Women Against Pornography
Women Against Pornography (WAP) is a feminist organization founded in the late 1970s by Susan Brownmiller, following her influential book, "Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape." The organization emerged from an increasing awareness of the links between violent pornography and sex-related crimes, particularly in the wake of the 1978 Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media convention. WAP aimed to elevate public consciousness regarding the prevalence of violent pornographic imagery through protests, media engagement, and guided tours in pornography districts of major cities. One of its notable protests occurred in 1983 against Hustler magazine, which WAP blamed for a gang-rape incident that mirrored content published in the magazine. Unlike some later feminist movements, WAP did not seek to change laws governing pornography or advocate for greater censorship; instead, it focused on persuading producers to cease the distribution of sexually violent images. The organization played a significant role in the broader discourse on pornography, feminism, and sexual violence, highlighting the complex relationships between media portrayals and societal attitudes towards women.
Women Against Pornography
Founded: 1979
Type of organization: Feminist antipornography organization based in New York City
Significance: This organization has worked to increase public awareness of connections between pornography and real-life violence against women
In her best-selling 1975 book Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, Susan Brownmiller wrote that “the case against pornography and the case against the toleration of prostitution are central to the fight against rape.” As feminist awareness increased of the connection between violent pornography and sex-related crimes in the late 1970’s, Brownmiller founded Women Against Pornography. She hoped to build on the success of the 1978 national convention of the San Francisco-based Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media (WAVPM). By protesting pornography through the media and other means, such as conducting guided tours through pornography districts in major cities, WAP aimed to raise the level of public consciousness of the pervasiveness of violent pornographic imagery. One of the organization’s most publicized protests was directed against the magazine Hustler in 1983. WAP contended that Hustler was responsible for the gang-rape of a woman in a Connecticut bar—an incident that occurred shortly after the magazine had published photographs depicting a similar event. Unlike the feminist antipornography movements that followed WAP in the 1980’s, WAP neither tried to overturn laws governing pornography, nor advocated increased censorship. Rather, it consistently strove to persuade pornographers and producers of other media voluntarily to stop publishing images depicting sexual violence toward women.
