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38 N. Y. L. Sch. L. Rev. 319 (1993)
What I Didn't Get to Say on TV about Pornography, Masculinity, and Representation

handle is hein.journals/nyls38 and id is 325 raw text is: WHAT I DIDN'T GET TO SAY ON TV ABOUT PORNOGRAPHY, MASCULINITY, AND REPRESENTATION JUDITH KEGAN GARDINER* In April 1993, shortly after the University of Chicago Law School conference on pornography and hate speech,1 I was a panelist on Jerry Springer's television talk show.2 The topic of the show was whether pornography causes rape. The first speaker, a Christian youth pastor, divulged that he was driven to attempt rape after viewing pornography. He also confessed to having been sexually abused as a child. Next, a debate between a male anti-censorship lawyer and a male anti-pornography lawyer ensued. The former invoked free speech to justify his position, while the latter claimed that sex-crime rates drop when porn houses are closed. A middle-aged woman then detailed the unpleasant ways in which her boyfriend hurt her. He imitated the sadistic pornography to which he was addicted, she explained, to the point of threatening her life. As a Women's Studies professor, I was the last speaker on the show. I recounted a discussion I once had with a local video store manager in which he had explained to me how the videos on his shelves were divided into three categories: (1) action movies, which he defined as containing violence; (2) horror movies, which meant some girl takes off her shirt and then gets killed; and (3) catch-all movies-including porn-which he judged to be less violent than the rest. The host's show-ending monologue reminded the audience that Americans prize free speech and that pornography doesn't rape people, other people do. Reason thus concluded an hour in which most of the camera's and audience's attention was fixed on lurid stories of sexualized violence by men against women. The format of the show encouraged soundbites and colorful examples instead of analysis. It presented two camps and allowed them to trade * Professor of English and Women's Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago. For their comments on this topic, I thank Albert Alschuler, Noel Barker, and Linda Williams. 1. More than 700 people attended the conference, entitled Speech, Equality, and Pornography: Feminist Legal Perspectives on Pornography and Hate Propaganda. See Mark Wukas, Violence Linked: Activists Seek Tighter Restrictions on Porn, Ci. TRIB., Mar. 21, 1993, at 1, 11. Among those attending the conference were University of Michigan law professor Catharine MacKinnon, feminist writer Andrea Dworkin, and Leanne Katz, executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship. See id. Despite the wide diversity within the feminist community, Katz stated that feminists with opposing views (such as herself) were not asked to speak at the conference. See id. 2. The Jerry Springer Show: Pornography Ruined My Life (NBC television broadcast, Apr. 9, 1993).

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