From The Guardian:
Can sex films empower women?
Former home secretary Jacqui Smith this reopened the debate about the impact of the sex industry on society with her BBC Radio 5 documentary about pornography. Here, Gail Dines, professor of sociology and women's studies at Wheelock College in Boston, and author of Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality, and Anna Arrowsmith, a former Liberal Democrat candidate who makes pornographic films under the name Anna Span, discuss the issues. Emine Saner listens in.
Gail Dines: I'm concerned about what it means to live in a society that is overwhelmed by images created by predatory capitalists whose job is to maximise profits. Pornography is the commodification of sexuality and the product is plasticised and lacks any individuality. My feeling is that you're talking from a more personal perspective, and there are certainly ways in which some women can make pornography work for them. My issue is beyond you and me, and into a more political analysis of what it means to live in a society where women are systematically discriminated against, and then have a juggernaut called pornography shaping the way men think about us – the same men who go on to make laws and policy that impact on the lives of women.
Anna Arrowsmith: I used to be anti-pornography until I realised my anger was jealousy – I was envious of men having their sexuality catered for. I realised the best thing I could do was to work towards women learning their own sexual identity. I'm not just coming from a personal experience – I've been chair of the adult industry trade association in the UK. We don't get well represented in the media, we're a soft target, using moral panics to say we're the devil, and that if you just get rid of pornography, amazingly women will get full equality.
Read the rest of the excellent debate here.