Daniel Linz and Edward Donnerstein criticize the research methods and conclusions of pornography researchers Dolf Zillmann and Jennings Bryant (who allege that consumption of pornography results in antisocial effects). Zillman and Bryant respond. (ARH)

Studies the public responses to Andrea Dworkin's novel "Mercy" (about rape specifically and the sexual abuse of women in general). Suggests that Dworkin's "Mercy"--like other controversial cultural texts--fostered a type of literary public sphere and that defining these spheres as "war zones" does not foster open debate or a common space for…

Reviews four Human Sexuality films and videos. These are: "Personal Decisions" (Planned Parenthood Federation of America, 1985); "The Touch Film" (Sterling Production, 1986); "Rethinking Rape" (Film Distribution Center, 1985); "Not A Love Story" (National Film Board of Canada, 1981). (AEM)

Defines pornography, the aspect of sexuality which evokes most attention from the media, and discusses findings of the President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography and of psychologists who have recently found that exposure to a portrayal where violence and sex are coupled does increase subsequent aggression toward a female. (MBR)

To right-wing groups and some feminists pornography symbolizes immorality. The Attorney General's Commission on Pornography supported this thinking. It concluded that pornography increases aggression and it instituted a crackdown on pornography. Since no empirical evidence supports its conclusions, the commission was more concerned with censorship…

Questions two measures of attitude change--estimates of the frequency of what have been called "perversions" and suggestions regarding penalties of rape in the mock trial materials--in the research on pornography by Jennings Bryant and Dolf Zillman. Presents a reply by Zillman and Bryant. (NKA)

Erotica (love or a creative principle) and thanatica (death or a destructive principle), two sexually explicit forms of speech, are discussed in the context of fighting pornography in the courts. Antipornographers are urged to reexamine their political alliances, legal theories, and philosophical assumptions. (MLW)

Although the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography, also known as the Meese Commission, has been criticized excessively at times for threatening freedom of speech and press and individual rights to privacy, an analysis of its "Final Report" reveals numerous deficiencies in the Commission's decision-making process. These…