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From: falk@peregrine.Eng.Sun.COM (Ed Falk)
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Subject: Re: Posting re. Andrea Dworkin
Message-ID: <1741@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 26 Oct 90 15:57:02 GMT
References: <272090CA.26470@ics.uci.edu>
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca.
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Approved: tittle@ics.uci.edu
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In article <272090CA.26470@ics.uci.edu> tittle@ics.uci.edu (Diana Bental) writes:
>Andrea Dworkin's book "Pornography" makes it very clear that for
>Dworkin, the issue is that women are hurt and humilated by pornography
>and that in such a context "aesthetic merit" is irrelevant - i.e.
>when a woman is hurt it is *not important* whether her being hurt
>makes a pretty pattern of light and shade. Dworkin argues that it is
>immoral to think otherwise - i.e. it is immoral to prioritise a pretty
>pattern over human suffering. She argues further that people who claim
>that the aesthetics (prettiness) justify the suffering are making
>excuses, either because they are getting off on that suffering or else
>because they don't think that female suffering matters, both of which
>she also considers immoral. These arguments are re-iterated in
>"Mercy".

This is incomplete.  What is Andrea Dworkin's definition of
"Pornography"?

What specificly would she have the government ban?  Playboy?
Penthouse?  Hustler?  Tits 'n Clits?  Bondage magazines?  Forum?
Yellow Silk?  My Secret Garden?  Cosmo?  Romance novels?  Gay male
porn?  Lesbian porn?  On Our Backs?  Off Our Backs?  Our Bodies
Ourselves?

		-ed falk, sun microsystems
		 sun!falk, falk@sun.com
		 card-carrying ACLU member.