Lisa Palac

Lisa Palac was the founding editor of the cybersex magazine Future Sex and producer of the Virtual Reality CD series Cyborgasm. In the following viewpoint, Palac contends that because pornography challenges the sexual status quo, those who feel threatened by change blame it unfairly for social ills such as violence against women. She claims that snuff films— in which real women supposedly die at the hands of film crews—have come to symbolize what can happen if consumption of pornography is left unchecked. However, Palac maintains, no real snuff films exist, nor is pornography responsible for violence against women.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. In Palac’s opinion, why were witches persecuted from the fifteenth to eighteenth century?
2. What two famous feminists proposed anti-porn ordinances in several U.S. cities...