WASHINGTON — Faith-based antiporn advocacy group Morality in Media (MiM) has accused the government of funding “a hardcore porn project.”
The project in question — the Popular Romance Project — is actually an academic endeavor co-sponsored by the American Library Association and the Library of Congress Center for the Book.
According to its official website, the project “will explore the fascinating, often contradictory origins and influences of popular romance as told in novels, films, comics, advice books, songs and Internet fan fiction, taking a global perspective — while looking back across time as far as the ancient Greeks.”
It claims, “Popular romance sells. And it reveals deep truths about people and cultures, fantasies and fears. The statistics are staggering: According to the Romance Writers of America, romance fiction generated $1.37 billion in sales in 2008.”
But MiM is recalcitrant. “We are appalled that the federal government would use taxpayer funds to promote pornography,” said Dawn Hawkins, executive director of MiM.
Over the last three years, the National Endowment for the Humanities has received $914,000 to partially fund the program, which encompasses four programs: a feature length documentary, interactive website, academic symposium and nationwide series of library programs — all pertaining to the theme of pop romance.
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