SOURCE: McHugh, James T. “Pornography and Power.” Review of Politics 56, no. 3 (summer 1994): 596-97.

In the following review, McHugh considers Only Words to be a valid and notable contribution to the discussion of the limits of free speech under the U.S. Constitution.

This book [Only Words] offers a continuation of Catharine MacKinnon's earlier writings on the subject of speech, freedom of expression, and constitutional law from her unique perspective of feminist legal thought. It extends her already familiar approaches to this broad issue by challenging dominant civil libertarian attitudes regarding the relationship between women and speech. While readers might object to her apparently rigid style and equally inflexible approach, there is an important challenge presented by this book which anyone with an interest in this profound subject needs to address.

The dominant theme of this book revolves around the relationship of speech to power, and particularly to the...