Westminster College gets attention on social media for porn film class
Apr 20, 2022, 6:22 PM | Updated: Jun 20, 2022, 1:35 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – A private Utah college is getting some attention after social media highlighted its film course that focuses on porn.
Social media talked about this credited class at Westminster College with some posts criticizing the class and questioning its legitimacy.
I thought this was a joke—it isn’t. This is a pornography class that you can enroll in at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. The class description reads that porn is as American as apple pie and students will watch pornographic films together and discuss sex as an art form. pic.twitter.com/ZxcWP8J2jB
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) April 20, 2022
The film class is listed under their special topics for literature, media, and writing, gender studies, and film courses on Westminster’s website.
Its website describes the class as a way to “approach to this billion-dollar industry is as both a cultural phenomenon that reflects and reinforces sexual inequalities (but holds the potential to challenge sexual and gender norms) and as an art form that requires serious contemplation.”
The course description continues with the students watching pornographic films and talking about the sexualization of race, class, and gender.
After media inquiries, Westminster College released the following statement:
Westminster College occasionally offers elective courses like this as an opportunity to analyze social issues. As part of this analysis, Westminster College and universities across the county often examine potentially offensive topics like pornography to further understand their pervasiveness and impact. Descriptions of these courses, while alarming to some readers, help students decide if they wish to engage in serious investigation of controversial subjects.
The statement states that Westminster believes this course will help students in their critical thinking towards digital media culture.
Imagine having to watch hardcore pornography with your professors in a private college in Salt Lake City, Utah. pic.twitter.com/C8Evj6z7R5
— James Lindsay, right a lot but wrong this time (@ConceptualJames) April 19, 2022
Jackie Pack, a mental health therapist and certified sex addiction therapist at Healing Paths questioned how the teacher could make the class a safe space for conversations on sex and pornography.
“You’re watching pornographic films together. Male bodies and many female bodies will respond to that,” Pack told KSL TV.
Clinical therapy group Healing Paths released the following statement:
Press Statement from Healing Paths by LarryDCurtis on Scribd