Fiona Vera-Gray’s new book, Women on Porn, joins a recent slew of volumes grappling with questions about women and sex in the wake of #MeToo and the ferocious cultural backlash it unleashed. Most of these books foreground women’s perspectives and experiences, and Vera-Gray’s is no exception.
But what is notable is how her focus on the personal experiences of women who consume porn is used to try and sidestep divisive debates about its ethics. There are big questions lurking here. Contemporary feminism is now dominated by a clear pro-sex, porn-positive stance. But it wasn’t always that way—and some believe it is time for a fresh critical reckoning.