For Men, by Men? Women's Business Activities in the Pornographic Press Compared to the Overall Publishing Industry in Sweden 1950–1972

Abstract

This article focuses on women's business positions in Swedish porn publishing from the 1950s to the 1970s, i.e. when pornography was legalized and when sexually explicit magazines made their commercial breakthrough. The research draws on statistical information on women's entrepreneurial roles in the overall publishing industry, which is then compared with women's agency in porn publishing. According to the findings, women seem to have had a slightly more central role in pornography than within the mainstream publishing industry. The analysis is also expanded with details about a few key female pornography entrepreneurs, tracing their publications and business strategies connected to the Freedom of the Press legislation. It is argued that women's presence in pornographic print and in the overall publishing industry were in fact similar, with a high ratio of family businesses. Women's entrepreneurship in pornography thus followed a more general historical pattern whereby women engaged in small-scale business with relatively low barriers to entry.

Notes

¹ This article is part of the project “In the shadow of the Swedish welfare state: Gendered entrepreneurship 1950-2005”, led by Prof. Lena Andersson-Skog and funded by Vinnova. The research was carried out at the Department of Economic History, Umeå University.

² No sentence led to imprisonment during this period, even though the greatest legal punishment for publishing pornography was 6 months imprisonment.

³ As Svanström notes, the industry calendar did not include all, or even most, companies. They focused mainly on “supply-heavy industries” and manufacturing.

⁴ It should be noted, however, that the proportion of n/a data is much higher for the pornographic press than for the overall publishing industry, making the exact outcome somewhat uncertain.

⁵ Mr Nilsson's wife never took the surname Nilsson, but kept her maiden name. Due to issues of anonymity, however, she is here called Mrs Nilsson.

⁷ “Alla kvinnor är utmanande vare sig de har kläder på sig eller inte. Varför skulle inte flickorna på dessa bilder egga män. Gjorde de inte det vore det ju bedrägeri att ta en femma för tidskriften”.

⁶ “läsare med onormalt känsloliv”

⁹ “Här är en nakenbild av en flicka i en tidning som inte åtalats. Samma flicka finns i samma pose på en i dag åtalad bild. Varför är hon brottsligt sedlighetssårande på den ena bilden men inte på den andra? Och hur ska en förläggare kunna avgöra det?”

⁸ “Ungdomarna har ju flickorna i bilen och handen. Dom läser inte sånt här”.

¹⁰ “en naturlig företeelse mellan man och kvinna”