized the use of porn has become, even within so-called progressive circles. Indeed, some of them will defend their use of porn by claiming that we cannot dictate what people do in private. Except that what consumers of porn do in private has impacts, though indirectly, on their violent behaviour towards women. This is something important that Robert Jensen has emphasized: anti-pornography feminist activists have never made such as claim, that there's a causal relation between consuming pornography and sexually assaulting women. Rather, their work focuses on showing a correlation, how the use of porn mediates men's behaviour with women, through internalization of the messages the porn industry sends. Sexual violence against women wasn't born with the porn industry, it existed long before. But since its creation, it has played a role in propagating and maintaining violence, rape, coercion. As it is told in the book, many pedophiles reported using pornography to sexually initiate their young victims, just like rapists have reported forcing women to recreate a specific act women in pornography have done. Chapter four goes through the content of pornography, to show how violence is an integral part of the industry, even in tapes that are not deemed "hardcore". To be honest, this chapter was really hard to read, as the content was extremely graphic. I actually felt nauseous, and felt grateful that the authors included a trigger warning at the beginning of the chapter. While reading this part, you truly wonder: how the hell do men get turned on by such depiction of violence and degrading acts on women? If this isn't a sign that there's something terribly wrong, I don't know what is.

[Amarna Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obviously I don't agree with the arguments but I feel that specially the first chapters are quite well written. I found interesting the descriptions of inequality in porn movies rented by the authors.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic guide to the radical feminist view of pornography. Easy read. Interesting personal insights from a radfem gay(bi) man on porn.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the outset let me say that the full response this book deserves is well beyond the scope of a one-paragraph capsule review. Here, then, are the highlights: as one might gather from the title, this is a collection of feminist essays about the evils of pornography. Gail Dines contributes a fascinating essay on the historical development of mainstream porn magazines in the 20th century, and Ann Russo writes an all-too-short piece on the importance of reconciling anti-porn sentiment with women’s need for sexual identity. However, most of the rest of the book is little more than a sad, flailing attempt to breathe life into the flagging left wing of the anti-smut movement. Having largely failed to solve the problem via legislation – due in large part to that ever-pesky First Amendment – and likewise fallen short of establishing a conclusive causal link between smut and rape via traditional social science methods, the crusade turns to less conventional means. Of particular note is Robert Jensen’s attempt to circumvent the need to meet “patriarchal” requirements of evidence by insisting that rhetoric is as good as empirical data and that anyone who doesn’t agree with him is a heartless academic. To be sure, there are some powerful arguments that can be made against pornography, particularly certain types of the stuff. But few of these arguments are supported by science, fewer still are appropriate under our legal system, and fewest of all are the ones advanced within these pages.