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.