Can we separate art from the artist who created it? This essay discusses the debate over art created by morally problematic men, especially those revealed through the lens of #MeToo activism as sexual abusers. From a historical perspective, how should we regard the pornography produced by men like Bob Guccione, whose Penthouse magazine reached millions of readers from 1965 on and became one of the most important texts shaping 20th-century post-war American sexual discourse? What are the ethics of engaging with media texts built on the objectification of women's bodies, and do we cause new injury by bringing those long-hidden historical publications into current discourse? I share my experiences studying Guccione's life and the magazines he published, emphasizing the case of Viva, a lushly photographed, high-end title that blended radical feminism with full-frontal male nudity in an adventurous 1970s magazine for women. Viva complicates the idea, drawn from contemporary cancel culture, that art produced by abusive creators should be ignored.
BronsteinC. (2016). Mass-Market pornography for women: Bob Guccione's Viva magazine and the new woman of the 1970s. In BronsteinC.StrubW. (Eds.), Porno chic and the sex wars: American sexual representation in the 1970s. University of Massachusetts Press.
JamesR. (2020). Must be love on the brain? Feminist responses to the “can we separate artwork from artist” question in the era of #MeToo popular feminisms. Journal of Popular Music Studies, 32(4), 75–94. https://doi.org/10.1525/jpms.2020.32.4.75
25.
J.M. (1976, May). [Letter to the editor]. Viva,14.
KeetonK. (1976, April). First Word: The last First Word on male nudity. Viva, 8.
29.
KennedyS. (2016). No one’s pet: The autobiography of Sheila Kennedy. Jerrick Publishing.
30.
KoepfJ. (1978, September). [Letter to the editor]. Viva,13.
31.
K.S. (1973, November). [Letter to the editor]. Viva,12.
32.
K.S. (1973, October). [Letter to the editor]. Viva,20.
33.
L.B. (1974, January). [Letter to the editor]. Viva,12.
34.
LeeC. (1978, September). [Letter to the editor]. Viva,13.
35.
L.H. (1974, March). [Letter to the editor]. Viva,22.
36.
The myth of female masochism: A symposium with Betty Friedan, Myrna Lamb, Alix Kates Shulman, Jill Robinson, Karen Durbin, and Barbara Seaman. (1975, January). Viva, 42–48, 106–112.
37.
Name Withheld. (1973, December). [Letter to the editor]. Viva,8.
38.
NapirH. (1974, August). [Letter to the editor]. Viva,12.
39.
OdellA. (2022). Anna: The biography. Gallery Books.
40.
O’GradyL. (1974, May). Female exploitation: No escape from the myth prison. Viva, 34–36.
RomoliniJ. (Host). (2023, August). Good girls walk into a porn magazine (No.1) [Audio podcast episode]. In Stiffed. Crooked Media. https://crooked.com/podcast-series/stiffed/
