Why Internet Porn Matters

Now that pornography is on the Internet, its political and social functions have changed. So contends Margret Grebowicz in this imperative philosophical analysis of Internet porn. The production and consumption of Internet porn, in her account, are a symptom of the obsession with self-exposure in today's social networking media, which is, in turn, a symptom of the modern democratic construction of the governable subject as both transparent and communicative. In this first feminist critique to privilege the effects of pornography's Internet distribution rather than what it depicts, Grebowicz examines porn-sharing communities (such as the bestiality niche market) and the politics of putting women's sexual pleasure on display (the squirting market) as part of the larger democratic project. Arguing against this project, she shows that sexual pleasure is not a human right. Unlikely convergences between thinkers like Catherine MacKinnon, Jean Baudrillard, Judith Butler, and Jean-François Lyotard allow her to formulate a theory of the relationships between sex, speech, and power that stands as an alternative to such cyber-libertarian mottos as freedom of speech and sexual freedom.

Author: Margret Grebowicz
Publisher: Stanford Briefs
Published: 02/27/2013
Pages: 152
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.35lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.00w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9780804786621

Review Citation(s):
Choice 09/01/2013

About the Author
Margret Grebowicz is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Goucher College.