I found it interesting that while the research that underpins this book was funded by a Leverhulme post doc fellowship award, the text itself covers some of the same material as the 'popular' and unscholarly [book:Porn: An Oral History|61889842] by [author:Polly Barton|16470058] that came out last year. Vera-Gray is an academic so it does feel as if she's rather pulling her punches in this crossover book: I mean, it's interesting to hear a random sample of 100 women talking on the topic of porn but, numbers aside, that was also what Barton's book did, albeit with her friendship circle only and including men.

There are clear indications that Vera-Gray is knowledgeable about the topic but the scope of this book doesn't allow more that the raising of questions: what does research tell us about the links between porn and sexualised violence? does porn reflect or shape our desires? how do women who work in the sex industry really feel about what they do? what is the future of virtual reality porn given we're already hearing scare stories of women being virtually assaulted and raped in the metaverse? How might porn feed into the sex positive movement? What of attempts to make it less misogynistic and racist?

Porn isn't really a taboo topic in the academe: from feminist and sociological approaches (think Andrea Dworkin, for example) to historicist research into 'pornography' as a literary category, there has been huge interest in the subject taking its lead from second wave feminism. From that perspective it's good to see Vera-Gray move the debate along, even if some of the older questions are still pertinent. She talks about 'pornographies' rather than a single entity, automatically adding nuance to the discussion and making it clear this is not a pejorative approach.

It is, naturally, always interesting to hear women talking about porn - but I think, for me, I'd like to read the next academic book that Vera-Gray writes using the raw material of this one in a more analytical and programmatic way.