Information AboutPornography |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT PORNOGRAPHY | |
| pornography | |
| sexology | |
| erotica | |
| sex lawspornography | |
| sexology | |
| erotica | |
| sex laws | |
| erotica | |
| nudity | |
| human sexuality | |
| sex industry | |
|
]] Pornography or '''porn''' is, in its broadest state, the explicit representation of the Human Body or Sexual Activity with the goal of Sexual Arousal and/or sexual relief. It is similar to Erotica , which is the use of sexually-arousing imagery for mainly artistic purposes. Over the past few decades, an immense industry for the production and consumption of pornography has grown, due to emergence of the VCR , the DVD , and the Internet , as well as the emergence of social attitudes more tolerant of sexual portrayals. In general, "erotica" refers to portrayals of sexually arousing material that hold or aspire to artistic or historical merit, whereas "pornography" (which is frequently considered a Pejorative term) connotes the more direct, blunt or excessive depiction of sexual acts, with little or no artistic value. The line between the two is often highly subjective. In practice, pornography can be defined merely as erotica that certain people perceive as " Obscene ." The definition of what one considers obscene can differ between persons, cultures and eras. This leaves legal actions by those who oppose pornography open to wide interpretation. Pornography may use any of a variety of media — printed Literature , Photos , Sculpture , Drawing , Painting , Animation , Sound Recording , Film , Video , or Video Game . However, when sexual acts are performed for a live audience, by definition it is not pornography, as the term applies to the depiction of the act, rather than the act itself. Thus, portrayals such as Sex Show s and Striptease may be considered similar, but not identical, to pornography. ETYMOLOGY The word derives from the Greek ''pornographia'', which derives from the Greek words ''porne'' (" Prostitute "), ''grapho'' ("to write or record"), and the suffix ''ia'' (meaning "state of", "property of", or "place of"), thus meaning "a place to record prostitutes". TECHNOLOGY Mass-distributed pornography is as old as the printing press. Almost as soon as photography was invented, it was being used to produce pornographic images. Indeed some claim that pornography has been a driving force in the development of technologies from the printing press, through photography (still and motion) to video, ; it even compares to Bollywood . Many others think pornography's role in technology adoption (like the size of actors' body parts) have been greatly, greatly exaggerated. For example according to Forbes.com, adult video income was only $1 billion in 2001 calling into question the impact any adult studio, even a major one like Playboy, could have on a videotape or DVD format war. ''"The industry is tiny next to broadcast television ($32.3 billion), cable television ($45.5 billion), the newspaper business ($27.5 billion), Hollywood ($31 billion), even to professional and educational publishing ($14.8 billion). When one really examines the numbers, the porn industry --while a subject of fascination-- is every bit as marginal as it seems at first glance."'' 1 Curiously, porn plays in few theaters, and in many countries it is difficult to rent porn videos, because movie rental stores such as Blockbuster and other large video-rental firms avoid porn; most distribution is by sale. Photo manipulation and computer-generated images Digital manipulation requires the use of source photographs, but some pornography is produced without human actors at all. The idea of completely Computer-generated pornography was conceived very early as one of the most obvious areas of application for computer graphics and 3D rendering. Until the late 1990s, digitally manipulated pornography could not be produced cost-effectively. In the early 2000s, it became a growing segment, as the modelling and animation software matured and the rendering capabilities of computers improved. As of 2004, computer-generated pornography depicting situations involving children and sex with Fictional Character s, such as Lara Croft , is already produced on a limited scale. The October 2004 issue of Playboy featured topless pictures of the title character from the BloodRayne video game.2 HISTORY on "the great epidemic of pornography".]] Pornography is as old as civilization but the concept of pornography as understood today did not exist until the Victorian Era . Previous to that time, though some sex acts were regulated or stipulated in laws, looking at objects or images depicting them was not. In some cases, certain books, engravings or image collections were outlawed, but the trend to compose laws that restricted viewing of sexually explicit things in general was a Victorian construct. When large scale excavations of Pompeii were undertaken in the 1860s, much of the erotic art of the Roman s came to light, shocking the Victorians who saw themselves as the intellectual heirs of the Roman Empire . They did not know what to do with the frank depictions of Sexuality , and endeavored to hide them away from everyone but upper class scholars. The moveable objects were locked away in the Secret Museum in Naples, Italy and what could not be removed was covered and cordoned off as to not corrupt the sensibilities of women, children and the working class. Soon after, the world's first law criminalizing pornography was enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1857 in the Obscene Publications Act .3 ISBN 1-4172-2885-7 The Victorian attitude that pornography was for a select few can be seen in the wording of the Hicklin Test stemming from a court case in 1868 where it asks, "whether the tendency of the matter charged as obscenity is to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences." Despite their suppression, depictions of erotic imagery are common throughout history, and remain so.4 LEGAL STATUS See List Of Pornography Laws By Region for detailed list The legal status of pornography varies widely from country to country. Most countries allow at least some form of pornography. In some countries, softcore pornography is considered tame enough to be sold in general stores or to be shown on TV. Hardcore pornography, on the other hand, is usually regulated. The production and sale, and to a slightly lesser degree the possession, of Child Pornography is illegal in almost all countries, and most countries have restrictions on pornography involving Violence or Animals . Most countries attempt to restrict minors' access to hardcore materials, limiting availability to Adult Bookstore s, mail-order, via television channels that parents can restrict, among other means. There is usually an age minimum for entrance to pornographic stores, or the materials are displayed partly covered or not displayed at all. More generally, Disseminating Pornography To A Minor is often illegal. Many of these efforts have been rendered irrelevant by widely available Internet Pornography . In the United States, a person receiving unwanted Commercial Mail he or she deems pornographic (or otherwise offensive) may obtain a Prohibitory Order , either against all mail from a particular sender, or against all sexually explicit mail, by applying to the United States Postal Service . There are recurring Urban Legend s of Snuff Movie s, in which murders are filmed for pornographic purposes. Despite extensive work to ascertain the truth of these rumors, law enforcement officials have been unable to find any such works. The Internet has also caused problems with the enforcement of age limits regarding performers. In most countries, males and females under the age of 18 are not allowed to appear in porn films, but in several European countries the age limit is 16, and in Denmark it is legal for women as young as 16 to appear topless in mainstream newspapers and magazines. This material often ends up on the Internet and can be viewed by people in countries where it constitutes child pornography, creating challenges for lawmakers wishing to restrict access to such material. Some people, including pornography producer Larry Flynt and the writer Salman Rushdie , have argued that pornography is vital to freedom and that a free and civilized society should be judged by its willingness to accept pornography. “Porn is vital to freedom, says [Salman Rushdie”] The UK Government is planning to outlaw possession of what it terms " Extreme Pornography " after a campaign following the highly publicised murder of Jane Longhurst . ANTI-PORNOGRAPHY MOVEMENT See Also: Anti-pornography movement Opposition to pornography comes generally, though not exclusively, from several sources: Law , Religion and Feminism . Some critics from the latter two camps have expressed belief in the existence of " Pornography Addiction ." Legal objections In the United States, distribution of "obscene" materials is a Federal crime, and also under most laws of the 50 states. The determination of what is obscene is up to a jury in a trial, which must apply the Miller Test ; however, due to the prominence of pornography in most communities most pornographic materials are not considered obscene by the Miller Test. In explaining its decision to reject claims that obscenity should be treated as speech protected by the First Amendment, in '' Miller V. California '', the US Supreme Court found that :The dissenting Justices sound the alarm of repression. But, in our view, to equate the free and robust exchange of ideas and political debate with commercial exploitation of obscene material demeans the grand conception of the First Amendment and its high purposes in the historic struggle for freedom. It is a "misuse of the great guarantees of free speech and free press . . . ." Breard v. Alexandria, 341 U.S., at 645 . and in '' Paris Adult Theatre I V. Slaton '' that :In particular, we hold that there are legitimate state interests at stake in stemming the tide of commercialized obscenity, even assuming it is feasible to enforce effective safeguards against exposure to juveniles and to passersby. 7 U.S. 49, 58 Rights and interests "other than those of the advocates are involved." Breard v. Alexandria, 341 U.S. 622, 642 (1951). These include the interest of the public in the quality of life and the total community environment, the tone of commerce in the great city centers, and, possibly, the public safety itself... As Mr. Chief Justice Warren stated, there is a "right of the Nation and of the States to maintain a decent society . . .," U.S. 49, 60 Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184, 199 (1964) (dissenting opinion)... The sum of experience, including that of the past two decades, affords an ample basis for legislatures to conclude that a sensitive, key relationship of human existence, central to family life, community welfare, and the development of human personality, can be debased and distorted by crass commercial exploitation of sex. Attorney General for Ronald Reagan, Edwin Meese , also courted controversy when he appointed the " Meese Commission " to investigate pornography in the United States; their report, released in July 1986, was highly critical of pornography and itself became a target of widespread criticism. That year, Meese Commission officials contacted convenience store chains and succeeded in demanding that widespread men's magazines such as '' Playboy '' and '' Penthouse '' be removed from shelves,5a ban which spread nationally6 until being quashed with a First Amendment admonishment against prior restraint by the D.C. Federal Court in Meese v. Playboy (639 F.Supp. 581). In the United States in 2005, Attorney General Gonzales made obscenity and pornography a top prosecutorial priority of the Department Of Justice .7 Religious objections Some religious groups often discourage their members from viewing or reading pornography, and support legislation restricting its publication. These positions derive from broader religious views about sexuality. In some religious traditions, for example, sexual intercourse is limited to the express function of procreation. Thus, sexual pleasure or sex-oriented entertainment, as well as lack of modesty, are considered immoral. Other religions do not find sexual pleasure immoral, but see sex as a sacred, godly, highly-pleasurable activity that is only to be enjoyed with one's spouse. These traditions do not condemn sexual pleasure in and of itself, but they impose limitations on the circumstances under which sexual pleasure may be properly experienced. Pornography in this view is seen as the secularization of something sacred, and a violation of spouses' intimate relationship. For example, paragraph 2354 of the Catechism Of The Catholic Church states: :"Pornography... offends against Chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the Intimate giving of spouses to each another. It does grave injury to the Dignity of its participants... since each one becomes an Object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the Illusion of a Fantasy world. It is a grave offence." In addition to expressing concerns about violating sexual morality, some religions take an anti-pornography stance claiming that viewing pornography is addictive, leading to self-destructive behavior. Proponents of this view compare Pornography Addiction to Alcoholism , both in asserting the seriousness of the problem and in developing treatment methods. Feminist objections Feminist critics of pornography, such as Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon , generally consider it demeaning to women. They believe that most pornography eroticizes the Domination , Humiliation , and Coercion of women, reinforces sexual and cultural attitudes that are complicit in Rape and Sexual Harassment , and contributes to the male-centered Objectification of women. Some feminists distinguish between pornography and Erotica , which they say does not have the same negative effects of pornography. However, many Third-wave Feminists and Postmodern Feminists disagree with this critique of porn, claiming that appearing in or using pornography can be explained as each individual woman's choice, and is not guided by socialization in a capitalist patriarchy. Effect on sex crimes A lower per capita crime rate and historically high availability of pornography in many developed European countries (e.g. Netherlands , Sweden ) has led a growing majority to conclude that there is an inverse relationship between the two, such that an increased availability of pornography in a society equates to a decrease in sexual crime.8 Some researchers speculate that wide availability of pornography may reduce crimes by giving potential offenders a socially accepted way of regulating their own sexuality. Moreover, there is some evidence that states within the U.S. that have lower rates of internet access have a greater incidence of rape.9 Japan , which is noted for its large output of Rape Fantasy Pornography , has the lowest reported sex crime rate in the Industrialized world. However, some argue that reported sex crime rates are low in Japan because the culture (a culture that greatly emphasizes a woman's "honor") is such that victims of sex crime are less likely to report it (e.g. Chikan 10). Effect on sexual aggression In the 70's and 80's, feminists such as Dr. Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin criticized pornography as essentially dehumanizing women and as likely to encourage violence against them. It has been suggested that there was an alliance, tacit or explicit, between Anti-porn Feminists and Fundamentalist Christians to help censor the use of or production of pornography.11 |
|
|