As the debate over pornography and its place in society grows hotter every day, several
authors in particular shed a new light on the subject. Both their intuition and insight
involving their beliefs can help the reader a great deal in seeing aspects of this debate
that might have otherwise gone without the consideration that they so deserve.
I believe that pornography is not only okay, but is allowing our country to take a step
back and ask ourselves how far we are willing to go and what we are willing to sacrifice
in order to preserve free speech and our rights to personal choice.
The argument over pornography is not merely the debate over right or wrong, but also
involves the theory that its existence requires, or possibly even causes, an inequality
between men and women.
I ask you, how could something like pornography cause an in-equality between men and
women when women are the major contributors to the industry? Who is going to watch a porn
without women in it? Therefore, at least at first glance, it would seem that since women
are actively contributing to the business of pornography maybe they should be criticized
at least equally if not more so than the men who watch it.
According to author J.M. Coetzee and his article "The Harms of Pornography", the real
questions here are, "what is the difference between obscenity and pornography", and even
more importantly, "where do we draw the line between the two"? Coetzee brings up a good
point here. A point on which the entire debate over pornography hinges. What is the
defenition of "obscenity"? An excerpt from a speech by Mike Godwin, Online Counsel for
the Electronic Frontier Foundation, gives a good definition of obscenity in his on-line
article: "Fear of Freedom: The Backlash Against Free Speech on the 'Net'".
Everybody more or less knows something about what qualifies as obscene.
You know it has something to do with "community standards," right? And
with appealing to the "prurient interest." A work has to be a patently
offensive depiction of materials banned by state statute and appeal to the
prurient interest to be obscene and it also has to meet one other
requirement. It also has to lack serious literary, artistic, social,
political or scientific value. That's how something is classified as
"obscene."
Godwin states that one of the criteria for decency or absence of obscenity is that
something must contain social political or scientific value. Is it possible that
pornography is an outlet for people that prevents ideas that start out as fantasies or
desires from becoming real? If so, then it's possible that the porn industry is doing us
a bigger favor than we know. In an article written by Donna A. Demac, the history of
censorship, obscenity, pornography and the rights of "the people" are conveyed with a
decidedly liberal attitude. Demac's article gives an intelligent overview as to the
actions of various political parties, groups and activists that have fought either for or
against some of the issues regarding pornography, and his article can be effectively used
to defend free speech.
The most opinionated and conservative of the authors included is Catherine MacKinnon, who
touches on the thought that there is a great deal of similarity between pornography and
black slavery. In her article "Pornography, Civil Rights and Speech" she states that
"the harm of pornography does not lie in the fact that it is offensive but that, at least
in developed societies, it is an industry that mass produces sexual intrusion, access to,
possession and use of women by men for profit". MacKinnon approaches pornography not from
a "moral" standpoint, but strictly from the "political" point of view that says
pornography is a threat to the gender equality of our nation. I say she is wrong and that
not only is pornography okay, but in many cases could contribute to the health of our
society. I will quickly agree that pornography should be kept away from the eyes of our
children, and that there is a proper time and place for it, but consider some of the acts
that, providing that pornogrpahy was made illegal, would not only go under ground but
might actually become real instead of acted out.
Coetzee goes to great lengths to bring to light indescrepancies and unclarified ideas
throughout MacKinnon's article. One of Coetzee's most prominent points is that the
differences between "obscenity" and "pornography" go far beyond a difference in term
based on either political or moral argument. While at times Coetzee seems to generally
disagree with or at least greatly challenge MacKinnon's ideas, there are times at which
the two authors trains of thought almost seem to coincide. One such issue would be that
MacKinnon is not necessarily looking to hunt out all occurrences of pornography in
today's literature and media, but to snuff out the commercial end of it. The end that
makes billions based on women being "used" by men, and does nothing at all to improve
their social standing in our society. But why must everything be used to bolster the
social position of women? It is this topic specifically that seems to have gone un-argued
by Coetzee.
Coetzee's stand on this issue of pornography and obscenity as a part of today's culture
is never quite addressed may very well remain a mystery to the reader. From many of the
author's statements and criticism's of MacKinnon, one could gather that he takes a much
more liberal stand and yet somehow successfully avoids pressing his opinions. He also
does a wonderful job of highlighting some of the more minute intricacies related to
MacKinnon's writing which may have otherwise gone unnoticed.
If you read Demac's article you may find that "Sex", throughout history has been more
than merely a method of procreation. In Demac's article it is also stated that the
editorial and news press at times found sexual content the only way to keep the political
news interesting. Based on Demac's article, sex has always been sort of a "mystery" or
something dark that nobody liked to talk about, and yet everybody was interested in.
Maybe this is the reason that our society today has such a hard time talking to there
children about sex and the prevention of such things as pregnancy and sexually
transmitted diseases. I am often amazed that people have such a hard time talking about
sex and sex related topics when it rates second in priority among human drives. Second
only to the drive to eat.
Pornography is nothing new, in fact prostitution is sometimes called "the world's oldest
profession". All that has changed is the degree in which it is used. People become numb
to what once was erotic or dangerous and eventually want more. Demac's article
illustrates this extremely well as he gives a general overview of the history of
pornography. His view is very helpful in seeing how pornography has progressed and where
it is now, relative to where it has been.
Unfortunately as all of our authors have, in their own way stated, sex is not the real
issue at hand here. The issue is "Obscenity". Pornography in these writers eyes seems to
be a mixture of sex which is completely natural and nearly every person enjoys at one
time or another and obscenity which is the element that MacKinnon says "keeps sex
interesting for men". It seems that if things (sex and pornography) were less
extravagantly portrayed on the television, print and even the radio, that less would be
needed to fulfill one's "appetite" for eroticism. If there actually were some "line" that
were drawn, unable to be crossed, would that given amount of "danger" be enough? I doubt
it. The thing that keeps men (the major supporters of the pornography industry) so
interested in women according to MacKinnon is the idea of having the power over a woman.
It's this power that breeds obscenity as men want more and more of this "power".
Sometimes it's taken much to far, but where can you draw the line? When is too much too
much?
Coetzee brings up a good point when he quotes Mackinnon:
"In visual media...it takes a real person doing each act to make what you see;
pornography models are real women to whom something real is being done".
Coetzee challenges this argument by asking the reader about violence in movies. He asks,
"Are knife thrusts and gunshots not just as real?" According to Coetzee, the acts of sex
portrayed on a television screen are happening to real people, yet one of the greatest
attributes of sex, and one of the things that make it sacred are the feelings involved
between the two people. Therefore, if there are no feelings between the two actors, isn't
it merely acting? The models are being paid and have most likely been made aware of what
will happen and therefore given their consent. What about the possibility that the
problem not only lies in the hands of the men who watch these acts on a video tape, but
the women who make them. Without the availability of women who were willing to produce
this kind of material the pornography industry would come to a screeching halt. What's
there to watch without women? Maybe it all comes down to; "If you're not a part of the
solution, you're part of the problem".
The lines between right and wrong are often much more gray than black and white, which
is most likely where most people live. No one can say to another what is right and wrong,
or what should or shouldn't be done, that decision has to be left to the individuals
themselves. It's this issue of pornography having an effect on women who aren't even
involved in the industry of making or even watching it. We as a nation and even a world
stand to learn a lot from simply listening to ourselves. We like to stand up and say what
is right, and yet acting on it rarely happens. In order for our society to come to any
sort of peace on this issue of pornography, it needs to be accepted that people need to
be allowed to make decisions for themselves without the intervention of some government
medium, but only as long as those decisions don't effect or hinder the rights of others.
Pornography is an immense opportunity for an experiment in freedom of speech
and democracy. The largest scale experiment this world has ever seen. It's up to you and
it's up to me and it's up to all of us to explore that opportunity, and it's up to all of
us not to lose it. I'm not yet a parent myself, and I may not be for some time, but I
worry about my future children and pornography all the time. Here's what I worry about. I
worry that 10 or 15 or even 20 years from now she will come to me and say, "Daddy, where
were you when they took freedom of the press and speech away from us?" and I want to be
able to say I was there -- and I helped stop that from happening.
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