Gloria Steinem (c.) joins fellow activists on Dec. 8, 2017.
(ANTHONY DELMUNDO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
ELLEN MOYNIHAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, December 8, 2017, 3:58 PM
Feminist icon Gloria Steinem on Friday called on New Yorkers to abstain from patronizing a SoHo pop-up store promoting the popular adult website Pornhub.
“Pornhub is a hub of violence,” Steinem said at a press conference attended by more than a dozen other activists.
“It is a hub of danger to women. It is a hub that, in this moment of consciousness that is engulfing this country now, we must realize is the source of the poison that is in our system.”
The sex-themed shop opened on Black Friday to long lines of people eager to browse its saucy toys, books and branded clothing.
The customers streaming into the store found a modern, minimalist space that’s nothing like the dark and dingy peep shows of the Times Square of old.
The shop is set to close on Dec. 20.
Sonia Ossorio, president of the National Organization for Women's New York chapter, said that day couldn’t come soon enough.
“This store is only here for a couple of more weeks at this point,” Ossorio said. “We want to make sure it does not become a permanent store.”
Gloria Steinem called Pornhub "a hub of danger to women"
(ANTHONY DELMUNDO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
Former sex worker Rachel Moran also railed against the store.
“Through pornography, we are training our boys to be predators and we are training our girls to be preyed upon,” said Moran, now the executive director of SPACE International, a group that calls for an end to the sex trade.
Following the press conference, Steinem and her supporters marched into the store and broke out into a chant, “Pornhub sells sexual violence.”
Steinem posed a question to one worker. “Why are you selling handcuffs?” she said. “What do handcuffs have to do with free will or democracy, or independent equality?”
The worker offered no answer.
But he later told a reporter that the protest felt out of place.
“I don't feel there is a problem here,” he said. “We're not forcing anyone to come into the store.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...ho-pop-up-shouldn-supported-article-1.3686301