[1][2] This debate reflects larger concerns surrounding feminist views on sexuality, and is closely related to those on prostitution, BDSM, and other issues.

Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin had separately staked out a position that pornography was inherently exploitative toward women, and they called for a civil law to make pornographers accountable for harms that could be shown to result from the use, production, and circulation of their publications.

[3] When Dworkin testified before the Meese Commission in 1986, she said that 65 to 75 percent of women in prostitution and hard-core pornography had been victims of incest or child sexual abuse.

[5] Anti-pornography feminists, notably Catharine MacKinnon, charge that the production of pornography entails physical, psychological, and/or economic coercion of the women who perform and model in it.

The feminist anti-pornography movement was galvanized by the publication of Ordeal, in which Linda Boreman (who under the name of "Linda Lovelace" had starred in Deep Throat) stated that she had been beaten, raped, and pimped by her husband Chuck Traynor, and that Traynor had forced her at gunpoint to make scenes in Deep Throat, as well as forcing her, by use of both physical violence against Boreman as well as emotional abuse and outright threats of violence, to make other pornographic films.

[16] Johanna Schorn, writing for Gender Forum, stated that "the very meaning of the word pornography, then and now, seems to point towards the misogynistic and exploitative practices of the industry.

Valerie Webber in her article "Shades of Gay: Performance of Girl-on-Girl Pornography and mobile authenticities" differentiates the sex depicted in porn and personal, private sexual encounters.

[24] Catharine MacKinnon echoes these views by asserting that pornography "desensitizes consumers to violence and spreads rape myths and other lies about women's sexuality.

[25] From the mid-1970s into the early 1980s, public rallies and marches protesting pornography and prostitution drew widespread support among women and men from across the political spectrum.

The Antipornography Civil Rights Ordinance that they drafted was passed twice by the Minneapolis city council in 1983, but vetoed by Mayor Donald M. Fraser, on the grounds that the law's constitutionality was questionable, citing first amendment concerns.

[35] Dworkin and MacKinnon responded to the alleged violation of free speech principles by pointing out that the Ordinance was designed with an explicit goal of preventing its misinterpretation and abuse for the purpose of censorship or discrimination against sexual minorities.

[36] Their co-authored publication, Pornography and Civil Rights: a New Day for Women's Equality, is a comprehensive description of the law with political analysis of the social conditions which, it argues, make it both appropriate and necessary.

[citation needed] The Court's decision cited extensively from briefs prepared by the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), with MacKinnon's support and participation.

These groups claimed that legally limiting Internet pornography would promote violence prevention, proper sex education, and general public health.

[45] Feminists such as Betty Friedan and Kate Millett to Karen DeCrow, Wendy Kaminer and Jamaica Kincaid supported the right to consume pornography.

[46] The onset of third-wave feminism in the mid-1990s saw a rise in sex positivism and sex-positive feminists, who sought to combat and subvert socially mandated ideals surrounding sexuality.

[49] In other words, women are not practicing the behaviours that bring them to orgasm during heterosexual intercourse, perhaps due to norms that are supported and reinforced by hegemonic pornography.

"[16] Thus, Schorn believes that the current structure that the pornography industry relies upon must be broken apart and allow for the acceptance and inclusion of narratives that have traditionally been ignored in porn.

In its mission statement, Feminists for Free Expression, founded in 1992 by Marcia Pally, argues that censorship has never reduced violence, but historically been used to silence women and stifle efforts for social change.

Critique of censorship has become especially prevalent in China, where pornography is strictly prohibited, and the ownership or sale of pornographic materials can mean life in prison.

[54] Looking to many western countries as an example, Yinhe emphasizes the importance of freedom of expression and cites the 35th article of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China in declaring the right to pornography as a form of free speech.

[55][56] Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon responded with a statement claiming that the idea that anti-porn raids in Canada reflected the application of pre-Butler standards and that it was actually illegal under Butler to selectively target LGBT materials.

[61] Some pornographic actresses such as Nina Hartley,[62] Ovidie,[63] Madison Young, and Sasha Grey are also self-described sex-positive feminists, and state that they do not see themselves as victims of sexism.

[64] Feminist porn directors include Candida Royalle, Tristan Taormino, Madison Young, Shine Louise Houston, and Erika Lust.

[citation needed] Candida Royalle, founder of Femme Productions, thought of her work as "female-oriented, sensuously explicit cinema as opposed to formulaic hard-core pornographic films that [...] degraded women for the pleasure of men.

Feminist porn directors like Candida Royalle and Erika Lust have produced content that is different from mainstream pornography by honouring women's sexuality.

"[67] Erika Lust argues that everyone in the porn industry has their own ethical standards, and that the worldviews and values of the directors, screenwriters and producers are the key to how well performers are treated, and how desire, gender roles and agency are presented to consumers.

Feminists who subscribe to this view hold that erotica promotes positive and pro-woman sexual values and does not carry the harmful effects of pornography.

[71] Andrea Dworkin wrote, "erotica is simply high-class pornography: better produced, better conceived, better executed, better packaged, designed for a better class of consumer.

As many critics are beginning to suggest, the traditional cultural division between erotica (supposedly aimed at a primarily female market) and pornography (as a masturbatory aid for men) is somewhat simplified.