The Internet will be to women in the ’90s what the vibrator was to women in the ’70s. It’s going to have that kind of power.
Predictor: Palac, Lisa
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article for GQ magazine, J.C. Herz interviews Lisa Palac, founder and former editor of the San Francisco cyberporn magazine Future Sex. Herz writes: ”[Palac is] a logical result of the Internet’s Darwinian tussle: a feminist pornographer who eats flames for breakfast. As befits a cybersex advocate, Palac is quick to equate technology and sex … She tells one of her favorite stories, about a woman so frustrated by the dearth of beefcake photos on local bulletin boards that she trekked down to the gay section of San Francisco, bought a bunch of really hardcore S-and-M postcards and scanned them digitally. ‘Then,’ says Palac, ‘[she] uploaded the picture to this board, because, she said, “They need to be out there, and somebody’s gotta do it!” and I said “Well, right-on, sister.” And that’s really the only way to make a difference, to get your hands dirty, so to speak and make a change … Don’t wait for Prince Charming to give you an orgasm or show you how a computer works. Go and do it yourself,’ Palac pauses. ‘I think that the Internet will be to women in the ’90s what the vibrator was to women in the ’70s. It’s going to have that kind of power.'”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: General, Overarching Remarks
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: GQ
Title, headline, chapter name: Pigs in (Cyber) Space: On the Internet, as in Life, Women Put Up with the Damnedest Things
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 160
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney