Bound and Gagged

Pornography and the Politics of Fantasy in America

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Pornography, History, Americas, United States
Cover of the book Bound and Gagged by Laura Kipnis, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Laura Kipnis ISBN: 9780822375722
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: December 23, 1998
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Laura Kipnis
ISBN: 9780822375722
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: December 23, 1998
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

In a book that completely changes the terms of the pornography debate, Laura Kipnis challenges the position that porn perpetuates misogyny and sex crimes. First published in 1996, Bound and Gagged opens with the chilling case of Daniel DePew, a man convicted—in the first computer bulletin board entrapment case—of conspiring to make a snuff film and sentenced to thirty-three years in prison for merely trading kinky fantasies with two undercover cops.
Using this textbook example of social hysteria as a springboard, Kipnis argues that criminalizing fantasy—even perverse and unacceptable fantasy—has dire social consequences. Exploring the entire spectrum of pornography, she declares that porn isn’t just about gender and that fantasy doesn’t necessarily constitute intent. She reveals Larry Flynt’s Hustler to be one of the most politically outspoken and class-antagonistic magazine in the country and shows how fetishes such as fat admiration challenge our aesthetic prejudices and socially sanctioned disgust. Kipnis demonstrates that the porn industry—whose multibillion-dollar annual revenues rival those of the three major television networks combined—know precisely how to tap into our culture’s deepest anxieties and desires, and that this knowledge, more than all the naked bodies, is what guarantees its vast popularity.
Bound and Gagged challenges our most basic assumptions about America’s relationship with pornography and questions what the calls to eliminate it are really attempting to protect.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In a book that completely changes the terms of the pornography debate, Laura Kipnis challenges the position that porn perpetuates misogyny and sex crimes. First published in 1996, Bound and Gagged opens with the chilling case of Daniel DePew, a man convicted—in the first computer bulletin board entrapment case—of conspiring to make a snuff film and sentenced to thirty-three years in prison for merely trading kinky fantasies with two undercover cops.
Using this textbook example of social hysteria as a springboard, Kipnis argues that criminalizing fantasy—even perverse and unacceptable fantasy—has dire social consequences. Exploring the entire spectrum of pornography, she declares that porn isn’t just about gender and that fantasy doesn’t necessarily constitute intent. She reveals Larry Flynt’s Hustler to be one of the most politically outspoken and class-antagonistic magazine in the country and shows how fetishes such as fat admiration challenge our aesthetic prejudices and socially sanctioned disgust. Kipnis demonstrates that the porn industry—whose multibillion-dollar annual revenues rival those of the three major television networks combined—know precisely how to tap into our culture’s deepest anxieties and desires, and that this knowledge, more than all the naked bodies, is what guarantees its vast popularity.
Bound and Gagged challenges our most basic assumptions about America’s relationship with pornography and questions what the calls to eliminate it are really attempting to protect.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book Popular Movements and State Formation in Revolutionary Mexico by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book Race, Place, and Medicine by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book The Poetics of Transition by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book Every Last Tie by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book Tendencies by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book The Life and Political Economy of Lauchlin Currie by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book Designs for the Pluriverse by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book The Brink of Freedom by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book Gramsci's Common Sense by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book Masculinity Besieged? by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book Adiós Muchachos by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book Queer/Early/Modern by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book Indelible Inequalities in Latin America by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book Disintegrating the Musical by Laura Kipnis
Cover of the book Bodies as Evidence by Laura Kipnis
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy