Harmful to Minors
Encyclopedia
Judith Levine
Judith Levine is an American author, journalist, civil libertarian and co-founder of the National Writers Union, a trade union of contract and freelance writers, and No More Nice Girls, a group dedicated to promoting abortion rights through street theater...
. The foreword was written by former United States Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, who resigned after suggesting that masturbation
Masturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
be promoted as a means of preventing young people from engaging in riskier forms of sexual activity.
The "Author's Note" states: "Most of the research for this book, including interviews, was conducted between 1996 and early 2000, and pertinent statistics were updated in 2001. The names of all nonprofessionals have been fictionalized, along with some identifying characteristics."
In the book, Levine lambastes US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
laws concerning child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
, statutory rape
Statutory rape
The phrase statutory rape is a term used in some legal jurisdictions to describe sexual activities where one participant is below the age required to legally consent to the behavior...
, and abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
for minors using a variety of studies and interviews with teenagers and adults alike (see Acknowledgments). Levine also analyzes abstinence-only sex education, which Levine considers counter-productive and dangerous.
The book also examines the terms "harmful to minors" and "indecency," which Levine considers to be umbrella terms for censorship, as well as the Dylan v. Heather case, and the little-known SPARK-Support Program for Abusive Reactive Kids and STEP-Sexual Treatment Education Program and Services, both of which she claims do far more harm than the child sex offenders did themselves.
Because of its controversial nature and content, it was nearly impossible for Levine to find a publisher—one prospective publisher even called it "radioactive." University of Minnesota Press
University of Minnesota Press
The University of Minnesota Press is a university press that is part of the University of Minnesota.Founded in 1925, the University of Minnesota Press is best known for its books in social and cultural thought, critical theory, race and ethnic studies, urbanism, feminist criticism, and media...
eventually agreed to publish the book, despite cries of outrage from the right wing of Minnesota's political establishment.
It became famous after it won the 2002 Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
Book Award for Current Interest. Conservatives
American conservatism
Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
such as Joe Scarborough
Joe Scarborough
Charles Joseph "Joe" Scarborough is an American cable news and talk radio host, lawyer, author, and former politician. He is currently the host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, and previously hosted Scarborough Country on the same channel...
and Robert H. Knight
Robert H. Knight
Robert H. Knight is an American conservative activist and writer. He was a draftsman of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the law that defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman for all federal purposes and allows states to resist demands to recognize same-sex marriages performed...
accused Levine of promoting pedophilia
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
for her suggestion that the US adopt statutory rape
Statutory rape
The phrase statutory rape is a term used in some legal jurisdictions to describe sexual activities where one participant is below the age required to legally consent to the behavior...
laws similar to those in effect at that time in The Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
(The Netherlands has since repealed those provisions). Some demanded the book be removed from libraries.
In 2003, Thunder's Mouth Press released a trade paperback edition of the book, which includes a new afterword by Levine chronicling the public response to the book.
External links
- Official webpage (from University of Minnesota Press).
- Radio interview about Harmful to Minors (with Doug HenwoodDoug HenwoodDoug Henwood is an American journalist who writes frequently about economic affairs. He publishes a newsletter, Left Business Observer, that analyzes economics and politics from a left-wing perspective, and is a contributing editor at The Nation.- Early years :Henwood was born in Teaneck, New...
– links to MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
and streaming audio). - "The Taboos of Touch" by Debbie NathanDebbie NathanDebbie Nathan is an American feminist journalist and writer, known for critiquing cultural and criminal justice panics about abuse of children, particularly accusations of chimeric "satanic" abuse in schools and public childcare institutions. She also writes about immigration, focusing on women and...
, AlterNetAlterNetAlterNet, a project of the non-profit Independent Media Institute, is a progressive/liberal activist news service. Launched in 1998, AlterNet now claims a readership of over 3 million visitors per month .AlterNet publishes original content as well as journalism from a wide variety of other sources...
, April 18, 2002. - A review of Harmful to Minors. - "What Judith Levine is Really Saying" by Liz Highleyman, AlterNet, April 26, 2002.
- "Reject Academic Cover for Child Molesters, CFI says", Concerned Women for AmericaConcerned Women for AmericaConcerned Women for America is a conservative Christian public policy group active in the United States best known for its stance against abortion...
, March 28, 2002. - "Response to Judith Levine's Harmful to Minors" by S. Michael Craven, National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families.
- Harmful To Minors (book review) by Deborah Roffman, Psychology TodayPsychology TodayPsychology Today is a bi-monthly magazine published in the United States. It is a psychology-based magazine about relationships, health, and related topics written for a mass audience of non-psychologists. Psychology Today was founded in 1967 and features articles on such topics as love,...
, August 01, 2002 - Parents: Hello boys by Marina Cantacuzino, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, April 17, 2002.