Andrea Dworkin
has been an influential writer, speaker, and activist for
over two decades. She claims to be a feminist, and that her ideas are
beneficial to women. This paper will show that many of her most popular beliefs
are not only detrimental to society, but also not in the best interests of women.
In letters from a war zone, Andrea Dworkin presents a collection of
speeches and short articles she has composed during her career as a writer and
activist. Many of her articles deal with censorship and pornography. One claim
is central to all of these, pornography is an act and not an idea, thus
censorship is not relevant to it.
In response to a New York Time Review of her 1981 book, Pornography: ...
Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers
|
depicting violence is widely available, rape is much
lower per capita than in the United States, where violence in porn is
restricted.� Mcelroy attacks the belief that pornography cause violence,
stating that even if a correlation is present, is does not necessarily mean
there is a causal relationship. (McElroy 102)
Lynne Segal sees in inherent harm in trying to link the two together.
She believes that feminists who try to do so are wasting valuable time that
could be spent on other important issues. �In the end, anti-pornography
campaigns, feminist or not, can only enlist today, as they have invariously
enlisted before, guilt and anxiety around sex, as well as lifetimes of confusion
in our personal experiences of sexual arousal and activity.� �In contrast,
campaigns which get to the heart of men's violence and sadism towards women must
enlist the widest possible resources to empower socially.� (Gibson 19)
Another argument of Dworkin's is that pornography should not ...
Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.
Already a member? Login
|
goals, because freedom of speech is the most powerful
weapon in the feminist arsenal. Medical journals used by medical students, and
the testimony of women victimized by sexual abuse are prime targets of
censorship. (Strossen 77)
An episode involving Dworkin and her cohort in censorship, Catherine
MacKinnon, demonstrates the dangers of censorship. At a symposium at A Michigan
law school, at which Dworkin and MacKinnon were speaking, a group of feminists
had prepared a series of documentaries of the topic of the conference,
prostitution. Dworkin refused to speak at the symposium if adversarial speakers
were there, so the documentaries were the only voice of opposition to ...
Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library.
Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports,
and research papers in 2 minutes or less.
|
CITE THIS PAGE:
Andrea Dworkin. (2008, April 19). Retrieved November 30, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Andrea-Dworkin/82368
"Andrea Dworkin." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 19 Apr. 2008. Web. 30 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Andrea-Dworkin/82368>
"Andrea Dworkin." Essayworld.com. April 19, 2008. Accessed November 30, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Andrea-Dworkin/82368.
"Andrea Dworkin." Essayworld.com. April 19, 2008. Accessed November 30, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Andrea-Dworkin/82368.
|
Save
Report