Linda Williams in Chicago Tribune

Linda Williams, editor of Porn Studies, and author of the forthcoming book Screening Sex (November 2008), is quoted in a Chicago Tribune op-ed by Laura Hodes. Hodes writes about the differing treatment of male and female nudity in recent films Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Female nudity is displayed with intent to arouse the audience, while male nudity is played for a laugh, she argues. Linda Williams says, ""There is nervousness about male nudity, and what you do when you are nervous is you laugh. It is almost a permanent adolescent reaction that is built into American movies, and we haven't gotten beyond the adolescent reaction to the more adult reaction." Hodes includes further comments by Williams on her blog.