The pornography debates: Beyond cause and effect

This article examines the limitations of the effects model for feminist ant i-pornography work. As a contribution to the on-going debate about the natu re of pornography and its relationship to violence against women, this arti cle aims firstly to identify why traditional effects research, which attemp ts to establish a causal relationship between pornography and violent behav iour, is a dubious ally for anti-pornography feminism. Secondly, the enduri ng. implications of the effects model for feminist anti-pornography politic s are explored. It is argued that anti-pornography feminists need to reject the effects model and return to the crucial question of how some pornograp hies are produced and consumed in ways that are abusive to women. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.