Full Description
For many individuals, pornography is a troubling and problematic issue. Regardless of how the public views this topic, one thing is clear: Pornography is as prevalent and accessible as smartphones and laptop computers. Indeed, beyond traditional hardcore material, a pornographic sensibility permeates many aspects of culture—from tween and young teen fashions to television and commercially successful films. In fact, pornography is so widespread that more often than not it is taken as a given in our modern social space. However, the thought of engaging in intellectual discussions about the topic strikes many—particularly scholars—as beneath them. And yet something this impactful, this definitive of modern culture, needs to be laid open to scrutiny.
In The Philosophy of Pornography: Contemporary Perspectives, Lindsay Coleman and Jacob M. Held offer a collection of essays covering a wide range of viewpoints—from issues of free speech and porn's role in discrimination to the impact of porn on sexuality. These essays investigate the philosophical implications of pornography as a part of how we now seek to conceive and express our sexuality in contemporary life. Contributors to this volume discuss:
opornography as a component of gender and sexual socialization
oecological understandings of sexually explicit media
osubordination, sexualization, and speech
ofeminism and pornography
opornography's depiction of love and friendship
oblack women and pornography
oplayfulness and creativity in porn
Because its subject matter—sex, gender, interpersonal relationships, and even love—is reflective of who we are and what kind of society we want to create, pornography demands serious treatment. So whether one chooses to accept pornography as a fact of modern culture or not, this collection of timely essays represents a variety of voices in the ongoing debate. As such, The Philosophy of Pornography will be of interest to not only those who are engaged in porn studies but also to an audience educated in and conversant with recent trends in philosophy.
Contents
Pornification, Sexualization, and Society
Chapter 1: Diagnoses of Transformation: "Pornification," Digital Media, and the Diversification of the Pornographic
Susanna Paasonen
Chapter 2: Pornography Makes the Man: The Impact of Pornography as a Component of Gender and Sexual Socialization
Matthew B. Ezzell
Chapter 3: Truth Claims about Porn: When Dogma and Data Collide
Shira Tarrant
Chapter 4: Pornographic and Pornified: Feminist and Ecological Understandings of Sexually Explicit Media
Robert Jensen
The Politics of Pornography
Chapter 5: The Problem with the Problem of Pornography: Subordination, Sexualization, and Speech
Jacob M. Held
Chapter 6: "The Price We Pay"? Pornography and Harm
Susan J. Brison
Chapter 7: Heidegger, Feminism, and Pornography
Natalie Nenadic
Pornography and Speech
Chapter 8: Pornography and 'Speech'
Jennifer Hornsby
Chapter 9: Pornography and the Philosophy of Language
Louise Antony
The Value of Pornography
Chapter 10: Porn, Sex, and Liberty: A Dialogue
Nina Hartley and Jacob M. Held
Chapter 11: The Gentle Side of Pornography: A Contemporary
Examination of Pornography's Depiction of Love and Friendship
Lindsay Coleman
Chapter 12: Undisciplining Pornography Studies
Katrien Jacobs
The Possibilities of Pornography
Chapter 13: Sisters are Doin' It for Themselves: Black Women and the New Pornography
Ariane Cruz
Chapter 14: Utopic Futures of the 'Other': Pornography and the Creative Imaginary
Taine Duncan
Chapter 15: In the Arms of the Angel: Playfulness, Creativity and Porn's Possibilities
Joy Simmons Bradley
Index
About the Editors and Contributors
