What is The Golden Age of Porn?
Today The golden age of Porn refers to a period between 1969 and 1984 in commercial American pornography when pornography first touched the edge of mainstream acceptance.
Pornographic films such as The Devil in Miss Jones and Alice in Wonderland: An X-Rated Musical Comedy were reviewed by film reviewers such as Roger Ebert and endorsed by producers like William Friedkin.
It was a strange time when pornography was thought to be entering the mainstream.
Porno Chic is born
Porno Chic, the spectacle of porn being discussed by celebrities and taken seriously was a phenomenon described by Ralph Blumenthal of The New York Times.
Celebrities at the time were expressing a hope that pornographic films would become mainstream.
The reasoning behind this lay in free speech and a refusal of outmoded sexual values that many felt was being superseded with a joyful expression of sexuality.
It was assumed, if the mainstream showed a respectful interest in pornography, consequently there would be a reverse influence expressed where the mainstream would exact a strong influence on the quality of pornography.
The anti-porn years
This was the time in porn’s history when the second wave of feminism rose up to reference pornography as aggressively anti-female and associated with rape culture.
This coincided with the sex-positive feminists who did not want to be associated with religious and conservative groups who were against pornography.
This battle continues to today as feminists struggle with the obvious aggression toward women often exhibited in pornography with issues of feminism being used by moral crusaders.
Feminists never want to be a mouthpiece for conservative views, but a whitewashing of the pornography debate has regularly seen feminists such as Andrea Dworkin championed by moralists with whom she would not share an ideological base.
The Golden Age of Porn and Nostalgia
In an excellent paper titled The Golden Age of Porn: Nostalgia and History in Cinema, Susanna Paasonen and Laura Saarenmaa discuss the retrospective lens we place over the Golden years of Porn and the way nostalgia affects our view.
WE found this paper particularly interesting seeing as we share nostalgia for The Golden Age of Porn. For us here at AJAX Books, the golden age of porn is a revolution of sorts. Replete with exploitation, yes, but a revolution just the same.
If you are over the age of 21 and want to watch some golden age of porn films, you can see them at XVideos if you use their search function.
What we do:
Ajax Books publishes delightfully naughty porny books designed to titillate the reader and encourage their sexual activity. Call it porn or erotica, We believe in your right to a delightful stress-relieving orgasm. Our books are here to help.
