The Reader, the Author, His Woman and Her Lover: Soft-Core Pornography and Heterosexual Men (Sexual Politics) [Paperback]

Simon Hardy (Author), Hardy Simon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sexual Politics | Publication Date: October 1998

Taking as its focus soft-core pornography and its impact on the sexuality of young men, this book is intended as a contribution to the developing discussion of heterosexuality, and its cultural representation, within sociology, gender studies and media studies. It was conceived as a response to the divisions among feminists over pornography, and as an attempt to disrupt the entrenched pattern of polarity in critical discussion of sexual representation. Drawing on in-depth interviews with young men about their experience and interpretation of pornographic material, the book shows that they have a keen awareness of the pleasures which censorship would curtail and yet, at the same time, a strong pervasive sense of danger attending the use of pornography.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Cassell (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0304336424
• ISBN-13: 978-0304336425
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,401,473 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, March 9, 2008

By 

M. Putnam (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Reader, the Author, His Woman and Her Lover: Soft-Core Pornography and Heterosexual Men (Sexual Politics) (Paperback)

Disappointing. Such a great topic, but this book is written for academics only! The language and debates are incomprehensible to the average intelligent reader if she has not done graduate study in sociology or cultural studies.

Like David Loftus's book on the same topic, the primary focus is to address the assertion of anti-porn feminists that porn is equal to violence against women (a 20 year old argument at this point). There is so much more to discuss, but Hardy, like Loftus, lets his enemy frame the language and topic of debate and does not ask questions of his own. Given the potential of the topic, it turns out to be a major disappointment.

Further, the sample is only 12 or so people, which frankly, even for qualitative work is absurdly small. This book was written in England (before internet porn was available) where hard core porn is banned. So it addresses nothing more than softcore magazines and it's applicability to the American experience is questionable.