Sexes: Romantic Porn in the Boudoir

At a screening of a porn film, a female critic spotted something in the movie that offended her sensibilities. "Good grief!" she exclaimed, rising from her seat as bodies heaved onscreen. "Just look at those dirty sheets!"

That incident may not go down in history as a turning point in the fortunes of porn. On the other hand, maybe it will. Steffani Martin, who was one of five females among the 30 viewers at the screening that day in Manhattan, says it was a good example of the new female consciousness breaking in on the crude male world of pornography. Says...