Bowling Green, Ky. - Dr. Gail Dines, professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies at Wheelock College in Boston, will present “Sex(ism) and Intimacy in a Pornographic Culture” on Nov. 1 at Western Kentucky University.

Dr. Dines’ presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Mass Media and Technology Hall Auditorium. Her visit is sponsored by the Women’s Studies Program, Campus Activities Board and Potter College of Arts & Letters. The event is free and open to the public; however, the multimedia presentation is geared toward a mature audience and some people may object to the visuals that are used.

Dr. 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.

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 commonplace 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. 

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Women’s Studies at (270) 745-6477.

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