Dr Simon Hardy

Senior Lecturer in Sociology

Institute of Humanities & Creative Arts

Contact Details

email: s.hardy@worc.ac.uk

tel: 01905 85 5380

Simon Hardy has lectured at the University of Worcester since 1995, where he contributes to teaching in Sociology and Media & Cultural Studies. He offers specialist expertise in the sociology of pornography, the history of sexuality, and contemporary media coverage of warfare. He is Course Leader for Media & Cultural Studies.

Dr Hardy’s current research project addresses social and historical aspects of the development of pornography in modern society. This is an extension of his previous research and writing, which began with his PhD research on men’s use of pornography, at the University of Essex (where he received his doctorate in 1995). His book The Reader, The Author, His Woman and Her Lover was published by Cassell in 1998. Since then he has published a series of articles and essays on various aspects of pornography and erotic culture in the journal Sexualities (of which he is a member of the editorial board), and in a range of other journals and edited collections.

Teaching & Research

Classical and modern social theory
Qualitative Methodology
Introductory sociology
The history of sociological thought
The sociology of the self/ social psychology
The history of sexuality and contemporary sexualities
The sociology of pornography 
Media and cultural studies theory
Media coverage of war (war-reporting)
The sociology of pornography

Professional Bodies

British Board of Film Classification

Publications

(2009) ‘The New Pornographies: Representation or Reality?’ in Feona Attwood (ed.) Mainstreaming Sex (pp. 3-18) London: I.B. Tauris

(2008) ‘The Pornography of Reality’ in Sexualities: The 10th Anniversary Issue Vol.11, No. 1/2. pp 60-64
Also translated into German and reprinted as ‘Die Pornografie der Realität’ in Jorg Metelmann (ed.) Porno-Pop II: Im Erregungsdispositiv (pp 67-70) Wurzburg, Germany: Königshausen and Neumann (2010)

(2007) ‘Pornography and Erotica’ in George Ritzer (ed.) The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology: N-P Volume VII pp 3540-3542
An abbreviated version of ‘Pornography and erotica’ in George Ritzer and J. Michael Ryan (eds.) The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology John Wiley and Sons (2011)

Also reprinted in: Steven Seidman, Nancy Fischer, and Chet Meeks (eds.) Introducing the New Sexuality Studies Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge (2007)

(2006) ‘Anal sex: phallic and other meanings’ in Steven Seidman, Nancy Fischer and Chet Meeks (eds.) Handbook of the New Sexuality Studies Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge

(2004) ‘The Greeks, Eroticism and Ourselves’ in Sexualities Vol.7, No.2 pp 201-216

(2004) ‘Reading Pornography’ in Sex Education Vol.4, No.1 pp 3-18

(2001) ‘More Black Lace: Women, Eroticism and Subjecthood’ in Sexualities Vol.4, No.4 pp 435-453

(2001) ‘Materialist feminism and heterosexuality’, a review of Sevi Jackson’s Sexuality in
Question in Sexuality and Culture Vol.5, No2 pp 95-97

(2000) Review of Laura Kipnis’ Bound and Gagged: Pornography and the Politics of
Fantasy in America in Sexualities Vol.3, No1 pp 122-124

(2000) ‘Feminist Iconoclasm and the Problem of Eroticism’ in Sexualities Vol.3, No.1 pp 77- 96

(1998) ‘The Reader, The Author, His Woman and Her Lover: Soft-Core Pornography and

Heterosexual Men’ London: Cassell

External Responsibilities

Referee of Journal of Sexualities and Journal of Enterprise and Society