Pornography, a topic of great controversy that has become more accepted in recent times, requires an understanding of the controversies surrounding it. This understanding involves recognizing important court cases that have distinguished between obscenity and pornography. First, let’s establish their definitions. According to Webster’s dictionary, obscenity refers to being obscene, impure, or lewd. Conversely, pornography pertains to literature that exploits or presents obscene writing. The significant similarity between these definitions is what fuels the extensive controversy surrounding this issue.
COURT CASES
The Tariff Act of 1842 and the Comstock Law passed in 1873 were the first federal laws against obscenity. The Tariff Act made it illegal to import “indecent and obscene” material, while the Comstock Law extended this prohibition to include the mailing of obscene material.
In 1957, the court established more specific criteria in comparison to prior standards. In the case of Roth v. United States, the court upheld a conviction for sending materials that were deemed “obscene, lewd, lascivious or filthy.” The court’s dismissal of the claim that First Amendment protection extended to obscene materials was pivotal in determining the outcome.
Memoirs v. Massachusetts, a case in 1966, was the next legal issue to tackle obscenity following Roth v. United States in 1957. The court’s definition of obscenity established in this case is that the material must be “utterly without redeeming social value.” Following Memoirs, Miller v. California became a pivotal case in determining whether certain materials were considered obscene and not protected under the First Amendment. To assess the obscenity of a work, a test consisting of three elements was established: whether it appealed to prurient interests and should not solely aim to excessively stimulate sexual desire.
The second criterion tested whether the material in question was clearly offensive. The third criterion, regarding whether the work had significant literary, artistic, political, or scientific value, was the final test in determining if material was obscene. The decision clarified how the first two tests were to be employed. Juries would assess whether a work appealed to prurient interests and was overtly offensive using community standards.
The main issue is that a jury in Los Angeles may find something acceptable, but it may not be acceptable in other communities. Selling material acceptable in Los Angeles but not in their community could lead to arrest for the owner or employee instead of the publisher. The third test involves the judge evaluating if the work lacks significant literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
The main issue in Mishkin v. New York is the importance of avoiding uniform community standards on obscenity, acknowledging the country’s diverse nature. This case raises concerns about having a jury apply the average person’s standard to material that various groups may perceive differently. It emphasizes the impact on the average person rather than individuals who are sensitive or insensitive. Additionally, this case implies that even if a definition is precise, it cannot fully encompass all forms of expression protected by the first Amendment.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Breard v. Alexandria declared that the first amendment safeguards works with significant literary, artistic, political, or scientific worth, irrespective of government or majority approval. In the case of Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan, courts determined that “sensitive tools” should be employed to differentiate between legitimate and illegitimate speech. Additionally, in 1974’s Jenkins v. Georgia ruling, the Supreme Court unanimously concluded that local standards have limited influence in defining obscenity.
These cases were important for distinguishing the government’s perspective on obscenity and pornography. They not only defined these concepts but also highlighted that using community standards to determine obscenity is inappropriate.
TYPES OF PORNOGRAPHY
In my viewpoint, pornography can be categorized into two types: soft and hard-core. Hard-core pornography involves explicit and violent sexual acts, along with acts that degrade individuals sexually. Soft-core pornography, also known as erotica, is harmless and emphasizes mutual pleasure. Hard-core pornography, commonly referred to as XXX, often depicts violent sexual activities in which men find pleasure in the humiliation of women.
Women can also be observed participating in degrading sexual acts with each other to satisfy men. Adult films exhibit every physical detail, explicitly showing genitalia, oral, vaginal, and anal penetration, along with ejaculation. The emphasis frequently centers on the woman’s distressing and humiliating encounter solely for the gratification of male viewers. Soft-core pornography, alternatively referred to as X-rated pornography, is less explicit in its portrayal.
Both the male and female typically engage in sexual acts for mutual enjoyment. In the United States, Triple-X pornography is legally manufactured and sold. However, there exists other types of explicit pornography that are required to remain hidden, as they are produced and distributed illegally within underground “black” markets. These include ultra violent, “snuff”, and child pornography films. Ultra violent tapes or videos explicitly depict the torture, rape, and sometimes mutilation of women. “Snuff” films even go as far as showcasing the actual death of a victim. Child pornography involves the exploitation of underage or pre-pubescent children for sexual purposes. These forms of pornography surpass the boundaries of entertainment.
THE PORNOGRAPHY INDUSTRY
The pornography industry is a profitable worldwide business, with control exerted by organized crime and production handled by mainstream publishing companies. Although these publishers are considered respectable, consumers of pornographic content are often unfairly characterized as older men in trench coats. However, the truth is that most individuals who engage with adult material are educated people with disposable income. Adult films provide adults of all genders with experiences they would not typically encounter in their everyday lives, such as different fetishes or oral pleasures. Ultimately, adult entertainment serves as a temporary remedy for adults, similar to junk food for young children.
Both advocates of pornography and pornographers argue that the link between pornography and violence is exaggerated, asserting that there is no clear evidence connecting pornography to sexual crimes. They contend that the causes of sex crimes originate from individuals themselves and emphasize that the increased accessibility of pornography should not be blamed for the prevalence of sexual permissiveness in American society.
David Adams, a co-founder and executive director of Emerge, a Boston counseling center for male batterers, states that about 10 to 20 percent of his clients use explicit pornography. He estimates that around half of these individuals may have substance abuse problems. Additionally, Adams suggests that alcohol has a more direct influence on cases of abuse than pornography does.
PRON’S TWO-WAY STREET
The individuals who participate in pornography willingly do so without any coercion. They engage in posing for magazines based on their personal motives, which may not always be rational. However, they still make the choice to do so. Similarly, just as male viewers of pornography objectify women, the women exploit men by accepting their monetary contributions. This can be viewed as a mutually beneficial transaction.
Although some women find pornography disgusting, they are often the same women who enjoy reading romance novels. In reality, there is very little distinction between romance novels and pornographic movies and magazines. The only notable difference lies in the fact that men openly acknowledge their consumption of pornography. For instance, pornographic movies or pictures are often displayed on dorm walls in colleges. On the other hand, women showcase their preference by disregarding good men in college, hoping to meet a rich, handsome, tall Prince Charming. This explicit female fantasy is just as offensive to men as the male fantasy of easy sex and attractive bodies is to women.
MICSELLANIOUS PORNOGRAPHY
Technology has led to the emergence of various other forms of pornography. Even your telephone can now be used to access pornography through the infamous 900 numbers, also called Dial-A-Porn. In fact, this business was so successful in 1991 that sales reached a record $975 million.
The popularity of Dial-a-Porn has grown as individuals of all ages, including teens and children, partake in instant phone sex alongside adults. Ensuring that only adults are utilizing these services has become exceedingly difficult. Adolescents and children have methods of obtaining and utilizing credit cards, or they simply add the charges to their phone bills.
Internet pornography is another form of porn that is particularly challenging to regulate. The primary issue with regulating online porn is the vastness of the internet, which allows anyone to access pornographic sites. In particular, children often gain access through warez sites, whose detection is difficult due to the wide range of names and addresses used by webmasters.
As a demonstration of how effortless it is to locate pornography on the internet, I will provide an example of how children can come across these sites. Imagine your child wanting to visit the Nintendo web page to find information about the game Zelda. Presuming that Zelda might have its own dedicated web page, you enter www.zelda.com as the web address. However, this particular web address leads to a hardcore pornographic site. Therefore, your child simply needs to click the enter icon to gain access to this explicit content. This raises concerns regarding social issues.
