'porn studies' ed. linda williams

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is really good!

this really more of a placeholder that i remember to write more later.

― tom west (thomp), Saturday, 3 December 2005 03:06 (nineteen years ago)

i am stealing this quote from t. himself:

"Numerous questions, concerns and debates surround the dildo and whether it fits in lesbian sex (see Findlay 1999). Is it a penis substitute? Is it a male stand-in? Is it a phallus? Is it a fetish? Can it feel? Does it feel good to her? Is it erotic? Can it be castrated? Should I castrate it? Am I castrated? Do I have penis envy? Do I have phallus envy? Do I have a fetish? Do I want to be a man? Is this the only way to have active sex? Is it perverted? Am I a pervert? Do I look stupid wearing it? Should I read more Lacanian theory? Should I read a feminist's interpretation of Lacan? Should I castrate Lacan? Am I experiencing a form of castration just be reading Lacan? Should I be wearing the dildo while I read Lacan?"

- Heather Butler, '"What Do You Call a Lesbian with Long Fingers?": The Development of Lesbian and Dyke Pornography', in Porn Studies, ed. Linda Willams, Duke University Press, Durham and London 2004

― Josh (Josh), Saturday, 3 December 2005 03:10 (nineteen years ago)

in the list of contributors we find that ms. butler is doing graduate studies specialising in "film, literature, and female rage"

― tom west (thomp), Saturday, 3 December 2005 03:19 (nineteen years ago)

Also, fun-hating.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 3 December 2005 03:53 (nineteen years ago)

you think the phrase "should i be wearing the dildo while i read lacan?" was written in a spirit of fun-hating?

― tom west (thomp), Saturday, 3 December 2005 04:03 (nineteen years ago)

Eh, you're right, never mind. I feel like I've heard these questions expressed sincerely enough that the parody doesn't read all that differently.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 3 December 2005 04:43 (nineteen years ago)

Wow. I never would have found this without ILBks. Thanks for the recommendation.

― Mickey (modestmickey), Saturday, 3 December 2005 06:31 (nineteen years ago)

One of my favourite books. Did you read any other LW (edited) books? I'd like to know any books on por that are as good.

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Saturday, 3 December 2005 09:54 (nineteen years ago)

The section in Hard Core where Williams compares porn to musicals is great.

― tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Saturday, 3 December 2005 13:15 (nineteen years ago)

one of the best peices of film crit !

― anthony easton (anthony), Saturday, 3 December 2005 13:52 (nineteen years ago)

i will add this to my list, thanks pal

― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Saturday, 3 December 2005 23:03 (nineteen years ago)

I've read this; a lot of it's pretty lugubriously written, as academic stuff tends to be in my limited experience w/it, but some of it is very very good. the stuff on Randy Metzger is really interesting--he was a gay director of straight porn and pretty unpopular within the industry--and the afore-quoted dyke-porn thing is also good. I like it.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Sunday, 4 December 2005 02:34 (nineteen years ago)

constance penley is maybe the only one of these types i've read -- i came across her essay in a totally difft. context (it was in a bad subjects book on race) and i found it surprisingly good (although this was partially in the context of an honestly rather dismal book).

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Sunday, 4 December 2005 10:47 (nineteen years ago)

dyke porn or the essay...

tell me more about metzger

― anthony easton (anthony), Sunday, 4 December 2005 10:48 (nineteen years ago)

oh dear and i never did find the time to go back to reading this => i don't have much to say about it

like matos sez some of the writing does suffer from academic-type-tics. but it's still pretty good. some other topics: the starr report as porn, the differences between japanese comic book porn for women and the other sort, pornography and the avant-garde..

― tom west (thomp), Sunday, 4 December 2005 21:43 (nineteen years ago)

What are some cool ideas in this?

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Monday, 5 December 2005 13:40 (nineteen years ago)

I can't believe Rosemary's reading! And she gets through c.100 books a year or something.

― the bellefox, Monday, 5 December 2005 15:59 (nineteen years ago)

one month passes...

I found this at Bluestocking Books on sale, because it had been bound upside down.

I think the essay on Bill, Monica, and the Starr Report is hilarious. (Ha, ha, I own A WHOLE BOOK of cultural studies essays on this topic)

― tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 20:37 (nineteen years ago)

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