The Porning of America: The Rise of Porn Culture, What It Means, and Where We Go from Here

by Kevin M. Scott and Carmine Sarracino

Book Overview

Sarracino and Scott argue that we no longer have to purchase pornography to get porn because we increasingly live porn in our daily lives. Resolutely pro-sex, they contend that, to make the most of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807061530
• ISBN13: 9780807061534
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Beacon Press (MA)
• Length: 251 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Works for me

Fascinating, and very readable without losing the critical, scholarly element. Great introduction to the topic, with just enough details and just enough broadness to leave a reader informed and, perhaps, ready to dive into more specific research. Provides a broad and interesting history of the "porning" of America, and most intriguingly, is able to pull that off without attaching any particular negative or positive connotation to the word "porning." The authors are refreshingly honest about their difficulty in deciding what is either good or bad about porn, and in deciding "where we," as a society, "go from here." Covers: historical relationship between war and pornography, Civil war -- Iraq; the puritan sex-shame that much pornography still fuels off; sexualization of children, men, women, and the elderly; Feminism and pornography; detailed history of pornography from 70's till 2007 (ish). Great balance of clear, concise, and sharp writing with solid facts and hardly a paragraph of wasted words. This book was well organized and coherently progressive from end to end. If you are looking for a particularly bold assertion about whether porn is "good or bad," or, if you are looking for any detail about homosexuals and pornography, this is probably NOT your ideal book.

Thought-provoking and fascinating

What an eye opening book! I knew that there was a lot of porn on the internet, but I was astonished to see just how persuasively the writers argue that it is the main influence on our culture today, shaping just about every aspect of day-to-day life. Some of the book is hard to take, but parents, especially, need to know what is going on. Head-in-the-sand is really not a helpful option if you have kids to raise. I found the last chapter, "Where We Go From Here," to be especially interesting and valuable. All in all, a great read! Highly recommended.