What Are the Arguments for and Against the Censorship of Pornography - Essay Example

What are the arguments for and against the censorship of pornography? Marlene Dietrich, famous German and American actress, once remarked, “In America, sex is an obsession. In other parts of the world, it is a fact.” Whether or not you agree with Dietrich’s statement, it does underscore an important point: America is a country glutted on sex. What was once a private, personal matter, something people did in the seclusion of their own homes, is now extremely public, a tool advertising executives and movie and television show producers use to make the big bucks, each quarter. We have all heard it before: “Sex sells.” It is a cliché term but really states a simple truth: sex has power and generates millions of dollars in revenue each week, each month, each year. Sex is sold to us almost everywhere we turn. We are bombarded with it when we open a magazine; sex is used to sell in advertising. We get a healthy diet of it on TV and at the theater; sex is used as a big draw at the box office and for season sweeps. But, the onslaught does not just stop there. As if that were not enough, at practically every book store, movie rental joint, and gas station, literature and DVDs, glutted with sex, occupy prominent places on the shelves and in the racks, there to feed people’s obsession with sex. Hence the talk goes out loud regarding pornography. After all, it is almost stereotypical to find pornography at the local drug store, book store, or gas station. Pornography has been a staple in America’s regular media diet for the better part of a half of a century now. Fueled by Americans’ insatiable appetite for and interest in sex, the American pornography industry, arguably one of the most robust and continually growing sectors in the private market today, enjoys unprecedented profits and a loyal following. But, perhaps, for as many as there are who regularly consume pornography, in some fashion, there are just as many who abhor it, those who refuse to support a multi-billion dollar industry. For these individuals, pornography is one of the most rapidly spreading and insidious blights on American society and one of the largest threats to the nuclear family. For individuals on both sides, pornography engenders a heated debate, one we are still engaged in today. After all, this project is a continuation of that debate. Really, we have been fighting about pornography for years, probably ever since Hugh Heffner introduced us to Playboy in the late 1950s. Since then, everyone from family advocacy groups to the Supreme Court has weighed in on the issue. And, so has the government. Even the Attorney General’s office, in 1986, then under the direction of Edwin Meese, commissioned a seminal study to chart the effects pornography has had upon the people who regularly use it. The findings were conclusive and as equally provocative and today remain a central part of the argument advanced in opposition of pornography. And, the debate is far from over, with new voices, daily, still joining the conversation. On the Internet, over 21 million sites have devoted to the social problem of pornography. The opinions and ideas found on those sites are diverse; they range any where from free acceptance of pornography to strict condemnation of it. Hence a brief explanation of both of those sides would prove beneficial, here, for to understand the problem more fully, one must first understand the stances taken concerning it. Perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of the sites are devoted to opposition of the pornography industry. Most of the opposition is staunch; there is no taking of any middle ground with this particular issue. From the opposition’s viewpoint, it is fairly simple: pornography is wrong, can lead to a destructive form of addiction and should be illegal. Pornography objectifies women. Those who watch pornography eventually see the actresses as only bodies; they are no longer considered to be persons. They are there only to serve the sexual needs of a man. Pornography leads to violent crimes. Study after study has confirmed that pornography is a significant influence in the lives of serial murders and rapists, as well as child molesters. It is interesting to note that Ted Bundy, perhaps history’s most notorious serial killer, admitted that his penchant for serial murder originally began as a deeply seeded addiction to hardcore pornography. Once the thrill of the pornography wore off, he was forced to seek sexual stimulation and thrill elsewhere. He found it in the form of murdering young female victims. Pornography exploits and abuses young children. A growing trend in the pornography industry is child pornography. The harm and damage done to children, coerced into appearing in these films at such an impressionable age, is irreparable. Pornography stigmatizes many men. Adult men who regularly watch porn have been found to have serious self-esteem issues, particularly when it comes to how they feel about the sizes of their penises or their performance in the bedroom. They begin to question their manhood because they cannot measure up to the “mega-men” who star in pornographic films. Opponents also argue that regular consumption of pornography quite frequently and usually does lead to addiction. And this addiction, they say, is many times stronger and much harder to break than an addiction to say; heroine or crack, because of the strong association with visual memories and desire for immediate gratification that regular pornography use creates. Often, professional careers are ruined and marriages and families are torn a part because of such addictions. And, much of the opposition towards pornography is generated by religious principle, particularly the Judeo-Christian ethic. As many opponents point out, the Bible is quite clear about sexual immorality: flee from it and avoid it at all costs. But, while many of the opposition find support for their stance in Biblical Christianity, they also find it in scientific data: the statistics that show that pornography frequently plays a role in rape, child molestation and serial murder. The two – Christian ethics and scientific data – they argue, form a fairly strong defense. After all, who can argue with God or with science? In support of the subject at hand, most of the sites oppose the use of pornography and lobby for its demise. A number of them also advocate its survival in the truest sense. There was an essay written by a feminist author who advocated the free and unregulated use of pornography. Pornography, she argued, allows women to explore their sexuality, live out fantasies and be in control of their own bodies. The opposition centers its argument against pornography on moral reasons: pornography is wrong because the Bible prohibits sexual immorality; women and children are hurt, etc. But, for most of the proponents of pornography, this issue is not a moral one: it is a legal one. They argue that the litmus test for the legality of pornography should not be scientific data or religious doctrine; it should be our Constitution. Proponents of pornography claim that the creation and use of pornography fits under our right to free speech and that any law abridging that right is unconstitutional. One should be allowed to do sexually whatever he/she pleases, so long as no one is harmed in process: one has a right to make pornography, to learn about sexuality, to live out the fantasies vicariously, etc. On more than one occasion, cases have been argued in front of the Supreme Court to decide the legality and regulation of pornographic material. The Court has been unusually mum concerning this issue; it did offer, however, a three-pronged test to decide whether or not material is indeed pornographic and obscene. In the 1973 case, Miller v. California, the Court suggested that material can be deemed pornographic and obscene, consequently against the law. One could be sure that one can already see the problem with this three-pronged test: it is awfully ambiguous in essence. No one likes to define the “prurient interests?” How is it defined? What constitutes sex being depicted in a “patently offensive manner?” What gives a work literary or scientific value? Subsequent judges, lawyers, and community leaders have all struggled with this ambiguity and the proponents of pornography have used that to their advantage. Because of the dubious nature of what is meant by the definition and decision, each are rendered somewhat impotent; as a result, there is no consistent standard for enforcement. Therefore, the creation, censorship and consumption of pornography go relatively unregulated. And that is something the proponents of pornography can cheer about. In the end, Kerby Anderson, a distinguished writer and theologian, defines the different forms of pornography (even phone sex hotlines are considered pornographic), names the effects of pornography, discusses the legal issues concerning pornography and then explains how the Bible views pornography. Anderson does an exemplary job of explaining the issue and then backs up his assertions with reputable evidence. Also, in her essay, McElroy argues that it is essential that pornography remain legal because of the freedom it accords women: they are able to explore their sexual desires and fantasies, use their bodies as they see fit (they have the right to choose to do pornography), etc. Bibliography Slade, Joseph W. Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide - Vol. 3. Greenwood Press, 2001 Wendell, Susan. Pornography and Censorship. Prometheus Books, 1983 Stark, Cynthia A. Is Pornography an Action? The Causal vs. the Conceptual View of Pornographys Harm. Social Theory and Practice, Vol. 23, 1997 Wei, Ran. Third-Person Effect, Gender, and Pornography on the Internet. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Vol. 46, 2002 Pally, Marcia. Ban Sexism, Not Pornography. The Nation, Vol. 240, June 29, 1985 Leuchtag, Alice. The Culture of Pornography. The Humanist, Vol. 55, May-June 1995 Word Count: 1,540 Read More