Arts performance review
Passing Judgment: a look at last week's art events
by Nate Berne
Willamette Week
May 14, 2003
WORDS: David Loftus, Watching Sex: How Men Really Respond to Pornography
Armed with his ever-controversial and surprisingly engaging subject, author and local actor David Loftus discussed his sampling of male attitudes toward pornography, many of which challenged the assumed misogyny and objectification identified in other studies.
Amid modest informality, Loftus expressed his purpose as simply granting credibility to the varied male receptions of adult entertainment, a premise overlooked by the often stony-faced and perpetually hard-to-please audience.
Loftus hurtled into a 30-minute barrage of questions, several of which smacked of self-righteousness. Loftus remained inspired and excited while fielding queries per his technique and findings, but a few back-row barkers launched some feisty and essentially unrelated critiques of porn as pure sleaze and misogyny.
One gentleman even trumped the medium's disruption of the "spiritual bonds" of matrimony. The evening confirmed Loftus' point: The male attitude toward pornography is a bit more complex than we might have thought.
Collins Gallery at Central Library, Tuesday, May 6