The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America's Obscene Obsession

For readers of Peggy Orenstein and Rebecca Traister, an authoritative, big think look at pornography in all its facets - historical, religious, and cultural.

In the 1960s, sex researchers Masters and Johnson declared the end of the fake orgasm. Nearly two decades later, in 1982, evangelical activist Tim LaHaye foretold that the entire pornography industry would soon be driven out of business. Neither prediction proved true. Instead, with the rise of the internet, pornography saturates the American conscience more than ever and has reshaped our understanding of sexuality, relationships, media, and even the nature of addiction.

Dr. Kelsy Burke has spent the last five years researching and interviewing internet pornography's opponents and its sympathizers. In The Pornography Wars, Burke does a deep dive into the long history of pornography in America and then turns her gaze on our present society to examine the ways this industry touches on the most intimate parts of American lives. She offers a complete understanding of the major players in the debates around porn's place in society: everyone from sex workers, activists, therapists, religious leaders, and consumers. In doing so, she addresses and debunks the myths that surround porn and porn usage while showing how everything from the way we teach children about sex to the legal protections for what can be published is tied up in the deeply complicated battles over pornography.

Sweeping, savvy, and deeply researched, The Pornography Wars is a necessary and comprehensive new look at pornography and American life.

Author: Kelsy Burke
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 04/25/2023
Pages: 352
Weight: 1.4lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.30w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9781635577365


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 03/28/2022
Library Journal 05/01/2022 pg. 103
Kirkus Reviews 05/15/2022
Booklist 07/01/2022 pg. 5
Shelf Awareness 07/22/2022

About the Author
Kelsy Burke is an award-winning sociologist and author of Christians under Covers. She has spent the last decade studying how people talk about sex in America and is currently an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her work has been supported by multiple grants and fellowships, including an award from the National Science Foundation, and her writing has appeared in The Washington Post The Huffington Post, Newsweek, Salon, and Slate.