{"product_id":"prurient-interests-andrea-friedman-9780231110679","title":"Prurient Interests: Gender, Democracy, and Obscenity in New York City, 1909-1945","description":"\u003cp\u003eDebate about what constitutes obscenity and how--if at all--it should be regulated has been at the center of the \"culture wars\" of the past two decades. While literature abounds on the contemporary politics of obscenity, there has been little inquiry into the historic origins of these issues. Focusing on New York City in the first half of the twentieth century, Andrea Friedman's \u003ci\u003ePrurient Interests\u003c\/i\u003e considers the ways in which the evolution of obscenity debates in decades past has significantly affected today's controversies. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eExploring motion pictures, burlesque, and Broadway theater--three forms of entertainment that were regularly condemned by anti-obscenity activists in the early 1900s--Friedman traces the creation of a modern system of obscenity regulation in New York City. Friedman also shows how the rise of the concept of \"democratic moral authority\"--the idea that obscenity should be regulated according to the standards of the \"average person\" and that the mechanisms of regulation should themselves be controlled by the people--displaced middle-class women as anti-obscenity crusaders. At the same time, it offered inroads to male religious figures who were able to portray themselves as representatives of the people. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs \u003ci\u003ePrurient Interests\u003c\/i\u003e vividly illustrates, many of the elemental arguments that censorship advocates still employ today were first delineated in this period: the capacity of certain forms of entertainment to encourage violence against women, to corrupt the minds of young audiences, and to spread homosexuality. Friedman's innovative study enriches our understanding of the obscenity debates still raging at the close of the millennium.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Andrea Friedman\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0231110677\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780231110679\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Columbia University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/18\/2000\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 290\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.88lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.02h x 6.01w x 0.71d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eReference and Research Bk News\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/01\/2000 pg. 97","brand":"Andrea Friedman","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48064794722559,"sku":"9780231110679","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_b49a62ec-2fa5-4b45-bbc2-4439f73f5e98.jpg?v=1768671095","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/prurient-interests-andrea-friedman-9780231110679","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}