As part of her discernment around growing issues and concerns related to the pornography industry in America, local Friend Christine Reynolds is following her leading to provide ways for the public to become more educated on this topic. The first event in this endeavor will be a lecture by Gail Dines, PhD, speaker, activist and author of Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality.

This is a free lecture, open to the public, and will be held at the New Garden Township Building, on February 7th, at 5:30 pm – reception and discussion to follow.

Lecture Description:   SEX(ISM), IDENTITY AND INTIMACY IN A PORNOGRAPHIC CULTURE

From Internet pornography to MTV, popular culture bombards us with sexualized images of idealized women and men, and conveys powerful messages that help shape our sexuality. These pictures jump off the screen and into our culture and are now so common place that they seep into our gender identity, our body image and especially our intimate relationships. The result is not a more liberated, edgy sexuality, but a mass produced vision of sex that is profoundly sexist – a vision that limits our ability to create authentic, equal relationships that are free of violence and degradation. In this powerful multimedia presentation, Dr. Gail Dines uses examples from pornography, magazines, television shows, and movies to explore how masculinity and femininity are shaped by a consumer-driven, image-based culture, and the ways public images spill over into our most private worlds.