Sam Benjamin, porn director, reflects on the industry’s attitude towards women for AlterNet: …in due time, I came to learn that within the context of the heterosexual L.A. industry, while my overt task at hand was to make sure that the girls got naked, my true responsibility as director was to make sure the girls […]
Feminist Perspective
Newsweek: “The John Next Door”
Here are some excerpts from an outstanding article in this week’s Newsweek that reports on a new study by Dr. Melissa Farley, director of Prostitution Research and Education: Farley’s findings suggest that the use of prostitution and pornography may cause men to become more aggressive. Sex buyers in the study used significantly more pornography than […]
“‘Big Tent’ feminism? Sounds great. Feels a lot like the status quo.”
Meghan Murphy posted an excellent critique to The F Word on June 3: The sex industry is not, and has never been a feminist space. It is, in large part, a space that is owned by, and operated for men. It is a space that treats women as commodities… How big is your ‘tent’ when […]
Vanity Fair: “Sex Trafficking of Americans: The Girls Next Door”
We’re glad to see this impressive 5/24/11 article is the most popular at VanityFair.com today. Among other things, it notes how escort ads in The Hartford Advocate facilitate prostitution. As Northampton honors the abolitionist and feminist legacy of Sojourner Truth this weekend, perhaps our local Valley Advocate will take a long, hard look in the mirror. […]
NOMAS: “Does Consensual Prostitution Exist?”
Dr. Robert Brannon, chair of the National Organization for Men Against Sexism, has published a fine analysis of choice and consent in prostitution. Here are a few excerpts from “Does Consensual Prostitution Exist?”: If we say that a person (e.g. a woman) is consenting to have sexual intercourse with a stranger, what actually do we, […]
June 25-30: Radical Feminist Seminar, Wheelock Media Institute, Stop Porn Culture Training in Boston
From the website of Stop Porn Culture!Come to Boston for a week of feminist theory and activism. Stop Porn Culture presents three back-to-back events. Participants can attend one, two, or all three.June 25-26Radical Feminist SeminarTwo days of education, organizing, and networking. Women from all over the world will be exploring classic and contemporary radical feminism […]
Rain and Thunder Calls for Contributions to Disability Issue
***********CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS***********Rain and Thunder: A Radical Feminist Journal of Discussion and Activism is looking for contributions for our upcoming issue on Disability (deadline March 1, 2011): How do women define and experience disability? How do ableism and disability oppression affect our lives? How does disability intersect with and inform other social/political identities and struggles? […]
Melissa Farley: “The real harms of prostitution”
Dr. Melissa Farley has kindly given us permission to reprint this article. Visit her website at Prostitution Research & Education. The real harms of prostitution MELISSA FARLEY WWW.PROSTITUTIONRESEARCH.COM Before we decide whether to legalise prostitution, it is important to know what prostitution is and what it is not. It is not a job like any […]
Reiter’s Block: “A Stockholm Syndrome in Women’s Poetics?”
Reiter’s Block has kindly given us permission to reprint this article: A Stockholm Syndrome in Women’s Poetics? Gently Read Literature is a monthly web journal of essays on contemporary poetry and literary fiction. In “The Myth of Women’s Masochism”, her essay in the September issue, Stephanie Cleveland takes aim at the eroticizing of violence by […]
Poets & Writers: “The Porn Star Who Came to Dinner”
The September/October 2010 issue of Poets & Writers magazine has an outstanding article on Mike McGrady, who co-authored Ordeal with Linda Lovelace. Some excerpts: Linda’s tale was a harrowing journey into the depths of hell. She was raped, she was pimped, she was held hostage, and she was forced to do things that nobody would do […]