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Forthcoming Event

Object : Women and Porn: Degradation or celebration?

Is the growing acceptability of sexualised and pornographic images of women a sign of a healhy increase in sexual liberty, or is pornography itself a form of violent sexual oppression? And how does this relate to violent and sexualised images of women in mainstream film, TV and theatre?

• A panel discussion and public Q and A.
• 10pm on 25th October at the Union Theatre, 204 Union St, London SE1 (http://www.uniontheatre.org/home.html), following Terror 2007, a festival of short plays from or inspired by the Grand Guignol.
• Free with ticket to the play, if you wish to attend the discussion only, we would be grateful for a £2 donation to help cover theatre staff costs.
• Terror 2007 starts at 7.30 pm, tickets £10 / 8 concs. Union Theatre Box Office 0207 261 9876; to book for discussion only please email sarahvchew@hotmail.com.
• Please note that some of the plays contain representations of sexual violence.

Panel includes Rebecca Mordan, Kate Copstick, Sasha Rakoff and Steve Hooper, chaired by Katherine Angel.

Rebecca Mordan

Rebecca is one of the originators of The London Feminist Network, the UK's leading interface for activists in second and third-wave feminism. In this role she has organised demonstrations and developed the Network's national media presence. She is also involved in running London's Reclaim the Night marches, held every November 24th to call for an end to male violence against women in all its forms. Rebecca runs feminist production company Scary Little Girls, who have performed across the UK and internationally to great critical acclaim. She is currently writing a play about Elizabeth Bathory, the 17th century countess who became a model for Dracula.

Kate Copstick

Copstick is a writer, broadcaster, director and performer. She has been a Contributing Editor of The Erotic Review, and has written several sex manuals and books on sexuality. She directs and produces fly-on-the-wall adult industry documentary Porn Week, which is now in its third series, and has written many hardcore film scripts, one of which won her a share in a Porn Oscar. Her new book Girl on Girl: A Masterclass will be published in January 2008. Copstick has written for numerous UK broadsheets, and is lead comedy critic for The Scotsman.

Dr Sasha Rakoff

"Most Women Fantasise About Rape" MAXIM

"The Only Time I use a pillow is to Put Over Their Faces" FRONT

"Anal .. Gang Bangs .. Arse-to-Mouth .. we can make it look like the Women isn't Being Used" MAXIM

Dr Sasha Rakoff is director of the human rights group OBJECT. OBJECT challenges the normalising of the porn and sex industry through lap dancing or lad's mags (quoted above). On any debate on pornography we can show how the underlying messages from the 'soft end' of the porn continuum are simply milder versions of the hard end. And how the normalising of pornography in popular culture has gone hand-in-hand with hard core porn becoming increasingly abusive and violent. Our work has led to Parliament agreeing in principle to new, socially responsible, independent regulation of the press. We are currently lobbying for a review of the licensing of lap dancing clubs (currently licensed and regulated as pubs).

Steve Hooper

Steve has appeared in over 120 porn films, and is a winner of the Best Male Performer Award at the British Adult Film Industry Awards. He is renowned within the industry for his involvement in work that appeals both to his heterosexual and to his gay and bisexual fans. Prior to his entry into the adult industry, Steve trained and practiced as a lawyer.

Katherine Angel

Katherine is completing a PhD thesis at Cambridge University on Viagra's impact on the framing of female sexual problems within contemporary medical and popular culture. She has co-edited a book on the history of psychiatry, and published articles on female sexual dysfunction, the history of psychiatry, and Amora, London's "Academy of Sex and Relationships". She is also working on a book project on the 'playful' and the 'dysfunctional' in popular sexual culture.

Any queries to Sarah Chew tel 07762 098 689 email mailto:sarahvchew@hotmail.com