Date of Award

12-2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

First Advisor

Juliana Kubala

Second Advisor

Megan Sinnott

Third Advisor

Christie Hartley

Abstract

This thesis addresses three tropes utilized by anti-porn advocates in both the first porn wars (1970s-1980s) and the second porn wars (2000s-present) while also integrating the use of moral panics to strengthen the anti-porn stance, 1) protect the vulnerable (i.e., women and children), 2) the fable of choice and morality, and 3) the use of scientific and medicalized language as a weapon through societal consequences and porn addiction. This thesis rhetorically analyzes and historically centers anti-porn advocates in their work in censuring pornography. I also highlight two popular anti-porn advocates; Catharine MacKinnon from the first porn wars and Gail Dines from the second porn wars. Through this research and tracing of moral panics and the tropes, I challenge the notion of progress in pro-porn advocacy in the hopes of changing the tactics in the second porn wars to show genuine progress in the current political climate in the United States.

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