But an equally big factor, say the porn manufacturers, is that since Bill Clinton took office, the Justice Department hasn't prosecuted any new interstate transportation of obscenity cases. So the video companies have started to market their products more aggressively. For big releases, there are screenings and premiere parties. VCA, one of the four big adult-film companies, has put promotional billboards along Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, and Vivid has placed ads at the Burbank airport as well as along Sunset. Vivid's actresses also appear in ads for Fresh Jive clothing and Black Flys sunglasses.
Intellectuals have just about accepted pornography's place in pop culture.
Even antiporn feminist Andrea Dworkin thinks the battle has been lost. People don't have a sense of outrage that women are hurt. It makes me ill, but it may be related to who's winning and who's losing here. Larry Flynt isn't facing the demise of Hustler. Her colleague Michigan law professor Catherine MacKinnon agrees.