Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women’s Rights

A new edition of a groundbreaking, feminist defense of pornography as free speech

Named a Notable Book by The New York Times Book Review in 1995, Defending Pornography examines a key question that has divided feminists for decades: is censoring pornography good or bad for women? Nadine Strossen makes a powerful case that increasing government power to censor sexual expression, beyond the limits that the First Amendment sensibly permits (for example, outlawing child pornography) would do more harm than good for women and others who have traditionally been marginalized due to sex or gender, She explains how the very anti-porn laws pushed by some feminists have led to the censorship of LGBTQ+ and feminist works, and she examines the startling connections between anti-porn feminists and right-wing fundamentalists. In an illuminating new Preface, Strossen lays out the multiple current assaults on sexual expression, which continue to come from across the ideological spectrum. She shows that freedom for such expression remains an essential prerequisite for the equality, safety, and dignity of women and sexual/gender minorities.

Nadine Strossen is Professor Emerita at New York Law School and past national President of the American Civil Liberties Union (1991-2008). She is a Senior Fellow with FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) and an internationally acclaimed free speech scholar, activist, speaker, and media commentator. She is the author of many books, including Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know(R) and Speaking of Race, Speaking of Sex: Hate Speech, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.