Debating Sexual Correctness: Pornography, Sexual Harassment, Date Rape, and the Politics of Sexual Equality
- Book Review,
by Adele M. Stan
From Publishers Weekly
Culling from publications ranging from Ladies' Home Journal to the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography and the New York Times, Stan has done an outstanding job finding pieces that look at the sexual correctness debate from every angle and writing style. There is no apparent bias here. Self-confessed "card-carrying feminist" Lisa Palac describes how she went from being an "anti-porn feminist" to making pornographic films. Former Ms. editor Robin Morgan sees connections between the porn industry, "anti-Semitic tracts" and the Ku Klux Klan. In a sometimes annoyingly abstruse piece, bell hooks writes that "heterosexual women have not unlearned a heterosexist-based 'eroticism' that constructs desire in such a way that many of us can only respond erotically to male behavior that has already been coded as masculine within the sexist framework." For those who prefer their arguments phrased more simply, Stan offers essays by George F. Will, Mortimer Zuckerman and the Village Voice's Ellen Willis, who warns that "if feminists define pornography per se as the enemy, the result will be to make a lot of women ashamed of their sexual feelings and afraid to be honest about them." No one's ever going to win this debate, but studying the arguments helps readers see clearly the issues in the often deeply emotional exchange. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The lively art of spirited debate sparks this welcome addition to the literature of a vitally important aspect of so-called political correctness. According to editor Stan, there once was a time in America "when nearly every act of sexual bullying and assault conducted by men against women was tolerated." The feminist movement's success during the last 20 years has upended the earlier notion of man on top and left society disoriented. Debating the sex wars here are, among others, Camille Paglia and Andrea Dworkin on rape; George Will taking on Antioch College's policy concerning on-campus sexual behavior (and the media uproar it caused) and being contested by New York University's Eric Fassin arguing the policy could signal the beginnings of "a brave new erotic world"; law professor Catharine MacKinnon advocating legal measures to curb pornography and being opposed by First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams; and New York Times' TV critic Walter Goodman reviewing the William Kennedy Smith trial, its media treatment, and the American appetite to watch the rich "living it up and acting down." Whitney Scott
Book Description
The debate continues over what constitutes sexual correctness. Should we learn to live with date rape, pornography and sexual harrassment as simple facts of life? Or are these mere claims borne out of a victim mentality? Either way, women are in danger of losing their sexual freedom.
From the Publisher
A glance here, a flirtation there, a moment of misunderstanding. Have the new rules of feminist politics gone too far? Since Katie Riophe's book The Morning After helped spark a national debate over the politics of date rape, the media has focused on controversial sexual behavior of all kinds. Proponents of what has come to be called sexual correctness contend that we live in a culture where date rape, pornography, and sexual harassment are simply facts of life that demand a new sexual standard. Opponents argue that these claims are born out of a victim mentality they see as pervasive in the modern feminist movement that threatens to rob women of the gains of sexual freedom. As the successfull Dell title Debating PC did in 1992, Debating Sexual Correctness brings together some of the best known and most important voices in this debate. From the editorial pages of magazines as diverse as The New Republic and Glamour, The New York Times and Playboy, the country's most thoughtful social critics define or debunk this very controversial notion of sexual correctness. Katie Roiphe, Camille Paglia, Naomi Wolf, Andrea Dworkin, Catherine MacKinnon, and Susan Faludi are only a few of the writers in this provocative anthology that looks at a highly charged debate that has encompassed a nation.
From the Inside Flap
A glance here, a flirtation there, a moment of misunderstanding. Have the new rules of feminist politics gone too far? Since Katie Riophe's book The Morning After helped spark a national debate over the politics of date rape, the media has focused on controversial sexual behavior of all kinds. Proponents of what has come to be called sexual correctness contend that we live in a culture where date rape, pornography, and sexual harassment are simply facts of life that demand a new sexual standard. Opponents argue that these claims are born out of a victim mentality they see as pervasive in the modern feminist movement that threatens to rob women of the gains of sexual freedom. As the successfull Dell title Debating PC did in 1992, Debating Sexual Correctness brings together some of the best known and most important voices in this debate. From the editorial pages of magazines as diverse as The New Republic and Glamour, The New York Times and Playboy, the country's most thoughtful social critics define or debunk this very controversial notion of sexual correctness. Katie Roiphe, Camille Paglia, Naomi Wolf, Andrea Dworkin, Catherine MacKinnon, and Susan Faludi are only a few of the writers in this provocative anthology that looks at a highly charged debate that has encompassed a nation.
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