Pornography

Pornography, or porn, is the depiction of explicit sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual excitement. Pornography is often targeted by certain groups for censorship. These groups feel that pornography is immoral and offensive, and, in some cases, blasphemous. In all cases, however, it isn't necessarily a particular group working towards censorship; in the case of child pornography, which is illegal, the majority of the public supports complete censorship. In the world of ever advancing technology, it is now possible to virtually generate pornography with 3D characters, including fictional characters, "furries", or semblance of children. This raises new ethical issues for the role of censorship, as in the case of Virtual Child Pornography. No child has been involved in the making of such material, and the ethicality of viewing is based on the viewer and the image rather than the process of production.

History

The history of pornography dates back as early as prehistoric times, but the concept of pornography as we know it today has been strongly influenced by the values of the Victorian era, and although controversial at the time, it was not illegal for individuals to own pornographic materials. Instead, during the nineteenth century it was illegal to create and distribute such materials. Mass distributed pornography came hand in hand with the advent of the printing press.

In 2017, popular pornographic site Pornhub released a sex education portal on their website. The company teamed with famous sex therapist, Dr. Laurie Betito, to create the Sexual Wellness Center. The portal provides advice and information on a variety of sexual topics, including information about sexually transmitted diseases and safe sex practices. Dr. Betiti hosts a weekly Q&A session, taking and answering questions from viewers.

Types of Pornography

1. Visual Pornography

• Pornographic Pictures
  • This category may include adult magazines and internet websites. Pornography that falls under this category has a wide distribution and is easily available.
• Pornographic Videos
  • This category may include distributable video (i.e.: VHS, DVD, etc) and internet websites. Pornography that falls under this category has a lower physical availability (i.e.: physical video pornography is available at adult bookstores and similar adult themed shops), although, it has a high availability via the internet.

2. Audio Pornography

• Phone Sex
  • This category involves services where patrons interact, over the phone, with an operator.
• Recorded Erotic Readings
  • This category involves recorded reading of erotic texts.

3. Virtual Pornography

• With the advancement of computer generated images, pornography can be virtually generated. In this sphere of pornography, effectively anything can be visualized.

See Virtual Child Pornography.

Child Pornography is illegal in the United States.

4. Child Pornography

• Child Pornography, also known as kiddie porn, in the United States is pornography where at least one of the models/actors/etc is under 18 years of age.
• Legality
  • In the United States, and many other countries, child pornography is culturally and strictly illegal. Convictions of possession have large penalties (including hefty fines and jail time), and convictions of manufacturing or distributing, or in any other way creating child pornography, lead to even more serious punishments.

For the legality, see Virtual Child Pornography.

• In 2001 a club called the "Wonderland Club" was created by a group of pedophiles who traded images of children on the Internet.
  • The group consisted of 7 men who had very easy access to sexual images of children, a way to contact each other, and promote child pornography
  • Because these pictures are on the internet, they can remain there for a very long time, which leads to the continuation of the abuse the children are already getting from these images.
• Can encourage new modes of sexual expression while also encouraging, negatively, abusive behavior.
• Today, kids are able to quickly and easily share photographs of themselves, that they have personally taken, with their friends via internet and multimedia text message. The laws surrounding the prosecution of minors involved in child pornography are still being developed as they emerge in the U.S. judicial system.

Sub-categories of Pornography

• 1. Fetish Pornography: Involves the arousal people receive from a certain idea or situation.
• 2. Amateur Pornography: Involves actors performing sexual acts without pay.
• 3. Reality Pornography: Involves staged scenes of sexual acts that are usually set up with a story line.
• 4. Softcore Pornography: Involves sexual acts that are less explicit than hardcore pornography.
• 5. Sexual Orientation based Pornography: Involves same sex members or transgendered individuals participating in sexual acts.
• 6. Voyeurism: Involves the use of hidden cameras to capture various body parts.

Ethics of Pornography

The ethical implications of pornography are tough to gauge. Many factors such as religion and morals determine whether or not individuals believe pornography is ethically acceptable. Many concerns over pornography steam from its availability on the World Wide Web. Certain features such as content control helps to control the access of pornography which can prevent underage kids from wandering onto adult sites.

The real debates behind pornography stem from underlying values of each citizen. Material can be accessed both publicly and privately, and this has some people concerned. Those in favor or keeping regulation of pornography say that it goes against freedom of expression, and that citizens should be allowed to do as they please. What one person finds appalling, another may find attractive or inviting. There are already controls in place, and internet users have every right to use those controls if they so please.

There are also some people who believe the pornography industry needs further regulations put in place argue that the liberty of some persons must be restricted in order to prevent harm to others. These are the same people that say the current regulations are too liberal and the ways around the controls are easy to get around, especially in our technologically advanced society. Some activists go so far as to say the dignity of humans should be respected.

This dilemma is beginning to take some strides to a solution as more government and private companies and organizations involve themselves. As of December 6, 2011 various news agencies, such as CNN, reported that certain domain names would be change to .xxx. They claimed this would be similar to .edu and .org sites that enlighten users to what content will be found on the site. Some hardcore activists argue that say this is a step in the wrong direction, as it just encourages the production and distribution of pornography.

Ethics of Pornography rooted in Feminism

Erika Lust directing a pornographic film.

From a feminist perspective, pornography can pose great ethical dilemmas to women involved and women in society. Some feminists declare pornography that involve women to be liberating and non-oppressive. In their opinion, pornography that includes women supports women's sexual rights, giving women agency and power to exercise how they want to control their own bodies and sexuality. Other feminists disagree, believing that pornography objectifies women's bodies and reduces their ability to exercise with agency. In other words, some groups believe that pornography is ethical in providing more power to women, while others believe the opposite.

As a response to this ethical dilemma, some women have turned towards directing and producing pornographic films. One example is Erika Lust, who is trying to change the current power dynamics in traditional pornographic films away from the "male gaze" or the objectification and overt sexualization of women.. She recognizes the ethical dilemmas present in pornography. Instead of over-focusing on women's sexualization, she uses her films to educate women about their bodies and human sexuality.. As more female directors join, perhaps this can help alleviate some of the ethical issues surrounding this issue.

Accessibility and Censorship

The shift in greater society from analog to digital media introduced the presence of the long tail in today’s online porn industry, which has contributed to the making of all derivatives of sexuality accessible from any media platform. While porn is clearly a popular commodity, there are all sorts of fetishes that consumers have (Paasonen) and they want to realize these desires through their laptops, smartphones, tablets and other computing devices. It therefore makes all too much sense for pornography distributors to offer porn catering to simply any kink imaginable on any device imaginable, because odds are someone on some device would be interested in viewing it and purchasing it. While today’s media patrons want to use the technology they have at their fingertips to get their hands on sexual content, censorship and regulating sexual content is still an aspect of net pornography. Unlike analog forms that regulated content by simply not supplying it, some digital pornography files and websites are made less accessible to users.

Objections to Pornography

Anti-Pornography Feminism

Anti-Porn UK holds a successful protest outside of a newly opened Playboy store. Their campaign is called "Bin the Bunny".

Since the mid-1970s, feminist groups have voiced objections and complaints against pornography. These groups argue that pornography objectifies and degrades women who participate in these films and media. Their main points target pornography's heavy focus on participating women's sexual violence and exploitation. Since most of the viewers are male , these groups argue that male viewers then internalize the violent, pornographic images of women being abused and sexualized. This internalization ultimately helps normalize such images, giving the perception that it is okay to commit violence and forced sexual acts on women in real life.

Several groups have been organized in objection towards pornography. These include: Women Against Violence Against Women, Women Against Violence in Pornography, and Media and Women Against Pornography etc. These groups strive and continue to organize individual and group efforts in protest of all pornography involving women .

See Also

• Censorship
• Girls Around Me
• Human Flesh Search
• Kay Mathiesen
• Phototruth
• Virtual Child Pornography
• Virtual Reality and Computer Simulations - Philip Brey

References

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