seifert@ihuxl.UUCP (D.A. Seifert) (02/15/84)
Pornography degrades people. Of both sexes. ( *Maybe* it degrades
females more than males, but let's not argue the point, ok?)
Maybe porno gives certain people an outlet for their sexual
feelings/frustrations/whatever, which allows them to *not*
commit sex-related crimes. On the other hand, it could work some
people up to the point of commiting a sex-related crime when they
wouldn't have otherwise.
So do we ban porno because it degrades people and might encourage
sex-crimes, or do we allow it because it might reduce sex-crimes?
If we are going to consider banning it, we have major problems
with "freedom of speech", and "who gets to decide what is obscene?"
Larry Flint, whatever we may think of him, does raise some
valid questions. What is obscene? Where do we draw the line?
Who do we allow to draw the line? How can we call sex obscene
but allow violence?
Is there some way to ban "Hustler" without banning "Playboy"?
Can we ban "Playboy" without banning some medical journal
which may contain 'explicit' photos?
The Bible contains stories involving sex. Do we ban the Bible?
Is allowing censorship worse than allowing porno?
I suspect that porno may reduce sex-crimes more than it increases
them. {Do we have any good solid evidence for/against this theory?}
If we can suffer a little degrading, but reduce the number of
rapes, this is a good trade-off. (choosing the lesser evil)
While I think we might be better off without some of the more
hard core stuff, I don't see any way of banning it without
opening the pandora's box of censorship.
--
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/_____\ "Happiness is a warm puppy"
/_______\ Snoopy
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____|___|_____ ihnp4!ihuxl!seifertajaym@ihu1h.UUCP (Jay Mitchell) (02/15/84)
I recently read an article which tried to explain (and actually did it quite well) the purpose, or at least the history, of pornography. It mentioned the fact that men are more visual when it comes to masturbation than women, hence pornography. That would also explain why 99% of porn films are geared to a male audience. The article did a pretty good job backing up its claims and though I havent decided if it is true, seem to understand what is being said. Thought I would throw this out for discussion. If they are correct, is it really degrading for men or women?
norskog@fortune.UUCP (Lance Norskog) (02/18/84)
Please read the article in the current "Film Quarterly"
by a woman who selects the erotic films for a cable TV station
in Washington, D.C. One of the fascinating things she said
was that the majority audience for porn TV is women, and that the
director of the Playboy channel said in public that the Playboy
channel is programmed with women in mind.
Lance C. Norskog
Fortune Systems, 101 Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood City, CA
{cbosgd,hpda,harpo,sri-unix,amd70,decvax!ihnp4,allegra}!fortune!norskog