Cambridge University Press Battling Pornography: The American Feminist Anti-Pornography Movement, 1976–1986

Pornography catapulted to the forefront of the American women's movement in the 1980s. In Battling Pornography, Carolyn Bronstein locates the origins of anti-pornography sentiment in the turbulent social and cultural history of the late 1960s and 1970s. Based on extensive original archival research, the book reveals that the seeds of the movement were planted by groups who protested the proliferation of advertisements, Hollywood films and other mainstream media that glorified sexual violence. Over time, feminist leaders redirected the emphasis from violence to pornography to leverage rhetorical power. Battling Pornography presents a fascinating account of the rise and fall of this significant American social movement and documents the contributions of influential activists on both sides of the pornography debate, including some of the best-known American feminists. Review 'Bronstein corrects the assumption that the American anti-pornography movement focused exclusively on state regulation and censorship. Bronstein restores historical texture and detail to our understanding of the feminist responses to media violence as part of a larger movement to expand women's equality. She offers a richly detailed portrait of a multifaceted movement concerned with protecting free speech and women's sexual freedoms while still holding media corporations, pornographers, and consumers responsible for distributing and consuming images of violence against women. This lesser known history casts new light on the more infamous sex wars of the 1980s and adds archival heft to our histories of women's activism in the 1980s, including the entrance of conservative religious women into the ranks of Women Against Pornography in the mid-1980s.' Jane Gerhard, Mount Holyoke College Book Description The rise and fall of the American feminist anti-pornography movement, discovering its origins in 1970s political and cultural conditions. About the Author Carolyn Bronstein is Associate Professor of Media Studies in the College of Communication at DePaul University. Her research investigates questions of media representation and social responsibility, with an emphasis on gender, and her work has been published in such journals as Violence against Women, Camera Obscura and Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. She is co-editor of Responsible Advocacy: Ethics in Public Relations (2006).