Porn: It's here, it's there, it's everywhere ...
By Kimberly Marlowe Hartnett
Special to The Seattle Times

"Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families"
by Pamela Paul

"Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture"
by Ariel Levy
Free Press, 224 pp., $25

An elderly woman seated next to me on a recent flight asked about the books I was carrying. I showed her "Pornified" and "Female Chauvinist Pigs," both bristling with bookmarked pages. I hurriedly explained the books were about pornography, not actually the smutty stuff itself.

She patted my arm. "Even if they were dirty books," she said firmly, "no harm in just reading 'em!" We chuckled together, two open-minded civil libertarians in confident agreement.

Well, maybe.

Article and review of the books