Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media

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Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media - WAVPM (engl., Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media ) was a radical- feminist anti-pornography activists group in 1976 in San Francisco , USA was founded. This association was a very influential group in the anti- pornography movement of the late 1970s and 1980s.

The WAVPM was founded in July 1976 following the San Francisco Women's Centers Conference on Violence Against Women (a conference focused on violence against women). Founding members included Laura Lederer , Lynn Campell and Diana Russell .

The group became very active in San Francisco, demonstrating in front of nightclubs and peep shows in the red light district . The first political action was a vigil in front of the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater , a well-known strip club that also showed live sex. The focus of the action was the so-called Ultra Room , in which women demonstrated sadomasochistic practices to one another in a live show . WAVPM opposed "women who beat each other to stimulate men" and also sponsored educational tours to sex shops and peep shows in San Francisco's red light district, as well as anti-pornographic slide shows. Both measures that were later adopted by other anti-pornographic feminist groups, in particular the New York association Women Against Pornography (engl., Women Against Pornography ).

Just like later anti-pornographic groups, the WAVPM profoundly opposed BDSM, viewing it as ritualized violence against women. She took an active part in the rejection of BDSM within the lesbian community, which led to a direct collision with Samois , a lesbian-sadomasochistic group. The members of Samois were convinced that their feelings and their way of living out BDSM was absolutely in line with feminism and considered the feminist sexuality propagated by WAVPM to be puritanical and conservative. Samois openly confronted the WAVPM with their position, and the clashes between the two groups were among the earliest struggles later known as the Feminist Sex Wars .

The group organized the first national conference of anti-pornographic feminists in San Francisco in 1978. The conference ended with the first American Take Back the Night demonstration - a global demonstration aimed at empowering women to be safe and sound to go through the night without sexual assault. Andrea Dworkin gave a speech and around 3,000 women took part in the demonstration to protest rape and pornography.

After the conference, Susan Brownmiller encouraged Laura Lederer and Lynn Campbell to come to New York and help build Women Against Pornography . Lederer chose to stay in San Francisco and compose an anthology of the lectures given at the conference, but Campbell accepted the proposal and left San Francisco in April 1979.

Shortly after Campbell's departure, the WAVPM became less present, although the group remained active for several years; at its peak, the organization had over 1,000 members. The group fell out among themselves over their positions on nonviolent pornography, free speech and attempts to unite with sex workers and lesbian BDSM activists. In addition, problems with fundraising and increasing debts led to the dissolution of the group in 1983.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e "Guide to the Women Against Violence in Pornography and the Media Records, 1977-1983" , The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society , 1999. (English)
  2. ↑ Laura Lederer
  3. ↑ Lynn Campbell ( Memento of May 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ a b c "Political Curriculum Vitae" ( Memento of August 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) by Diana Russell, DianaRussel.com , January 21, 2004.
  5. ↑ Rubin, 2004 (list of literature)
  6. ↑ a b Brownmiller, 1999 (literature list)
  7. ↑ Lederer, 1982 (list of literature)

literature