The pornography wars The past, present, and future of America's obscene obsession

Kelsy Burke, 1985-

Book - 2023

"For readers of Peggy Orenstein and Rebecca Traister, an authoritative, big think look at pornography in all its facets--historical, religious, and cultural. In the 1960s, sex researchers Masters and Johnson declared the end of the fake orgasm. Nearly two decades later, in 1982, evangelical activist Tim LaHaye foretold that the entire pornography industry would soon be driven out of business. Neither prediction proved true. Instead, with the rise of the internet, pornography saturates the American conscience more than ever and has reshaped our understanding of sexuality, relationships, media, and even the nature of addiction. Dr. Kelsy Burke has spent the last five years researching and interviewing internet pornography's opponent...s and its sympathizers. In The Pornography Wars, Burke does a deep dive into the long history of pornography in America and then turns her gaze on our present society to examine the ways this industry touches on the most intimate parts of American lives. She offers a complete understanding of the major players in the debates around porn's place in society: everyone from sex workers, activists, therapists, religious leaders, and consumers. In doing so, she addresses and debunks the myths that surround porn and porn usage while showing how everything from the way we teach children about sex to the legal protections for what can be published is tied up in the deeply complicated battles over pornography. Sweeping, savvy, and deeply researched, The Pornography Wars is a necessary and comprehensive new look at pornography and American life"--Dust jacket flap.

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Subjects
Genres
History
Published
New York : Bloomsbury Publishing 2023.
Language
English
Main Author
Kelsy Burke, 1985- (author)
Physical Description
xix, 330 pages ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-317) and index.
ISBN
9781635577365
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • Part I: The hundred years' war. Comstockery
  • Obscene files
  • Christian right vs. America
  • Porno chic
  • Women against pornography
  • The internet is for porn
  • Part II: The battle over making porn. Trafficking hub
  • Safer sex (work)
  • Hot girls wanted
  • Hustlers
  • Shades of grey
  • Come as you are
  • Part III: The battle over watching porn. To your health
  • In recovery
  • Brain battles
  • Opposite sexes
  • Protect the children
  • Part IV: Truce. Faking it
  • The good place.
Review by Booklist Review

Burke (Christians under Covers, 2016) offers a thoroughly researched and refreshingly readable albeit academic viewpoint of the long-standing debate over pornography in the U.S. Burke scours landmark legislation and court cases, starting with the Comstock laws in 1873 that criminalized the distribution of obscene material through the U.S. Postal Service. As national values progressed and the stricter tenets of the obscenity laws were challenged, notably by Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler, the opposing camps of antiporn and free speech became more entrenched. Interviews with former porn stars turned vehemently antiporn are balanced by pro-sex feminists looking to elevate the industry from its deeply misogynistic roots. Consumers who have suffered from sex-addiction due to the prevalence of internet porn are contrasted with those in marginalized groups who have found agency within the niche markets of independently produced pornography. There is no winner-take-all conclusion, as Burke so acutely explains. Instead, this volume does a remarkable job of conveying points of view from all sides of the issues, resulting in a much more complex understanding of a lightning-rod subject.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Sociologist Burke (Christians Under Covers) delivers a compassionate and well-balanced study of "the many people, past and present, who believe they know the truth when it comes to pornography and who seek to shape both the culture and the law." Analyzing the cultural and ideological underpinnings of positions taken by pornographers, feminists, sex workers, conservative Christians, feminists, anti--sex trafficking crusaders, and more, Burke sketches the history of antiobscenity laws from the 1873 Comstock Act to the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Miller v. California that established new national standards for determining whether a work is obscene and therefore falls outside First Amendment protections. Elsewhere, Burke compares the viewpoints of the Christian right and antipornography feminists, examines how sex trafficking laws are "chipping away at the legality of internet pornography," discusses the rise of porn addiction recovery programs, visits antitrafficking conferences and adult entertainment trade shows, and probes the impact of young people using unrealistic porn as ad hoc sex education. Burke's own background as a born-again Christian who left the Baptist church after coming out as a lesbian informs her refreshingly unbiased approach. The result is an astute and forthright presentation of a hotly contested issue. Agent: Amy Bishop, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (July)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

Can pornography be ethically created? Is porn addiction a real thing? What effect does watching it have on the brain? Sociologist Burke's (Christians Under Covers: Evangelicals and Sexual Pleasure on the Internet) new book doesn't aim to definitively answer these questions; instead it explores their role in American society. Beginning with a summary of the United States' historical attempts to regulate so-called "obscene" material, Burke continues into explorations of anti-porn and porn-positive viewpoints, drawing on interviews with advocates on both sides, scientific studies, and her own visits to conferences, public events, and support groups. Burke is critical of anti-porn adherents who employ scaremongering to bolster their movement, but her book is a balanced presentation of pornography sympathizers and opponents and the valid aspects of their arguments; she even highlights common ground between them. Key to Burke's discussion are her stances that a person's view of pornography is inseparable from their individual experiences, and that pornography can't ever be fully decoupled from wider societal issues of gender, race, morality, and bodily autonomy. VERDICT A mature, thoughtful book about a complex and divisive topic. No matter their personal opinions, readers will likely find observations here to inform their thoughts about pornography's creation and consumption.--Kathleen McCallister

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A thought-provoking examination of pornography in America. "Rather than direct readers to a single truth about porn, this book instead challenges the myths that surround pornography itself and the people who have something to say about it," writes Burke, a sociology professor and author of Christians Under Covers: Evangelicals and Sexual Pleasure on the Internet. From anti-vice activist Anthony Comstock to Inka Winter, the creator of ForPlay Films, "an all-woman porn production company," the author introduces us to a plethora of interesting characters. Beginning with her own upbringing and difficulties as a "sexual outsider, queer without yet having a label," Burke discusses the countless debates about what constitutes porn before moving on to evaluate the arguments on both sides. The author ably unravels a broad set of social and political values that the porn debate evokes, especially the moralizing facade of anti-porn arguments: "Antipornography activists suggest that the reason women participate in pornography is that they think it is good for them when actually it is not." It's clear that Burke wants readers to understand that sex and pornography go beyond the individual, contending that "the capitalist system provides constraints and opportunities for the internet sex industry and for pornography debates." She is also thorough in her deconstruction of the way that pro-porn activists deal with racial iconography and violence in porn narratives. The book is well balanced and rigorously researched, featuring dozens of opinions from across the spectrum of debate, and Burke does her best to keep her own biases in check while illustrating her expertise in the topic. "What I observed over five years of research for this book is that fighters in the porn wars do not assume that if they fight hard enough, the other side will wave its white flag in defeat," she writes. "The porn wars are fought not because either side perceives imminent victory, but because individuals believe it is the right thing to do." An intellectually stimulating read for porn fans and critics alike. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.