FEMINISTS FOR FREE
EXPRESSION
Feminists For Free Expression
FEMINISM AND FREE SPEECH:
PORNOGRAPHY
Feminism and Free speech: Pornography is part of the
Feminism and Free Speech series produced by Feminists for Free Expression,
a national, not-for-profit anti-censorship organization. FFE has prepared
this publication to aid in the understanding of pornography, its uses
and benefits, and its relation to violence. Below is an overview of
the scientific and cross-cultural research, and legal and historical
data on sexually explicit material. Popular beliefs are followed by
research review.
1. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN OBSCENITY AND PORNOGRAPHY
* Yes, there is. Obscenity is sexual words and images
which are not protected by Constitutional guarantees of free speech.
To be illegally obscene, a work must appeal to the prurient interests,
depict sex in a patently offensive way, and lack serious literary,
artistic, political or scientific value.
* Pornography is material designed to arouse and has
no legal or consistent definition. Each person's definition depends
on her upbringing, sexual preference and viewing context. One woman's
"trash" may be another's treasure or boredom.
2. SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIAL
CAUSES VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
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No reputable research in the U.S., Europe or Asia
finds a causal link between pornography and violence. Meese Commissioner
Dr. Judith Becker said "I've been working with sex offenders for
10 years, and have reviewed the scientific literature and I don't
think a causal link exists."
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No research, including the Surgeon General's report,
finds a link between "kinky" or "degrading" images and violence.
Exposure to such material does not cause people to change their
sexual preferences or commit acts against their will. The derailed
impulses of child abusers and rapists are caused by childhood traumas.
''They are not," wrote leading researcher John Money, "borrowed
from movies, books or other people."
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Studies on violent pornography are inconsistent.
Some find it increases aggression in the lab; some find it does
not. Research also finds that aggression will be increased by anything
that agitates a subject (that raises heart rate, adrenaline flow,
etc.), not only violent movies but riding exercise bicycles. Agitation
will boost whatever follows it, aggression or generosity. Dr. Suzanne
Ageton, measuring violence out of the lab, found that membership
in a delinquent peer group accounted for 3/4 of sexual aggression.
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Studies in the U.S., Europe and Asia find no link
between the availability of sexual material and sex crimes. The
only factor linked to rape rate is the number of young men living
in a given area. When pornography became widely available in Europe,
sexually violent crimes decreased or remained the same. Japan, with
far more violent pornography than the U.S., has 2.4 rapes per 100,000
people compared with the U.S. 34.5 per 100,000.
3. MEN WATCH PORNOGRAPHY AND
COPY IT OR FORCE WOMEN TO DO WHAT THEY SEE
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Violence and intimidation existed for thousands
of years before commercial pornography, and countries today with
no pornography, like Saudi Arabia and Iran, do not boast strong
women's rights records. Men have forced women to do things -- sexual
and nonsexual -- for centuries. The problem is not sex, it's force.
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People do not mimic what they read or view in knee-jerk
fashion. If they did, the feminist books of the last 25 years would
have transformed this into a perfect feminist world. If they did,
advertisers could run an ad and consumers would obey. Instead, businesses
spend millions of dollars and still, the strongest motive for purchases
is price. People juggle words and images -- good and bad -- with
all the others that they have seen or heard, and with all their
real life experiences. It is experience that is the strongest teacher.
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Men do not learn coercion from pictures of sex.
They learn it from the violence and contempt for women in their
families and communities where each generation passes down what
sorts of force are acceptable, even "manly."
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Copycat theories are "porn made me do it" excuses
for rapists and batterers. They relieve criminals of responsibility
for their acts.
4. PORNOGRAPHY DEGRADES WOMEN
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Sexism, not sex, degrades women. Though sexism pervades
our culture in many forms, we will not eliminate it by banning sex.
Sexism and violence stem from long-standing economic, political
and emotional factors. It is these that need addressing.
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Women interpret pornography in different ways. Some
find it sexist, some find it a form of fantasy, like dreams and
the movies we run in our heads when we masturbate or have sex. Opponents
of sexual speech misunderstand that it is in everyone's interest
to allow a variety of pleasurable materials that enhance well-being
and sexual fulfillment.
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The only work removed under Canada's new obscenity
standard (which claims to outlaw the degradation of woman) is an
erotic magazine made by and for women.
5. PORNOGRAPHY IS ONLY FOR
MEN
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Half the adult videos in the U.S. are bought or
rented by women alone or women in couples.
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Sexual health professionals recommend pornography
as entertainment and information for women and men. It may enhance
failing marriages and help couples talk about and experiment with
sex.
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AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases have
made it a public health necessity to encourage sexual fantasy material
that offers women and men safe alternatives to unhealthy sexual
contact.
6. THE WOMEN IN PORNOGRAPHY
ARE EXPLOITED OR VICTIMIZED
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Women are exploited and harassed in all fields;
some are in pornography. Exploitation will stop when it is vigorously
prosecuted everywhere it occurs.
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When the National Organization for Women considered
launching a campaign against pornography, women in pornography protested
saying that a ban against it would create a black market of exploitation.
Some said their work gave then independence and a sense of accomplishment;
banning it would worsen their lives. NOW abandoned its proposed
campaign.
7. AS AN AID TO MASTURBATION,
PORNOGRAPHY IS ACTION
THAT IS NOT PROTECTED BY THE FIRST AMENDMENT
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Pornography may lead to masturbation much as a novel
or film may lead to tears or laughter. All are protected by the
First Amendment, including those that some find offensive. "The
government may not prohibit," wrote the Supreme Court, "the expression
of an idea because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."
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FFE does not believe that policing masturbation
is the proper business of government or well-meaning committees.
8. BANNING SEXUAL MATERIAL
WILL PROTECT OR HELP WOMEN
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Historically, censorship has hurt women. Information
about sex and reproduction has been banned under the guise of "protecting"
women -- from the jailing of birth control advocate Margaret Sanger
to the "gag rule" against abortion counseling in federally funded
clinics to the attacks against National Endowment for the Arts grant
recipient Holly Hughes. It has never reduced sexism or violence.
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If one group may be censored because some find it
offensive, all groups may be censored, including women. The best
protection for women's ideas and voices is the Constitutional protection
of free speech.
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Sexual images that do not meet women's needs should
not be restricted. Better images should be made. The answer to bad
pornography is good pornography, not no pornography.
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