DEBATING SEXUAL CORRECTNESS

Reviewed 8/11/1995

Debating Sexual Correctness, by Adele M. Stan

DEBATING SEXUAL CORRECTNESS: Pornography, Sexual Harrasment, Date Rape, and the Politics of Sexual Equality Adele M. Stan (Ed. & Intro.) New York: Dell Publishing, 1995				Rating: 2.5 Fair
ISBN-13 978-0-385-31384-1
ISBN 0-385-31384-5	200+pp.	SC	$11.95

Ms. Stan is a freelance journalist with extensive publication of articles on feminism, religion and pop culture to her credit.

In this book, her introduction struck me as overlong, sometimes obscure, and hastily written or edited (there were some mistakes in grammar.)

The book is a collection of essays. Many are by the "leading lights" of the feminist movement1, such as Andrea Dworkin and Wendy Kaminer. (In Ms. Dworkin's case, I'm sometimes tempted to refer to her as "leading heat" rather than "leading light".) Some reflect the current feminist cant; but there is a variety of authors, subjects and viewpoints:

George Will laments the Antioch Rules.
William Broyles, Jr., former editor-in-chief of Newsweek, discusses his ambivalent response to the current climate.
Lisa Palac, in a surprisingly candid biographical sketch, explains why she made a career out of producing "feminine pornography".
Camille Paglia and Katie Roiphe provide female voices in opposition to feminism.
Susan Faludi blasts the outcome of the Tailhook Convention courts-martial.
Letty Cottin Pogrebin's 1976 article on sex harrasment in the workplace is still relevant.
Anita Hill provides a follow-up on Clarence Thomas.
Hendrik Hertzberg, executive editor of the New Yorker, condemns all "men's magazines". His essay gives the impression that they are bad when (ala Hustler) they show stark, gritty black-and-white pictures and when (ala Playboy) their photos are airbrushed, artful presentations with a "girl-next-door" motif. In fact, Playboy is a prime target. Hertzberg is glad it has dropped the "gassy blather" of the Playboy Philosophy, but then says, "The problem is that because the magazine is no longer so stupid as to believe in itself and its mission, it has no spirit." It's hard to guess what these magazines could do to gain Mr. Hertzberg's approval — other than cease to exist.2
In a slightly obscure essay, Robin Morgan seems to argue that a man is a hero of the porn industry if he's been interviewed in Playboy. She mentions Jimmy Carter, Andrew Young, Ed Koch and John Lennon. All of them "consented to be interviewed in Playboy, cheek by jowl with the centerfold."3

In short, this collection contains cant, confusion, and counterpoint. It is worth reading not because it makes sense of the current, often muddled debate, but because it embodies that debate in all of its contradictory aspects.

1 In this context, it's interesting to note the facial expressions portrayed on the book's cover. The woman's is neutral; the man's is at least somewhat hostile.

2 Could it be that these "men's magazines" — Playboy especially — are cutting into the market Mr. Hertzberg wants to address? No, of course not. <cough>

3 I can just hear John Lennon: "I'll give you an interview for Playboy, luv, if you'll place me cheek by jowl with the centerfold." Oh, the perfidy of it!