Andrea Dworkin :: essays research papers fc

Andrea DworkinAndrea Dworkin has been an influential write, speaker, and activist forover both decades. She claims to be a feminist, and that her ideas arebeneficial to women. This paper will exhibit that many of her most popular article of beliefsare not but noisome to society, but also not in the best interests of women.In letter from a war zone, Andrea Dworkin presents a collection ofspeeches and short articles she has composed during her biography as a writer andactivist. Many of her articles deal with censorship and pornography. unity claimis central to all of these, pornography is an act and not an idea, thereforecensorship is not relevant to it.In response to a rising York Time Review of her 1981 book, filth MenPossessing Women, Dworkin writes, Pornography says the women requirement to be hurt,forced, and abused pornography says women want to be raped, battered, kidnapped,maimed pornography says women want to be humiliated, shamed, defamed,pornography says that wo men say no but mean yes - Yes to violence, yes to pain.(Dworkin p 203)In response to Dworkins fiery rhetoric, Wendy Mcelroy writes thatDworkin has scientific backing and even cites point to the contrary. InJapan, where pornography depicting violence is widely available, rape is overmuchlower per capita than in the United States, where violence in porn isrestricted. Mcelroy attacks the belief that pornography cause violence,stating that even if a correlation is present, is does not of necessity meanthere is a causal relationship. (McElroy 102)Lynne Segal sees in inherent combat injury in trying to link the two together.She believes that feminists who try to do so are wasting valuable time thatcould be spent on other important issues. In the end, anti-pornographycampaigns, feminist or not, can only affiance today, as they have invariouslyenlisted before, guilt and anxiety around sex, as well as lifetimes of confusionin our personal experiences of sexual stimulant and activity. I n contrast,campaigns which get to the heart of mens violence and sadism towards women mustenlist the widest possible resources to empower socially. (Gibson 19)Another argument of Dworkins is that pornography should not beprotected as free speech under the first amendment. It is her competitor thatprotecting what pornographers say, is protecting what pornography does.Pornography is more than words. They are acts against women. Pornographyhappens to women. As a result, bans on such material are warranted, not onlybecause it is harmfully and discriminatory to women, but also because there areno civil liberties that are violated in preventing an act.