Revisiting the porn debate
September 28th 2005, 19:03 Jeff Sela
I just came across an article by Dr. Chyng Sun where she talks about the evils of pornography and asks why liberals should defend it. She focusses on the more ‘brutal’ types of gonzo, and sees them as indicative of a misogynistic porn industry which, of course, oppresses the women who take part in it.
Nina Hartley, the porn star feminist, has written a rebuttal, pointing out that Dr. Sun seems to be avoiding talking to the women who are supposedly being oppressed:
Perhaps, like a number of anti-porn feminists these days, she chooses not to solicit the opinions of women engaged in or supportive of sex-work, rather than risk encountering a contrary-to-theory example.
That certainly wouldn't surprise me. While porn is certainly not all sweetness and light, in the present climate the important argument is that we're allowed the freedom to make and view it. As long as the anti-porn crusaders are trying to stamp out pornography altogether there doesn't seem to be much point debating what kinds of porn and sex are ‘oppressive’.
