Abstract

 This paper has three goals. The first is to defend Tristan Taormino and Erika Lust (or some of their films) from criticisms that Rebecca Whisnant and Hans Maes make of them. Toward that end, I will be arguing against the narrow conceptions that Whisnant and Maes seem to have of what “feminist” pornography must be like. More generally, I hope to show by example why it is important to take pornographic films seriously as films if we're to understand their potential to shape, or misshape, socio-sexual norms.
Highlights
Lust from criticisms that Rebecca Whisnant and Hans Maes make of them
One might reasonably have expected the philosophical literature on pornography to contain significant discussion of actual pornography
Williams would edit a collection of essays, Porn Studies (Williams 2004), that marked the coming of age of that small but thriving field, and there is quite a lot of serious academic work on actual pornography
Summary
Lust (or some of their films) from criticisms that Rebecca Whisnant and Hans Maes make of them. That is one reason that the sexual content of Taormino’s films is often not very different from what one finds in mainstream pornography.5
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have