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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social issues > Ethical issues & debates > Pornography & obscenity
"Licentious Gotham, " set in the streets, news depots, publishing houses, grand jury chambers, and courtrooms of the nation s great metropolis, delves into the stories of the enterprising men and women who created a thriving transcontinental market for sexually arousing books and pictures. The experiences of fancy publishers, flash editors, and racy novelists, who all managed to pursue their trade in the face of laws criminalizing obscene publications, dramatically convey nineteenth-century America s daring notions of sex, gender, and desire, as well as the frequently counterproductive results of attempts to enforce conventional moral standards. In nineteenth-century New York, the business of erotic publishing and legal attacks on obscenity developed in tandem, with each activity shaping and even promoting the pursuit of the other. Obscenity prohibitions, rather than curbing salacious publications, inspired innovative new styles of forbidden literature such as works highlighting expressions of passion and pleasure by middle-class American women. Obscenity prosecutions also spurred purveyors of lewd materials to devise novel schemes to evade local censorship by advertising and distributing their products through the mail. This subterfuge in turn triggered far-reaching transformations in strategies for policing obscenity. Donna Dennis offers a colorful, groundbreaking account of the birth of an indecent print trade and the origins of obscenity regulation in the United States. By revealing the paradoxes that characterized early efforts to suppress sexual expression in the name of morality, she suggests relevant lessons for our own day.
Porn is everywhere - not just in cybersex and "Playboy" but in popular video games, advice columns, and reality television shows, and on the bestseller lists. Even more striking, as porn has become affordable, accessible, and anonymous, it has become increasingly acceptable - and a big part of the personal lives of many men and women. In this controversial and critically acclaimed book, Pamela Paul argues that as porn becomes more pervasive, it is destroying our marriages and families as well as distorting our children's ideas of sex and sexuality. Based on more than one hundred interviews and a nationally representative poll, "Pornified" exposes how porn has infiltrated our lives, from the wife agonizing over the late-night hours her husband spends on porn Web sites to the parents stunned to learn their twelve-year-old son has seen a hardcore porn film.
Ask anyone who the biggest name in gay porn is and they'll tell you, "Michael Lucas." Ask what he's like and you'll get the gamut of replies: He's a smart, shrewd businessman who studied law and loves the opera. A witty raconteur who doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs. A loyal son who is close to his family. Bracingly honest. Ruthless. A hot top with a killer body. Sexy. Razor-tongued and iron-fisted. Michael Lucas has been called everything on his climb from rent boy to running the most successful gay porn business in the entire world--but he's never been called boring. Now, in this no-holds-barred biography, Corey Taylor delivers a delicious portrait of gay porn's hottest maverick. From the start, Michael Lucas challenged the stereotype of a porn star. He did not grow up in an abusive family. Instead, he was born and raised in Soviet Russia as Andrei Treyvas to a close-knit family of outspoken, intellectual Russian Jews. The shy, skinny kid grew up to be a handsome man determined to make his mark on the world--and how. From his start as an escort in Europe, to his hustling days in America, making the money he would invest in his own company, Lucas Entertainment, Michael's life is inspiring, provocative, and 100% candid--no filter. "NAKED "lays bare the fascinating, often surreal life of a sexy, complex man who has set his own standards and played by his own rules. Chock full of outrageous quotes and "you've got to hear this" stories, this is one biography just like its subject: one of a kind. Corey Taylor has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Memphis. He has written for U.S. publications "(Unzipped, Men, Artisan Northwest)" as well as for publications in the UK "(reFRESH)" and Australia "(DNA), " covering celebrity features, art, fashion, and politics. Corey lives in Chicago, Illinois.
FINALLY-THE CURE FOR THE COMMON CURSE Faced with an epidemic of profanity, our country is in need of practical suggestions for breaking a habit that has ordinary citizens contributing to the decline of civility and good manners. It's not always easy to resist the urge to cuss, but foul language creates an unfavorable image, is damaging to relationships, and goes hand-in-hand with a negative attitude. Now, James V. O'Connor-founder of the Cuss Control Academy-offers the first book to explain why we swear and how we can learn to hold our tongues. "Cuss Control" doesn't call for the total elimination of swearing, just for its confinement to situations where extreme emotion (think hammer, think thumb) demand it. His program for easing us off the gutter-talk highway involves alternative "potent phrases" for classic curses, including the F-word; ways to communicate clearly rather than use lazy language; and tips on adjusting our attitude and abolishing obscenities. Packed with practical exercises and tips, as well as thoughtful reflection on how we've worked ourselves up into such a state of affairs, "Cuss Control" is a refreshing celebration of the joys of a civil tongue. "O'Connor is not ready to rid the world of dirty words. He just
thinks less cursing is the key to a less stressful world, and
maintains that even natural-born cursers can learn to control their
anger along with their language."
In Dirt for Art's Sake, Elisabeth Ladenson recounts the most visible of modern obscenity trials involving scandalous books and their authors. What, she asks, do these often-colorful legal histories have to tell us about the works themselves and about a changing cultural climate that first treated them as filth and later celebrated them as masterpieces? Ladenson's narrative starts with Madame Bovary (Flaubert was tried in France in 1857) and finishes with Fanny Hill (written in the eighteenth century, put on trial in the United States in 1966); she considers, along the way, Les Fleurs du Mal, Ulysses, The Well of Loneliness, Lady Chatterley's Lover, Tropic of Cancer, Lolita, and the works of the Marquis de Sade. Over the course of roughly a century, Ladenson finds, two ideas that had been circulating in the form of avant-garde heresy gradually became accepted as truisms, and eventually as grounds for legal defense. The first is captured in the formula "art for art's sake" the notion that a work of art exists in a realm independent of conventional morality. The second is realism, vilified by its critics as "dirt for dirt's sake." In Ladenson's view, the truth of the matter is closer to dirt for art's sake "the idea that the work of art may legitimately include the representation of all aspects of life, including the unpleasant and the sordid. Ladenson also considers cinematic adaptations of these novels, among them Vincente Minnelli's Madame Bovary, Stanley Kubrick's Lolita and the 1997 remake directed by Adrian Lyne, and various attempts to translate de Sade's works and life into film, which faced similar censorship travails. Written with a keen awareness of ongoing debates about free speech, Dirt for Art's Sake traces the legal and social acceptance of controversial works with critical acumen and delightful wit."
Porn is big business. By some estimates, it grosses more revenue per year than the entire "legitimate" film and entertainment industry. Most large hotel chains offer pay-for-view adult movies, many video stores have adult movie rental sections, and Internet porn sites have proliferated by the thousands. With porn so ubiquitous in mainstream American culture, why is it that when "respectable" people talk about this phenomenon, they act puzzled, as if they cannot imagine who would watch such worthless and meaningless smut? In this collection of path-breaking essays, thirteen respected scholars bring critical insights to the reality of porn and what it can tell us about ourselves sexually, culturally, and economically. Moving beyond simplistic feminist and religious positions that cast these films as categorical evils-a collective preserve of sexual perversion, misogyny, pedophilia, and racism-the contributors to this volume raise the bar of the debate and push porn studies into intriguing new territory. The essays are divided into two sections. The first of these reprints important debates on the topic and traces the evolution of pornographic film, including comparing its development to that of Hollywood cinema. The second part presents new essays that consider current trends in the field, including pornography's expansion into new technologies. This book separates this compelling genre from the sensation and shame that have long surrounded and obscured it. It will be of interest to general readers and film scholars alike. Peter Lehman is the director of the Film and Media Studies Program and the Center for Film and Media Research at Arizona State University, Tempe. He is the author, coauthor, and editor of twelve books including, Roy Orbison: The Invention of an Alternative Rock Masculinity. A volume in the Depth of Field Series, edited by Charles Affron, Mirella Jona Affron, and Robert Lyons
International Exposure demonstrates the wealth of desires woven into the fabric of European history: desires about empire and nation, about self and other, about plenty and dearth. By documenting the diverse meanings of pornography, senior scholars from across disciplines show the ways that sexuality became central to the individual, to the nation, and to the transnational character of modern society. The ten essays in the volume engage a rich array of topics, including obscenity in the German states, censorship in France's Third Republic, "she-male" internet porn, the rise of incestuous longings in England, the place of the Hungarian video revolution in the global market, and the politics of pornography in Russia. Taken together, the essays illustrate the latest approaches to content, readership, form, and delivery in modern European pornography. A substantial discussion of the broad history and state of the field complements the ten in-depth case studies that examine a wide range of sources from literature to magazines, video to the internet. By tackling the highbrow and lowdown of the pornographic form, this volume lays the groundwork for the next surge of studies in the field.
Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment and therefore may be banned. Other pornography or indecency may be regulated to serve compelling government interest provided that the least restrictive means available is used.
Obscenity, Child Pornography & Indecency
A survey of the changing and charged relationship between pornography and legislation in 20th century America. Groups battling pornography must demonstrate that the products they seek to ban are truly obscene and not legitimately protected by the First Amendment-a requirement that often leads to public debate and controversy. Author Thomas C. Mackey thoroughly examines the problems and issues in public policymaking, legal precedents, and the people behind them. After a brief historical background, Pornography on Trial surveys and analyzes the leading issues and case law on obscenity from l957 to the present. Half the book consists of documents-judicial opinions-from key cases. There are biographical sketches of key people, laws, and concepts from Judge Learned Hand and the Hicklin test to Chief Justice Sir Alexander James Edmund Cockburn's judicial definition of obscenity from l868. The book also includes a chronology, a table of cases, and an annotated bibliography. Four narrative chapters discuss pornography in historical context from the founding of the United States Includes a documents section with court cases, statutes, law reviews, and historical journal articles as well as a chronology of the development of free speech law
In this unabashed defense of pornography from a
utilitarian-hedonist perspective, philosopher Alan Soble strongly
rebuts both feminist and conservative critics. Soble demonstrates
that neither conservative nor feminist critics of pornography show
much acquaintance with the genre they criticize. This suggests that
purely political motives underlie their critiques instead of
reasoned, objective arguments based on thorough empirical research.
"There is much of value in Jenkins' work. He manages to discuss CP
calmly, while at the same time making clear his personal revulsion,
an achievement in itself in an area characterized by so much
hysteria." "Magnificently readable social science on a widely misunderstood
subject." "A useful introduction to the methods that the kiddie-porn
community uses to hide its activities...a smart history of the
child-porn industry" "This is a troubling book that exposes how child pornography has
found a safe haven on the Internet. Philip Jenkins's innovative
research methods let him explore and map the secret electronic
networks that link individuals whose deviance seems not just
outrageous, but incomprehensible. Jenkins shows how culture and
social structure emerge in a virtual--and decidedly not
virtuous--world. This book raises profound questions about the
nature of deviance in an electronic future." "A disturbing, thought-provoking study" "A detailed yet engaging account . . . . Engrossing" Perhaps nothing evokes more universal disgust as child pornography. The world of its makers and users is so abhorrent that it is rarely discussed much less studied. Child pornographers have taken advantage of this and are successfully using the new electronic media to exchange their wares without detection or significant sanction. What are the implications of this threat for free speech and a free exchange of ideas on the internet? And how can we stop this illegal activity, which is so repugnant that eventhe most laissez-faire cyberlibertarians want it stamped out, if we know nothing about it? Philip Jenkins takes a leap onto the lower tiers of electronic media in this first book on the business of child pornography online. He tells the story of how the advent of the internet caused this deviant subculture to become highly organized and go global. We learn how the trade which operates on clandestine websites from Budapest or Singapore to the U.S. is easy to glimpse yet difficult to eradicate. Jenkins details how the most sophisticated transactions are done through a proxy, a "false flag" address, rendering the host computer, and participants, virtually unidentifiable. And these sites exist for only a few minutes or hours allowing on-line child pornographers to stay one step ahead of the law. This is truly a globalized criminal network which knows no names or boundaries, and thus challenges both international and U.S. law. Beyond Tolerance delves into the myths and realities of child pornography and the complex process to stamp out criminal activity over the web, including the timely debates over trade regulation, users' privacy, and individual rights. This sobering look and a criminal community contains lessons about human behavior and the law that none interested in media and the new technology can afford to ignore.
In Shorter Views, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author Samuel R. Delany brings his remarkable intellectual powers to bear on a wide range of topics. Whether he is exploring the deeply felt issues of identity, race, and sexuality, untangling the intricacies of literary theory, or the writing process itself, Delany is one of the most lucid and insightful writers of our time. These essays cluster around topics related to queer theory on the one hand, and on the other, questions concerning the paraliterary genres: science fiction, pornography, comics, and more. Readers new to Delany's work will find this collection of shorter pieces an especially good introduction, while those already familiar with his writing will appreciate having these essays between two covers for the first time.
True stories from some of the world's most pro-sex feminists.
These women have provided intimate, anti-censorship essays, to
reestablish the idea that equality of the sexes doesn't have to
mean no sex. Contributors include: Deborah Ryder, Jan Grossman, Sue Raye,
Linzi Drew, Annie Sprinkle, Tuppy Owens, Lucy Williams, Nettie
Pollard, Avedon Carol, Scarlet Harlot, and Caroline
Bottomley.
What do porn films tell us about our own erotic impulses? What can we learn about our culture's sexual attitudes, fears, and fantasies from the ways that porn films are designed and produced? In this book, Dr. Robert J. Stoller, one of the world's leading experts on human sexual behavior, joins with I. S. Levine, a professional writer with long experience in X-rated video making, to examine the ideas and psychological makeup of the participants in an adult heterosexual X-rated video, Stairway to Paradise. Their interviews with performers, writers, directors, producers, and technicians provide extraordinary insights into the technical aspects of this type of video, the motivations and backgrounds of the people involved, and the porn industry's view of the video's intended audience. Stoller, Levine, and the porn filmmakers have wide ranging discussions about the aesthetics, ethics, and etiquette of the porn industry; the hostility that Dr. Stoller claimed underlies all erotic excitement; the liberating - and educational - function of porn in a puritanical culture; the misconceptions of antiporn crusaders; the impact of AIDS on the participants; and the future of the porn film industry. The authors hope that if we understand how and why a pornographic work is created, we will be better able to understand the implications of the legal and moral issues it raises.
This study of pornographic magazine photographs -- softcore, hardcore, transsexual/transvestite -- analyzes the visual code of these images. It engagesquestions about masculinity and masculine sexuality such as "Is there a necessaryrelation between difference and phallic desire?" "Can the masculine subject imagineotherness?" "Is there a will-to-asceticism in this (masculine) sexual surrender toindifferentiation?"
Bill, Merlin, Happy, and Kay are among the porn-film performers and producers who tell their stories to Dr. Robert J. Stoller in this pschyodynamic ethnography of adult heterosexual pornography. Their engrossing accounts reveal in rich detail not only the inner workings of "the Industry" and the fantasies and motivations of its participants but also the relation between this most denigrated of occupations and "normal" human erotic behavior and attitudes. Consistently nonjudgmental about the material he presents, Dr. Stoller nevertheless draws provocative conclusions about porn, its practitioners, and its effects on society. Everyone at work on a porn production, he says, uses it as a vehicle for unloading his or her rage against something-mores, institutions, laws, parents, females, or males. According to Dr. Stoller, pornography does not exist only to degrade women, there is no reliable evidence that it increases the frequency of rape, and (with the exception of child porn) it does little harm. Pornography, says Dr. Stoller, seems more the result of our changing society than a cause of change; it reflects, more than influences, our values and mores.
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