From Suck magazine to Corporate Paedophilia. Feminism and pornography — Remembering the Australian way

SynopsisIn the context of recent anti ‘pornification’ campaigns, this article charts the history of Australian feminist engagement with pornography from the 1970s to the 1990s. It argues that a lack of significant, enduring feminist engagement with pornography in Australia throughout this period has meant that contemporary women-centred objections to pornography have been received by the media and many in society as feminist, when they appear to contradict the Australian feminist libertarian tradition. Focusing on the work of lobbyist Melinda Tankard Reist, the article highlights an important feature of Australian anti-pornography campaigns of the past 40 years. That is, the consistent centrality of fears mobilised about children, to the detriment of nuanced debate about the meanings of men, women, sex and censorship and the relationship of these meanings to feminism.