slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (09/10/85)
I have been catching up on my netnews after a vacation, and have
come across the debate on pornography in this newsgroup.
I probably wouldn't add my 2 cents, because lots of people have
said what I believe quite well. However, I noticed that most of
those people are male. Considering that this is net.women, I
think my duty is to add a woman's voice on that side.
I am absolutely against any censorship of any information whatsoever.
No matter how disgusting, how worthless, how silly, how potentially
harmful I may think it is. Pornography can be all of those things.
But that is not the point. The point is freedom. I have seen
women gain so much during my lifetime. Much of that gain was aided
by our freedom in this country to get information to others. If
censorship is started, one of the first books to go (and this has
already been attempted in some places) would be "Our Bodies, Ourselves".
Once the machinery to ban materials is in place, you can bet that
it will be taken over by those with their own purposes--which will
not be to aid feminism.
I'm not sure whether written materials promote violence. I have
only one experience with such a case. A man in a mental hospital
where some friends of mine worked was there because he had read a
verse in the Bible which said something about making oneself a eunuch
for Christ. He proceeded to do just that with a razor blade.
By the reasoning of some, this proves that the Bible is a dangerous
book, and should be banned. Not being a Christian, I might agree
with the first statement (:-). But no book should ever be banned
just because some sick person takes it wrong.
Yes, there is violence in much literature, and in much of the rest
of the media. But that is because there is violence in life. Art
follows life--not the other way around.
I would rather be free to read and think as I like, knowing there
are people who may think of me as a sex object, than to have no
one think of me that way, and be restricted in my mental horizons.
I have discovered that outer obstacles are easier to surmount than
inner ones.
--
Sue Brezden
Real World: Room 1B17 Net World: ihnp4!drutx!slb
AT&T Information Systems
11900 North Pecos
Westminster, Co. 80234
(303)538-3829
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your god may be dead, but mine aren't.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~smann@iham1.UUCP (Sherry Mann) (09/16/85)
I want to stick my 2 cents worth in too, as a woman and as someone concerned about both pornography and censorship. I am completely against censorship. The debate raging here seems to take as a given that feminists want to censor pornography. I consider myself a feminist. What I'd like to see, is an increase in awareness among the people in our society that pornography is degrading to women and promotes sexist attitudes, is exploitive of women, etc., so that individuals in our society no longer condone pornography. It is the change in attitudes that is important. I suggest anyone wanting to debate this subject first read an article written by Gloria Steinham which offers a very reasoned, intelligent essay on the subject. It can be found in her book "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions" which I highly recommend as a very good read. I am not going to claim that Gloria Steinham's views reflect all of the feminist movement, but I do think that anyone talking about what feminists are trying to do, such as banning or censoring pornography, try reading her. Honest, she is an extremely intelligent women, and if not THE spokesperson for the women's movement, certainly a leader. Another article in the book I found to be very interesting, and related to this was based on an interview with Linda Lovelace.
mfs@mhuxr.UUCP (SIMON) (09/17/85)
> What I'd like to see, is an increase in awareness among the > people in our society that pornography is degrading to women > and promotes sexist attitudes, is exploitive of women, etc., > so that individuals in our society no longer condone > pornography. It is the change in attitudes that is > important. > Would you care to back up these assertions with some facts? All the data I have seen suggests *possibly* some *tenuous* links between viewing *violence* and increased aggressivity toward women. Non violent *pornography* *apparently* has not effect on aggressivity The starred words should indicate that there is a lack of consensus in the academic community on the effects of pornography. Marcel Simon
smann@iham1.UUCP (Sherry Mann) (09/18/85)
> > What I'd like to see, is an increase in awareness among the > > people in our society that pornography is degrading to women > > and promotes sexist attitudes, is exploitive of women, etc., > > so that individuals in our society no longer condone > > pornography. It is the change in attitudes that is > > important. > > > Would you care to back up these assertions with some facts? OK, having cited Gloria Steinham, I'd first like to refer you to her article for the definition of pornography I was using. I keep forgetting the nature of this media (and the people using it). Where I speak from feelings, the people in this environment want facts. No, I'm not going to back up my assertions with facts. Instead, for you, I am going to label my assertion differently. I believe, and I think many women feel this way, that certain pornography is degrading to and exploitive of women and promotes sexist attitudes. I believe that there is an attitude in our society that condones this pornography and does not believe it is harmful. I would like to see this attitude change. The way I think it can change is for society to begin to understand how many women feel about pornography and to accept their feelings as valid. I do not want to censor pornography. I want it to become less socially acceptable.
dick@ucsfcca.UUCP (Dick Karpinski) (09/22/85)
In article <446@iham1.UUCP> smann@iham1.UUCP (Sherry Mann) writes: > >I do not want to censor pornography. I want it to become >less socially acceptable. I would rather have it more acceptable. My wife and I enjoy many sexy things including erotica/pornography. We believe it has enriched our lives. We consider ourselves to support the movement of women toward achieving more power (feminism). We are sorry that some feel degraded. Some do not. Dick -- Dick Karpinski Manager of Unix Services, UCSF Computer Center UUCP: ...!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!cca.ucsf!dick (415) 666-4529 (12-7) BITNET: dick@ucsfcca Compuserve: 70215,1277 Telemail: RKarpinski USPS: U-76 UCSF, San Francisco, CA 94143