Cecilia Tan

I’m interviewed today by Phoebe Jordan at Talk About My Favorite Authors on the subject of erotic romance, how I get my ideas, and all sorts of other stuff.
Meanwhile, if you haven’t seen it yet, a fascinating article at Psychology Today on how the “common wisdom” that porn causes social harm is not only wrong, there’s evidence that porn is good for society.
Does Pornography Cause Social Harm? by Michael Castleman.
Among his points:
“If porn is a significant contributor to social harm, we would expect to see substantial increases in sexual irresponsibility, divorce, and rape since the late 1990s when the Internet suddenly made X-rated material much more available to those who might instigate sexual mayhem, overwhelmingly men.”
However:
“Guess what. Since the arrival of Internet porn:
* Sexual irresponsibility has declined. Standard measures include rates of abortion and sexually transmitted infections. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), since 1990, the nation’s abortion rate has fallen 41 percent. The syphilis rate has plummeted 74 percent. And the gonorrhea rate has plunged 57 percent.
* Teen sex has declined. The CDC says that since 1991, the proportion of teens who have had intercourse has decreased 7 percent. Teen condom use has increased 16 percent. And the teen birth rate has fallen 33 percent.
* Divorce has declined. Since 1990, the divorce rate has decreased 23 percent.
* Rape has declined. According to the Justice Department’s National Crime Victimization Survey, since 1995, the sexual assault rate has fallen 44 percent.”
Castleman posits that with more guys sitting at home masturbating to porn, there’s less frustration, violence aimed at others, conflict, less what I’d call “negative sex” or use of negative sexual outlets. So, see? I really am helping make the world a better place.
He doesn’t even get into how things have changed because of more women reading (and writing) it, even.

I honestly can not wrap my head about a lawsuit pending in Wisconsin in which four West Bend community members are claiming that just SEEING A COPY of Francesca Lia Block’s young adult book BABY BE-BOP on display in the public library damaged them. (“Oh my virgin eyyyyyyyes!!!!”)
To quote from the ALA story on the matter:
Milwaukee-area citizen Robert C. Braun of the Christian Civil Liberties Union (CCLU) distributed at the meeting copies of a claim for damages he and three other plaintiffs filed April 28 with the city; the complainants seek the right to publicly burn or destroy by another means the library’s copy of Baby Be-Bop. The claim also demands $120,000 in compensatory damages ($30,000 per plaintiff) for being exposed to the book in a library display, and the resignation of West Bend Mayor Kristine Deiss for “allow[ing] this book to be viewed by the public.”
“the plaintiffs, all of whom are elderly, claim their mental and emotional well-being was damaged by this book at the library,” specifically because Baby Be-Bop contains the “n” word and derogatory sexual and political epithets that can incite violence and “put one’s life in possible jeopardy, adults and children alike.”
Full story: https://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2009/june2009/westbendbabybebop060309.cfm
All I can say is… WTF people. I can’t even muster a coherent argument against this, it’s broken my brain so badly.
If anyone knows of a legal fund we can donate to to help the library fight the case, please let me know?
Meanwhile, you can buy a copy of the much-lauded and award-winning book in question here at Powell’s.