Pornography and Male Supremacy - Andrea Dworkin

<p><em>Pornography and Male Supremacy</em> was first published in an anthology of speeches and essays by Andrea Dworkin, <a href="https://www.feministes-radicales.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Andrea-DWORKIN-Letters-from-a-War-Zone-Writings-1988.pdf"><em>Letters from a War Zone</em></a>, 1988.<br> <br> Read by <a href="https://twitter.com/EllyArrow">Elly Arrow</a><br> <br> "Feminists are often asked whether pornography causes rape. The fact is that rape and prostitution caused and continue to cause pornography. Politically, culturally, socially, sexually, and economically, rape and prostitution generated por­nography; and pornography depends for its continued existence on the rape and prostitution of women. The word pornography comes from the ancient Greek <em>porne</em> and <em>graphos</em>: it means "the graphic &nbsp;depiction of whores." <br> <em>Porne</em> means "whore," specifically the lowest class of whore, which in ancient Greece was the brothel slut available to all male citizens. There were distinct classes of prostitutes in ancient Greece: the <em>porne</em> was the sexual cow. She was, simply and clearly and absolutely, a sexual slave. <em>Graphos </em>means "writing, etching, or drawing. <br> The &nbsp;whores called <em>porneia</em> were captive in brothels, which were designated as such by huge phalluses painted on or constructed near the door. They were not allowed out, were never educated, were barely dressed, and in general were miserably treated; they were the sexual garbage of Greek society. Wives were kept in nearly absolute isolation, allowed the company of slaves and young children only. High-class prostitutes, a class distinct from the <em>porneia</em> and from wives both, had the only freedom of movement accorded women, and were the only educated women. Two very significant words originated in the ancient Greece many of us revere: <em>democracy</em> and <em>pornography</em>. Democracy from its beginnings excluded all women and some men. Pornography from its beginnings justified and promo