Pornography continues to be a highly controversial topic, not only in popular conceptions and manifestations, but also within feminist politics and cultural and gender studies. The question whether the current widespread availability of “explicit” depictions of sex can be seen as instances of an increasing liberalisation of sexualities or capitalist and patriarchal exploitations of gendered bodies continuously needs to be raised. While rather different in their scope and angles from which they address the subject, the articles assembled in this issue testify to the ambivalence and complexity of pornography's history and significance in western cultures.