|
Pornography
Pornography
is broadly defined as written or visual material that stimulates sexual
feelings whose primary purpose is to arouse the observer or reader. It
is also referred to as porn, smut and obscene material. The actual term
"pornography" comes from porneia, the Greek word for
prostitute, and means "the writings of and about prostitutes".
Defining the type of
material that qualifies as pornography is more difficult. It is a
relative term, subject to interpretation based on people's opinions.
Standards of obscenity have been defined legally in a consistent way.
Technically, pornography is not illegal. Sexually explicit material that
is judged in violation of the penal code is defined as obscene. These
works are often called "hard core pornography", but even that
is not illegal unless tested by the courts and found to be obscene. The
U.S. Supreme Court arrived at a definition of obscenity in the 1957 case
of Roth vs. United States, and a number of lower courts have
added their definitions since. Broadly speaking, erotic material is
legally obscene if, for the average person, 1) its predominant appeal is
to a prurient interest in sex; 2) it is contrary to the contemporary
standards of the community; 3) it is without social value, or judged to
be without artistic, literary, or scientific value.
These standards may be
helpful to an extent, but they are extremely difficult to apply in any
objective way. For one thing, standards vary from community to community
and judgments about the artistic or literary value of material cannot be
made by the use of a simple formula. Whereas hard core pornography is
understood to be strictly for commercial use, with no pretense to
artistic merit, works of art are sometimes claimed to be obscene despite
the defense of artistic value.
Much of the controversy
surrounding pornography is related to society's concern about how
pornography affects people. One common worry is that the use of
pornography promotes sex crimes and that sex offenders are avid
consumers of obscene material. Research, however, does not show any
consistent pattern. Data from studies conducted in the 1970s and1980s
have consistently shown that the use of pornography is not related to an
increase in sex crimes and that sex offenders in general have had
significantly less exposure to pornography than non-offenders. Some
later work in this area has not agreed with these earlier findings.
Another popular belief is
that only perverted individuals would be interested in pornography.
Findings from the historic Kinsey
study showed that between 14 and 60 percent of females and between
36 and 77 percent of males were stimulated by viewing sexy movies,
reading and hearing erotic stories, and viewing pictures, drawings or
other portrayals of sexual activity. The Redbook survey (1974)
reported that 60 percent of the 100,000 married women they surveyed had
seen a pornographic movie, and 42 percent of these women had used
pornography in their sexual practices at least occasionally. When the
magazine Psychology Today asked 20,000 readers whether they had
ever used erotic material for arousal, 92 percent of the male
respondents and 72 percent of the females reported that they had. In
1970, the U.S. Commission on Obscenity and Pornography conducted one of
the few scientific interviews of adults in the U.S. regarding
pornography. Eighty-four percent of the men and 69 percent of the women
indicated that they had used such material at some time. Finally, the
tremendous popularity of magazines such as Playboy, Penthouse
and Hustler provides undeniable testimony to the widespread use
of erotica.
Furthermore, the U.S.
Commission on Obscenity and Pornography reported that ordinary people
did not change their types of sexual practice or values about what was
acceptable as a result of viewing pornography. It also reported that
there was a general increase in sexual activity within the 24-hour
period after viewing pornography, but it was generally with the regular
partner, or in the case of those without a partner, masturbation. It is
noteworthy, however, that neither the Commission nor the authors of the
other studies observed the effects of continuing exposure to pornography
over a period of years. Thus it is not known what, if any, differences
would be evidenced in the long run.
Another important concern
about pornography is that some types portray women in a degrading,
dehumanizing and exploitive manner. And, in fact, men are done a
disservice when they are portrayed as interested only in sex (the more
unusual the better), always ready for sex (with extraordinary anatomy
and endurance), but incapable of sensitivity and tenderness. Some men
may not object to this characterization, but most women do not
appreciate the way some pornography depicts their gender as objects
serving men.
Perhaps one reason why
some pornography exploits women is because, throughout history, it has
mainly been created by men for men. Erotic works from the Stone Age on
reveal typical male sexual interests and fantasies, and depict various
interpretations of the idealized woman. It is principally for this
reason that pornography has been assumed to arouse women less than it
does men. But with the contemporary phenomenon of women creating
pornography, the question arose of whether men and women respond
differently to pornographic material. Kinsey speculated that there could
be some neurophysiological reason for a difference, but a West German
research team studied the responses of men and women to pornography and
found them to be comparable emotionally, physically and behaviorally.
Psychologist Julia Heiman's work found that there are both sex
differences and other differences in responses, but women are not
inherently less capable of responding to pornography. Women and men, she
found, respond more to that which they like.
As with many issues, our
society is not in agreement about the topic of pornography. Pornography
is mass produced and widely available, yet is just as widely distrusted
and condemned. We have laws against obscenity but cannot define it. We
believe that somehow pornography is harmful, yet can find no evidence of
harm. On the one hand, our culture seems unable to satisfy its demand
for pornography; on the other hand, many people believe it should be
controlled in some way for the general good. It would most likely
require a major cultural shift for society to feel comfortable about
repealing all legislation against pornography. Equally, it would take as
large a shift to enforce total prohibition. Ultimately, it is an
individual's personal beliefs that determine what is acceptable and what
is obscene.
|
Sex
