Archive 2008-09
Jasper Joffe
- Venue: Fine Art Lecture Theatre
- Start: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:00:00 GMT
- End: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:00:00 GMT
Background
There is a tradition of male artists making pornographic art, from Courbet's original, through Jeff Koons producing his own, to John Currin's recent renaissance version.
Feminism
"I am a citizen of the United States, and in this country where I live, every year millions and millions of pictures are being made of women with our legs spread. We are called beaver, we are called pussy, our genitals are tied up, they are pasted, makeup is put on them to make them pop out of a page at a male viewer. Millions and millions of pictures are made of us in postures of submission and sexual access so that our vaginas are exposed for penetration, our anuses are exposed for penetration, our throats are used as if they are genitals for penetration. In this country where I live as a citizen real rapes are on film and are being sold in the marketplace. And the major motif of pornography as a form of entertainment is that women are raped and violated and humiliated until we discover that we like it and at that point we ask for more."
Andrea Dworkin testifying to the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography on January 22, 1986 (www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/dworkin/WarZoneChaptIVF1.html)
In 1986 there was no internet.
Freedom of Speech
"While messages reflecting sexism pervade our culture in many forms, sexual and nonsexual, suppression of such material will neither reduce harm to women nor further women's goals. Women are exploited and harassed in all fields; some are in pornography. Exploitation will stop when it is vigorously prosecuted everywhere it occurs…..When the National Organization for Women considered launching a campaign against pornography, women in pornography protested saying that a ban against it would create a black market of exploitation. Some said their work gave then independence and a sense of accomplishment; banning it would worsen their lives. NOW abandoned its proposed campaign"
Extracts from Feminists for Free Expression