Although the book's title is The Smart Girl's Guide to Porn, there's nothing in it that makes it for women only.  It's a guide for people who are mostly unenthusiastic about mainstream pornography and are looking for alternatives.  Violet Blue's fundamental premise is that many women can like to see explicit sex, even if they find most of the pornography they see stupid and unpleasant.  There may be all sorts of pornography that people find distasteful, but there's likely to be some sorts that they enjoy.  She argues that pornography does no harm to people and that all the people in the production process are completely voluntary participants.  So there are no ethical worries about watching porn, in her view; it's just a matter of finding the sort that suits you best.  So much of the book is devoted to explaining the different sorts of pornography available, and how to find porn that doesn't have the same racist, sexist, and poor production qualities as mainstream porn.  She explains what kind of sex shops to shop at, what DVDs to look for, and what websites to visit.  She sets out some of the terminology used to describe different kinds of porn, and what to expect from those different kinds.  She discusses how to include porn in your sex-life, both solo and with a partner.  Her writing is straightforward and energetic.  Although she may dismiss the ethical problems with porn rather too quickly, reducing it all to aesthetics, she does a lot to help the reader find porn that escapes the stereotypes of the most popular forms of pornography. 

Links:

Publisher's web page: http://www.cleispress.com/book_page.php?book_id=183

Violet Blue webpage: http://www.tinynibbles.com/

© 2008 Christian Perring

Christian Perring, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Dowling College, New York.