Protests Against Tristan Taormino At Princeton
The Examiner reports that a conservative “family” group operating on the campus of Princeton University has created a petition protesting against a planned lecture by Tristan Taormino on feminist porn.
Tristan is due to speak tomorrow at the campus. Her presentation is called “My Life As a Feminist Pornographer” and will feature clips from her films.
According to the Examiner, The Anscombe Society is a student organization at Princeton University “dedicated to affirming the importance of the family, marriage, and a proper understanding for the role of sex and sexuality.” The anti-porn group has put up posters condemning the event and created an online petition which currently has 274 signatures. They’ve also written to numerous university officials calling for the event to be cancelled and expressed disapproval at the government funding it has received.
The university has responded by saying it’s a legitimate academic discussion, aided by examples. Nice to see the uni standing up for freedom of speech and honest intellectual discussions.
And I bet the Anscombe society is never invited to Porn and Prawn nights off campus.
More details in this report from the Daily Princeton.
May 16th, 2010 at 9:44 pm
It’s no surprise that they protested. Using the words ‘feminist and pornographer’ is oxymoronic as much of porn relies on bodily idealization and youth and, as a result, uses models that look ‘barely’ legal. Hardly feminist in my view.
Porn isn’t my thing, but I just don’t bother watching it anymore and I wouldn’t bother attending any talk given by a pornographer, because I hardly doubt it is altruistic. It’s just PR, to sell some books and videos. For myself, it doesn’t have any personal sexual value.
In terms of protesters trying to discuss ‘what’ sex and sexuality should be, that’s hogwash as well but everyone is entitled to free speech.
May 18th, 2010 at 11:13 am
TB, I consider myself a feminist pornographer and I find it surprising that you would be reading my blog and simultaneously declaring all porn to be bad and non-feminist. Tristan is following her own definition of feminism in the creation of her porn and she is legitimately discussing her views. That she is also engaged in a commercial operation does not mean those views are redunant or should be automatically ignored.