Screening and discussion: “The Price of Pleasure: Pornography, Sexuality and Relationships,” Nov. 10

Event: Diane McDaniel Rhodes, chief operating officer of SafePlace, and Robert Jensen, a University of Texas journalism professor and author of “Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity,” will present the documentary film “The Price of Pleasure: Pornography, Sexuality and Relationships.”

When: 7 p.m., Nov. 10, 2008

Where: Thompson Conference Center auditorium (TCC 1.110) and Red River and Dean Keeton. There is free convenient parking in the large lots along Red River. http://www.utexas.edu/cee/tcc/img/maps/TCCparkingmMap.pdf

Background: Critics of pornography have observed two trends in pornography in recent years: Commercially produced sexually explicit material is more mainstream and normalized than ever, while at the same time it has become more overtly cruel and degrading to women and more racist. Why is that, and what effect does it have on our ideas about gender and power, sexuality and relationships?

To explore this question, the documentary film “The Price of Pleasure: Pornography, Sexuality and Relationships” investigates three aspects of the pornography industry — production, content and consumption — to help gain a deeper understanding not only of the material but the larger culture in which it’s produced and consumed. The film includes interviews with pornographers, pornography performers, and scholars in psychology, media, economics, and popular culture. Men and women candidly discuss how pornography has affected them and their partners. The film examines pornography’s effects on the performers and audience, moving beyond liberal celebrations and conservative denunciations to engage a nuanced discussion of desire and harm, choice and system constraint, liberty and responsibility. A trailer, study guide and more information about the film are available online.

This event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, the Radio-TV-Film Department, and the Senior Fellows honors program of the College of Communication of the University of Texas; the student group Texas Feminists; and the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault.

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Contact:
Robert Jensen
512-471-1990