Gail Dines

Born and raised in England, Gail Dines received her Ph.D. from the University of Salford, UK. She began her activism volunteering at a rape crisis in Tel Aviv and started the Haifa-based feminist movement—Woman to Woman—in her living room at the age of 22. Since arriving in the United States in 1986, Gail has taught at Wheelock College where she is now professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies and chair of the American Studies Department. For over twenty years Gail has been researching and writing about the porn industry and pop culture and has published many articles on such varied topics as the image of women in Hollywood, racism in porn, the hypersexualization of our culture, and the ways images shape our sexuality and our relationships. Gail has spoken at hundreds of colleges across the country and at conferences around the world. Her lectures attract large numbers of students and the Q + A sessions often continue for hours with highly engaged and energized students. She is a gifted speaker who immediately connects with her audience. Her lectures change the way people think about pop culture and porn, and students regularly say that they will never look at the world the same way again. Gail’s edited book, Gender, Race and Class in Media, is a bestseller in colleges and is popular also in Canada, England and Australia. The book won the Myers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights, and is now in its third edition. Her new book, Pornland: How Porn has Hijacked our Sexuality, examines how men and women’s lives, sexuality and relationships are shaped by the porn culture. In 2007 Gail helped form the activist group, Stop Porn Culture (SPC). One of the goals of this organization is to develop educational materials that raise awareness about the effects of living in a porn culture. SPC comprises academics, activists, anti-violence experts, students, parents and people concerned about porn’s impact on the culture. SPC has developed two slideshows: one on the effects of porn on women, men and the culture, and the second on the impact of porn on children and youth. The slideshows are being given across the country, as well as in Russia, The Congo, England, Scotland, Ireland and Australia. Gail has appeared on numerous television shows, including those on CNN, MSNBC, Showtime, and Fox. She is a regular guest on radio shows and her work is frequently quoted in newspapers and magazines across the country. As a public intellectual, Gail has been successful in opening up a national discussion on the effects of the porn culture. A committed scholar and activist, Gail makes sure that her work is accessible and engaging to people in and outside of the academy.