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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Annelie Geissler
Categories
Politics & government

THE PORNOGRAPHY WARS

Kelsy Burke

The Past, Present, and Future of America's Obscene Obsession

For readers of Peggy Orenstein and Rebecca Traister, an authoritative, big think look at pornography in all its facets - historical, religious, and cultural.

In the 1960s, sex researchers Masters and Johnson declared the end of the fake orgasm. Nearly two decades later, in 1982, evangelical activist Tim LaHaye foretold that the entire pornography industry would soon be driven out of business. Neither prediction proved true. Instead, with the rise of the internet, pornography saturates the American conscience more than ever and has reshaped our understanding of sexuality, relationships, media, and even the nature of addiction. Dr. Kelsy Burke has spent the last five years researching and interviewing internet pornography's opponents and its sympathizers. In The Pornography Wars, Burke does a deep dive into the long history of pornography in America and then turns her gaze on our present society to examine the ways this industry touches on the most intimate parts of American lives. She offers a complete understanding of the major players in the debates around porn's place in society: everyone from sex workers, activists, therapists, religious leaders, and consumers. In doing so, she addresses and debunks the myths that surround porn and porn usage while showing how everything from the way we teach children about sex to the legal protections for what can be published is tied up in the deeply complicated battles over pornography. Sweeping, savvy, and deeply researched, The Pornography Wars is a necessary and comprehensive new look at pornography and American life. Kelsy Burke is an award-winning sociologist and author of Christians under Covers. She has spent the last decade studying how people talk about sex in America and is currently an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her work has been supported by multiple grants and fellowships, including an award from the National Science Foundation, and her writing has appeared in The Washington Post The Huffington Post, Newsweek, Salon, and Slate.

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Book Published 2022-07-19 by Bloomsbury

Comments

A thought-provoking examination of pornography in America... well balanced and rigorously researched, featuring dozens of opinions from across the spectrum of debate... An intellectually stimulating read for porn fans and critics alike.

A mature, thoughtful book about a complex and divisive topic. No matter their personal opinions, readers will likely find observations here to inform their thoughts about pornography's creation and consumption.

Whether you believe pornography exploits or empowers those who engage in it, you'll enjoy how Kelsy Burke deftly blends storytelling and rigorous social science research to enlighten us on this complex and often taboo subject. The Pornography Wars is relevant to anyone who is concerned about the influence that pornography has on our culture and our lives, including parents, clinicians, educators, and researchers alike. A fascinating read!

The Pornography Wars is a tour de force! Weaving together history, politics, science, and technology, Burke meticulously documents all sides of the pornography debates... always staying above the fray. If you want to be truly informed, this is where you start!

Bold and ambitious, this book argues neither for or against pornography, instead championing the importance of knowing the sociohistorical context of narratives about pornography. With a sociological lens, Burke illuminates people's messy relationships to sexual images-the anxiety and the joy, the judgment and the pleasure-all in a radical attempt to humanize people on all sides of the porn wars.

Compassionate and well-balanced... refreshingly unbiased... an astute and forthright presentation of a hotly contested issue.

Social conflicts over pornography are as ubiquitous as porn itself. Moving from Comstock to OnlyFans, armed with rigorous research and smarts, Kelsy Burke jumps into the fray with empathetic curiosity, complexity, fair-mindedness and nuance. A definitive and important study.

Kelsy Burke may have done the impossible. At a time when debates over pornography's production and consumption have never been more heated, Dr. Burke has written a book that combatants on either side of that fight would find accurate, fair, and enlightening. And that's because Dr. Burke invites both sides to explain their case. She interviews the activists, the experts, and the producers. She traces the history and crunches the numbers. Meticulously researched, yet sweeping in scope, The Pornography Wars is required reading for anyone interested in America's love-hate obsession with porn.