co-authored with Brenda Cossman, Lise Gotell, and Becki Ross (University of Toronto Press, 1997)

In the fifth chapter, in keeping with the theme of sexuality as a terrain of struggle and a site of feminist politics of outrage, Shannon Bell advances a conception of pornography that is not distinguishable from philosophy: at the heart of pornography are competing morals, ethics, and value judgments. Bell (ab)uses philosophy to make pornography. She contends that multiple meanings reside in the same image, therefore the image can never be seen; it is and is not. (‘Introduction,’ p.9)

Truth is everywhere. There is merit and importance in Catharine MacKinnon’s critique of pornography: it is important to recognize that some women and some men can feel degraded and dehumanized by depictions of people ‘enjoying humiliation,’ ‘tied up,’ gagged, whipped. whipping, ‘reduced to body parts,’ ‘presented in scenarios of degradation, injury,’ ‘penetrated by objects or animals’ (MacKinnon 1993, 121-2) Other women and men see S/M parody. Yet if I have been tied up and beaten against my will, without my consent, or if I connect these parodic images to the rape and slaughter of Bosnian women, then they are harmful. If another viewer having had dungeon experience sees the depictions as taking place in a controlled environment where fears, fantasies, and desires are played out, it is therapy. ( ‘The Image Cannot Be Seen,’ p.200)