|
Sexually Explicit Materials and the Internet, by Douglas Birsch
What is Pornography?
While obscenity is offensive and low value sexually explicit
material, the term "pornography" is often used to pick out a
different subset of sexually explicit materials. Creating an
adequate account of pornographic material is as difficult as
identifying obscene material. While there are many competing
definitions, I endorse the account provided by Helen Longino in
her article "Pornography, Oppression, and Freedom: A Closer
Look."
13
She offers the following account: "Pornography, then, is
verbal or pictorial material which represents or describes sexual
behavior that is degrading or abusive to one or more of the
participants in such a way as to endorse the degradation."
14
She adds that, "The contextual features, moreover, which communicate
such endorsement are intrinsic to the material; that is, they are
features whose removal or alteration would change the
representation or description."
15
Pornography describes or
depicts violence or degradation of women in a context that
endorses the behavior. It describes or depicts women being raped,
beaten, tortured, bound, violated, or even killed, and sometimes
suggests that women enjoy such treatment. The description or
depiction does not take place in the context of bringing out the
harm or evil of such treatment, but instead the context offers an
explicit or implicit endorsement of the behavior.
There are
legal considerations
about pornography.
|