A masterwork of feminist ideology, brilliantly exposing pornography as the antithesis of free expression and the enemy of liberty In this powerful and devastating critique, poet, philosopher, and feminist Susan Griffin exposes the inherent psychological horrors of pornography. Griffin argues that, rather than encouraging expression, pornographic images and the philosophies that support them actually stifle freedoms through the dehumanization, subjugation, and degradation of female subjects. The pornographic mindset, Griffin contends, is akin to racism in that it causes dangerous schisms in society and promotes sexual regression, fear, and hatred. This violent rift in Western culture is explored by examining the lives of six notable individuals across two centuries: Franz Marc, the Marquis de Sade, Kate Chopin, Lawrence Singleton, Anne Frank, and Marilyn Monroe. The result is an extraordinary new approach to evaluating sexual health and the parameters of erotic imagination. Griffin reveals pornography as "not a love of the life of the body, but a fear of bodily knowledge, and a desire to silence Eros."
"Susan Griffin boldly allies her feminism with the cultural revolutionary tradition of William Blake, Emma Goldman, Wilhelm Reich. Her book tackles questions of critical importance. . . . 'Pornography and Silence' is a serious effort to apply feminist insights to sexual psychology."
The New York Times Book Review
"With subtlety and control, Pornography and Silence convincingly dissects the dehumanizing character of pornography."
The Washington Post Book World
"Devastating reading . . . A deeply disturbing book, questioning as it does the hospitality of the soul, the meaning of humanity."
