Catharine's Wheel: MacKinnon's Pornography Analysis as a Return to Traditional Christian Sexual Theory

Authors

• Jeanne L. Schroeder, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of LawFollow

Publication Date

1993

Journal

New York Law School Law Review

Abstract

The article argues that Catharine MacKinnon's analysis of pornography and sexuality, while presented as radical feminist theory, ultimately incorporates traditional elements from Christian sexual theory and modern liberalism. MacKinnon's critique of pornography as a mechanism of gender subordination aligns with Augustine's view of sexuality as a loss of subjectivity, where involuntary sexual desire symbolizes the Fall's consequences. Despite her sociopolitical analysis, MacKinnon's failure to recognize these influences and her lack of a positive vision for female subjectivity limit her critique's transformative potential.

Volume

38

First Page

225

Last Page

256

Publisher

New York Law School

Disciplines

Law | Law and Society | Sexuality and the Law

Comments

Symposium: Women, Censorship, and Pornography

Recommended Citation

Jeanne L. Schroeder, Catharine's Wheel: MacKinnon's Pornography Analysis as a Return to Traditional Christian Sexual Theory, 38 N. Y. L. Sch. L. Rev. 225 (1993).
https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/faculty-articles/1526