Overview

Pornography and the 'science of sex' – sexology – are redefining sexuality in the West today, but is the model of sexuality promoted by these two industries selling sex short? In this, the first book to fully investigate the connections between the industries of pornography and sexology, they are found to promote a very similar type of sexual ideal.Sex therapists now recommend hard-core pornography to patients and porn stars have become sex-advice 'experts' offering bestselling self-help books. With reports of the increasing 'pornification' of popular culture and an epidemic of 'Female Sexual Dysfunction,' it is more important than ever to understand the influence of pornography and sexology on our sexual lives.Through a feminist critique of current trends in pornography, in sexological research, and in sex self-help books, it is shown that the type of sex being promoted by these industries closely resembles the model of sex found in systems of prostitution. This is a model in which women are bought and sold and yet it is being held up as an ideal for couples to mimic in their everyday heterosexual relationships. Ultimately, this is an unethical model of sexuality that sells sex short.

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9781443829656

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Reviews

At last, a book that gets to grips with the harm that porn does to women. It should be compulsory reading for anyone who still thinks porn can be defended. Meagan Tyler writes with sophistication, great clarity and originality. She has a depth of knowledge and understanding, and does not equivocate, but tells it like it is. She shows how two very powerful industries, pornography and sexology, combine to construct heterosexual practice in ways that do great damage to women's status and experience. This is the sort of magnificent scholarship that gives me confidence that a powerful new wave of feminism is underway! - Sheila Jeffreys, Professor, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne Selling Sex Short is a much needed intervention into the increasingly intellectually barren and ethically compromised realm of academic scholarship on pornography (and related issues). It should be required reading for anyone pursuing scholarship not only on pornography or sexology, but on virtually any aspect of sexuality in the contemporary West. - Rebecca Whisnant, Director of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Dayton

""At last, a book that gets to grips with the harm that porn does to women. It should be compulsory reading for anyone who still thinks porn can be defended. Meagan Tyler writes with sophistication, great clarity and originality. She has a depth of knowledge and understanding, and does not equivocate, but tells it like it is. She shows how two very powerful industries, pornography and sexology, combine to construct heterosexual practice in ways that do great damage to women's status and experience. This is the sort of magnificent scholarship that gives me confidence that a powerful new wave of feminism is underway!""– Sheila Jeffreys, Professor, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne""Selling Sex Short is a much needed intervention into the increasingly intellectually barren and ethically compromised realm of academic scholarship on pornography (and related issues). It should be required reading for anyone pursuing scholarship not only on pornography or sexology, but on virtually any aspect of sexuality in the contemporary West.""– Rebecca Whisnant, Director of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Dayton

Author Information

Meagan Tyler is a Lecturer in Sociology at Victoria University, Australia. She has presented her research on women's sexuality at conferences around the world and her research has been published in Women's Studies International Forum and Women and Therapy. She is also a member of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Australia.

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