Such an interesting read.
Really thought provoking.
Loved the layout and how fluid the book was. She managed to keep the conversation interesting whilst getting multiple perspectives on topics. I really appreciated the fact that it was not just a pro porn conversation but included lots of perspectives and differing opinions.
Fully recommend, haven’t stopped talking about it since I started page 1.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!

I enjoyed reading this book and may even be waiting for the hard copy so I can share it to friends and own one!

An interesting and frankly eye-opening book on a topic considered taboo/controversial, from a neutral perspective that reveals the pros, the cons, and perhaps most importantly give voice to women in relation to porn's role and expectations in society, something which is arguably been long needed, as it broaches really difficult subtopics within porn such as sexual violence.

As for who the book is for at times it feels more accessible than at others, but overall it should be a relatively easy read to those without an academic background.

A good read and much needed conversation about a topic that gets shadowed enough. Refreshing take to ask the women about their opinions.

Fiona Vera-Gray's research and documentation in Women on Porn is a fascinating and often eye-opening conversation on a topic that is still considered taboo. By interviewing 100 women of different ages and nationalities, the resulting study highlights the pros and cons of viewing porn, how it is still primarily treated as a tool for cishet men, how alternative realities from the mainstream are empowering women and queers, and whether porn's virtual future is a dangerous one or optimistic. This can be a particularly important book for people that are not too familiar with its subject, and the writing is consistently tactful and mindful, which keeps it from ever getting too gross or explicit.

really a good read - a space to hear all these voices was so needed, and resonated with me so much. highly recommend for anyone who wants to know more on this topic, of women's voices on porn.

Based on social research and interviews conducted with a hundred women, Dr Fiona Vera-Grey discusses themes about how women use porn to discover their own bodies, process their own personal experiences, and discover male expectations of them. Using the interviews as reference points as opposed to transcripts, the author uses real life experiences to draw out and explore different areas of impact.

I thought this book was really well-written and Dr Vera-Grey’s clever use of statistics, media coverage and personal experiences creates a cleverly balanced narrative on porn’s role in society. Women on Porn is a fascinating insight into what porn means for women as active and non-active participants.

This is an interesting and in depth exploration of a fascinating topic and I especially enjoyed the analysis of how technology has impacted both the industry and the people who access it. Some of the case studies are a bit repetitive but overall this is insightful and balanced.

One of the last taboos... insightful, provocative and relatable (yes it is!).

Whatever your experience with the subject matter, there will be someone or something here that you can relate to. And if you feel there isn't... well then this is clearly an education waiting for you. It's not graphic but it is honest, and it is a subject that is so, so important.

As a parent of a now 13-year-old, this is a subject that I've had to broach already. And one I'm sure I'll need to broach again from the female perspective.

This gave a lot of examples of women in every age range and demographic and their experiences with pornography, from first becoming aware of it to its varied uses in their lives, or not at all and the positives and negatives it has brought.

The author easily moves from one story to another, it is smooth and well-connected, with a lot of detail on the industry and how things have changed, what problems there are, and for both anyone interested in the sociological side of this as well as parents like me who are trying to navigate the sticky (sorry - pun was not intended there) subject - this is illuminating, sobering and well worth reading.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

Going into Women On Porn. I was expecting something akin to Polly Barton's Porn: An Oral History. Although based on interviews, Vera-Gray's book isn't that but it is a comprehensive, wide-ranging, and incredibly interested look at porn in the modern day through the experiences of women. I particularly appreciated the studies and evidence used to back up or expand on points made by the women interviewed. I did however feel it would have been useful to have some kind of list of the women and demographics covered, because with their quotes threaded into the broader, slightly academic discussion, it was easy to forget who they were. Also, despite mentioning her efforts to speak to as diverse a range of women as possible, I did feel the pool of interviewees was slightly limited. Ultimately, this is a very readable and engaging addition to the growing literature aimed at the general reader on such a taboo subject.

💫 Book Review 💫

Women on Porn by Dr Fiona Vera-Gray

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Publication date: 08 February 2024

This book is a study made up of interviews of 100 women and their experiences of porn. It took me right back to my uni days of studying sociology at university and I loved it. One of my favourite modules with sex and sexuality and this would have been a perfect book for it.

I liked that a wide range of women were interviewed and the author acknowledged that a white women’s experience of porn isn’t going to be the same as asian women. It would have been nice to hear from some trans women too.

The book isn’t written in interview format and instead broken into chapters about pleasure, body image and violence for example and the quotes from the interviews are used to back up the academic argument.

It was nice to hear about real women and Dr Vera-Gray must have had fantastic interviewing skills as some of the women really open up to her.

Thank you to @netgalley, Dr Vera-Gray and Transworld Digital for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Too often, the conversation around the world's oldest art form descend into binary positions. For and against; good and bad. Reality as always runs deeper than this, and the rousing pieces in this collection present a view of pornography; its history and its presence in our lives and culture.

This was an incredibly well researched and detailed book. Vera-Gray carefully and methodically explains the history of porn, its origins and the future of the genre, all while still making this book accessible and palatable. With interviews from dozens of women ranging in age, sexuality, race, religion and gender identity, this book provides a comprehensive overview of something that so many women are afraid to talk about.

Covering several subtopics within porn, including difficult ones such as rape and sexual violence, Vera-Gray pairs real life experiences with statistics and theory. Other chapters include the impact porn has on young women, society and relationships, and overall covers such a broad topic well. This book takes the society imposed shame away from porn, and exposes the real world behind the often “taboo” concept, laying it bare and breaking it down to its fundamentals.

I found it interesting that while the research that underpins this book was funded by a Leverhulme post doc fellowship award, the text itself covers some of the same material as the 'popular' and unscholarly [book:Porn: An Oral History|61889842] by [author:Polly Barton|16470058] that came out last year. Vera-Gray is an academic so it does feel as if she's rather pulling her punches in this crossover book: I mean, it's interesting to hear a random sample of 100 women talking on the topic of porn but, numbers aside, that was also what Barton's book did, albeit with her friendship circle only and including men.

There are clear indications that Vera-Gray is knowledgeable about the topic but the scope of this book doesn't allow more that the raising of questions: what does research tell us about the links between porn and sexualised violence? does porn reflect or shape our desires? how do women who work in the sex industry really feel about what they do? what is the future of virtual reality porn given we're already hearing scare stories of women being virtually assaulted and raped in the metaverse? How might porn feed into the sex positive movement? What of attempts to make it less misogynistic and racist?

Porn isn't really a taboo topic in the academe: from feminist and sociological approaches (think Andrea Dworkin, for example) to historicist research into 'pornography' as a literary category, there has been huge interest in the subject taking its lead from second wave feminism. From that perspective it's good to see Vera-Gray move the debate along, even if some of the older questions are still pertinent. She talks about 'pornographies' rather than a single entity, automatically adding nuance to the discussion and making it clear this is not a pejorative approach.

It is, naturally, always interesting to hear women talking about porn - but I think, for me, I'd like to read the next academic book that Vera-Gray writes using the raw material of this one in a more analytical and programmatic way.