One Cheer for Hefner

Dennis Sanders

Dennis is the pastor of a small Protestant congregation outside St. Paul, MN and also a part-time communications consultant. A native of Michigan, you can check out his writings over on Medium and subscribe to his Substack newsletter on religion and politics called Polite Company.  Dennis lives in Minneapolis with his husband Daniel.

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3 Responses

  1. Doctor Jay says:

    This is more or less my feelings on Hugh Hefner. It’s not clear that porn is good for us, versus damaging of our sexuality. It’s abundantly clear that we can’t really stop it.

    And I hear with no small alarm about your relatives in PR. I’ll be thinking of you.Report

  2. Murali says:

    @dennis-sanders

    IIRC the link between porn and sexual assault is either mixed or negative. One theory being that porn provides a safe outlet for otherwise socially destructive urges. At least it seems far from clear that porn results in a higher sexual assault rate.

    I think it shows how successful the sexual revolution was that even a conservative like Dennis can’t articulate an objection to it except on purely consequentialist terms.Report

  3. veronica d says:

    There is an interesting, although perhaps predictable, divide among my SW friends over Hefner. The younger crowd tends to hate his guts. The older crowd seems to find nice things to say about him.

    Which, as usual, I see value in both views. There is no doubt he was a creepy old misogynist who did some really ugly stuff. It’s also true that, from time to time, he actually did make small gestures in favor of LGBTQ rights and women’s liberation — not that we should be so pleased that a weird creep like him was slightly better than the other weird creeps from his generation.

    I dunno. It’s complicated. By what standards do we judge?

    One of my poly partners, a cam girl and porn performer, kinda laid it out. In her view, everything worthwhile that Hefner did, Larry Flynt did twice as hard and at greater risk. And sure, he too was a creepy old misogynist. But so what? The men who bankroll porn are of a type. Take them as they are. Make your money. Don’t ever forget the score.

    Sounds about right. These days women can better manage their own careers, choose who they work with, choose when and where. The Internet blew everything wide open and left less room for the Hefners. After all, these days there is less money in porn anyhow. Instead, the money is in the private cam shows, and the cam sites are pretty darn impersonal. Certainly they’re no less crass and mercenary than Twitter or Facebook.

    Men are as horny as they ever were. The money flows, as long as you can endure creepy lizard-brain men and their endless cajoling for free shows. (Don’t give free shows.)Report