the pros and cons of pornography

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.