Spanking the reader, Anne Rice's poetics of femporn

Abstract

The thesis is essentially a three-part critical study of Rice's Beauty trilogy and the development of woman-centered pornography as an industry which followed the trilogy's publication. From an anti-censorship feminist perspective, I first locate Rice's trilogy within the general context of fantasy literature and fairy tales. I go on to examine how dominant-submissive positions in sexual relationships parallel those of the author-reader relationship, as well as the implications of such a model for literary criticism. Finally, I look at the meteoric growth of the "femporn" industry. Included in this final discussion are examinations of the distinctions between erotica and pornography, the impact of censorship, and women as consumers, participants, and producers in the pornography business/movement.