...Rondella Legay-1022111 * Merissa Prescott-1021456 * Danielle Swain-1007423 Should Freedom of Expression extend to Pornography? The fight continues from institutions to focus groups, media houses and the press, individuals from the streets to the highest of Law making bodies around the world and even in Guyana are fighting for freedom of expression. Everyone seems to have a desire to express themselves freely and without interference, to say what’s on their minds and how they feel on specific matters that concerns them. In addition, laws are also made to protect one’s right to express oneself freely, but to extend this lawful right to pornography is the worse decision that can ever be made by any constitution or law. The Williams Committee defined pornography as sexually explicit representation which has the function or intention of sexually arousing its audience, and according to the Merriam Webster dictionary pornography can be in the form of movies, pictures, magazines, etc., that show or describe naked people or sex in a very open and direct way in order to cause sexual excitement. Pornography appears to have few friends in high places. Governments generally censor and restrict it. Most religions abominate it and others seem at least to frown upon it. Academics for the most part find it distasteful, if not offensive or even heinous. Pornography over the years has been viewed taboo, both in subject and in content. Almost all cultures across the world have sects within...
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...Internet Pornography: Freedom of Press or Dangerous Influence? The topic of pornography is controversial many times because of the various definitions which each have different contexts. Is it nudity, sexual intercourse, art, or all of these? Is it magazines, videos, or pictures? For the purposes of this paper, pornography will be defined as any material that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement. With all of the arguments presented in this paper, it seems only a vague definition of this type can be applicable to all views on the subject. Pornography on the Internet has brought about difficulties pertaining to censorship. All of the arguments in this paper can be divided into one of two categories: those whose aim is to allow for an uncensored Internet, and those who wish to completely eliminate pornography from the Internet all together. All arguments for an uncensored Internet all cite the basic rights offree speech and press. While arguments in this paper are international, almost everyone of them cites the First Amendment of the United States. In many of the papers it is implied that the United States sets precedent for the rest of the world as far as laws governing the global world of the Internet. Paul F. Burton, an Information Science professor and researcher, gives many statistics showing that presence of pornography on the Internet is not necessarily a bad thing. He gives one example that shows that "47% of the 11,000" most...
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...Masha Shkuro Alves Honors English 10 09.01.15 Pornography Pornography influences everyone in one way or another. Though plenty of people do not view it themselves, it is impossible to escape the dreaded clickbaits and spam emails proclaiming sexy singles in your area. With the topic of pornography, many questions may arise. Is porn harmful? Does it pose a negative effect on people who indulge in it? Pornography has an unjustified negative stigma, despite contradicting evidence. This stigma came about due to a lack of education on the topic, and assumptions made as a result of that lack of knowledge. The subject of pornography is a peculiar one, seeing as it is not something the average person can typically discuss with their parents during dinner. I have always been deeply fascinated by pornography. However, my fascination lies not with the content, but with the science and logic that creates a “need” for porn. I believe that the majority of people vastly lack an education on and make general assumptions about porn. In addition, I love to learn and educate on myself on topics like evolution, of which the main goal is reproduction and the transfer of genes down to proceeding generations. This means that overall, the main goal of life is sex. Pornography is a word that is difficult to define. In past times, it was “used broadly to refer to sexually explicit words or images. Today, the meaning of the term has been narrowed somewhat to describe sexually explicit material...
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...Overview: Our Research Topic Be it in film, magazines or even fiction, pornography has always been a controversial topic. It is many things to many people: a guilty pleasure, a shameful addiction, a stress relief, foreplay, an obscene creation or even a vulgar pastime. However, as time passes, pornography is becoming decreasingly taboo, and this could result in a significant impact on societal values and perceptions. Introduction: Questions and Objectives Long has there been war between those who are for pornography and those against it. Is pornography harmful or harmless? Just what are the effects of pornography on society? Is it just simply a harmless way to release pent-up lust or does it play a big role in shaping society? Could minutes of watching pornography a day affect society in a big way - say for instance, the rates of sexual crimes like rape, molest and sexual harassment? In this essay, we will attempt to prove that there is a strong and direct correlation between pornography and sexual crimes by critically examining the arguments provided before we draw a conclusion. Our hypothesis is that, indeed, increased pornography viewer-ship will cause a rise in sexual crimes. This is an easy conclusion to draw, as one would expect those who frequent pornography to be more sexually imaginative, active and accepting as compared to people who would normally not watch pornography. We are tackling this topic by firstly examining the research done...
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...THE ETHICS OF PORNOGRAPHY CATHERINE ECHOLS SOC 120: INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INSTRUCTOR: LYNN MA FEBUARY 20, 2014 THE ETHICS OF PORNOGRAPHY While pornography being around since the ancient times, where do the ethics come in. People say that it is either bad taste or freedom of speech. While others say it degrades the sexes, and it violates the civil rights of men, women, and children around the world. Let us just say that it is your wedding night, the whole day was perfect you think you married the man of your dreams and you are very happy and in love. The time has come to start your honeymoon, and you and your husband have decided to take a beautiful vacation. You finally get to your hotel room and you are getting ready to make it official and consummate your marriage. You husband has a request though, he asks you to watch a porno with him before bed? You are wondering what, we just got married, and why would he be asking you this. He never asked you to do this before; you did not even realize that he watched this stuff. You think to yourself how any person can watch this it is disgusting. You think...
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...Pornography falls under speech that is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. McKinnon argues that pornography allows depiction of male dominance and female subordination and reinforces misogyny. Under this interpretation of legal feminism pornography should be outlawed to ensure sexist values do not continue to be displayed and grown. The protection of pornography is another avenue that traffickers use in order to make money off of their victims both of age and under age. Pornography gives no benefit to society except for the pockets of businesses who sell the product in mass quantities. The Trafficking Victims Protections Act of 2000 (TVPA) was the first national legislation enacted to fight human trafficking within the United...
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...The word “pornography” has caused a lot of arguments lately. Some people think that pornography is good, some think it is bad and some simple do not know what to think for they do not completely understand what is the exact definition of pornography. Whether it is a perversion or not is not even the issue. The issue is that the moment these films start being exposed to large audience they start hurting the morality of the society and degrade the men’s attitude towards women. So, should it be banned? Pornography videotapes are popular and available as they have never been before or may be also called “home pornography”. Such video pornography is usually sold or rented and often include extra-violent tapes where women are hurt by being penetrated by unhealthy objects, raped, and forced to do humiliating things. So, basically saying, the tapes include obviously illegal acts of a sexual character. In such tapes women are depicted as sex objects for the satisfaction of men’s primitive sexual needs and entrained into degenerate conversations. Such hard-core pornography shows women being raped by several men or even beaten. It comes as no surprise that there are even pornography motion pictures having the NC-17 rating and TV pornography that is on special pornography channels on cable television. And the worst thing is that such channels are almost never censored and may contain any type of violence. Internet pornography is a separate case for it has everything listed above. Cyber-porn...
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...In “Pornography, Obscenity, and the Case for Censorship,” author Irving Kristol starts rather boldly by writing, “Being frustrated is disagreeable, but the real disasters in life begin when you get what you want,” (Kristol 505). In this case, what we want, inferred by the reader, is porn, and the disasters, Kristol argues, is the collapse of civil society. His stance on pornography and censorship is made even more clear throughout the essay. He incorporates extreme examples, such as comparing gladiators fighting in an arena to pornography; thoughts on the subject written by scholars before him, such as D.H. Lawrence, C.S. Lewis, and Norman O. Brown; and he addresses counter arguments and concerns before dissecting and disproving them. After presenting his argument Kristol urges the reader to agree with him. He writes, “if you care for the quality of life in our American democracy, then you have to be for censorship,” (Kristol 513). An intense, almost intimidating, call to action for a topic that many believe to be trivial....
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...Negative Effects of Pornography on Society The opinion of most people today is that pornography is harmless and that there are no real harmful effects that result from it. The truth is, we all can be affected by pornography, and the sexual messages our society is exposed to. Pornography and the messages it conveys have a direct effect in shaping attitudes and encouraging behavior that can harm, not only individuals who view it but also their families as well. Pornography is often viewed in secret, which creates deception within marriages that can lead to divorce in some cases. When one develops a lifestyle dedicated to pornography, they can become a victim to the unforeseen side effects that come with it. In conclusion, pornography, violent and non-violent, legal or illegal can not only lead to rape but pornography is also incredibly harmful and destructive to marriages. Pornography ultimately undermines male respect for women. Men no longer see women for their personality; they only see them for the body and physical appearance. This reduces women to being viewed only as a sexual commodity. In today’s modern age the Internet makes pornography very accessible. According to recent statistics, sites like Playboy.com get about 5 million hits daily. Hundreds of new pornography sites are created every day. One major issue with the ease of access to such sites is that viewers of any age can utilize them. The problem with the general opinion of pornography is, since it can only...
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...Pornography on Public Library Computers An Ethical Controversy by Bret Clancy Ever since the fall of man the seed of immorality has continued to grow, adapt, and morph like the influenza virus. Pornography is one of those immoral viruses that persistently sicken societies. Scientists continue to make vaccines against the illness and while some are more effective than others, none of them have ever cured the illness. The same can be said of pornography. Defining pornography is not black and white. There are a variety of definitions for pornography and some definitions are used by individuals to help their cases when taking legal action. Merriam-Webster defines pornography as, “the depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction” (merriam-webster.com). Merriam-Webster describes pornography in a docile manner making it appear inviting. The Oxford dictionary defines pornography in a more intense visual cue of the actual intent. The definition states pornography is, “printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate sexual excitement” (oxforddictionaries.com). Dictionary.com defines pornography as, “obscene writings, drawings, photographs, or the like, especially those having little or no artistic merit” (dictionary.reference.com). They appeal to the artistic aspect of pornography by stating that pornography is not art because of the obscene nature...
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...the rise of cellphones, tablets and laptops children everywhere can view obscenity in the matter of seconds. With ad’s displaying sexy woman or men only heightens the curiosity of child. With an internet connection pornographic matter can be accessed with a click of a button. Consequently, it is essential to acknowledge the fact that the pornography industry is growing and expanding day by day. A good number of internet sites on Google display pornographic material. The modern controversy on whether pornography should be government-censored or not could be attributed to the fact that the internet is so much saturated with the obscene matter. On the other hand, different people hold different views on pornography, for instance, others take it as a form of entertainment, whereas others maintain that it is immoral. As a result, various arguments have been raised that advocate for the need of the government to regulate the consumption as well as the production of obscene matter. This paper aims to present significant views on the impact of pornography on the society and the need for government censorship. How long has pornography existed? Pornography in at all shapes and forms have been around for centuries. In an Article called “Sex and sensibility at the British Museum.” By David Gaimster states,...
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... Rape, Pornography and Sexual Violence When you hear about a person being raped in the news, your mind begins to think of the type of person who could commit such a violent sexual crime against another person. The perpetrator of this act usually wants to feel powerful and be controlling over another person. There could be any number of reasons a person needs to dominate another, one of the biggest reasons is, because they may have been sexually abused as a child or teenager. We ask ourselves could pornographic materials be the cause of the rape. In 1989, Susie Bright, a supporter of erotica for women gave a public lecture to defend pornography against recent attacks. Bright talked about whether or not pornography causes rape. Her view that it does cause rape as, “the devil made him do it.” To believe that pornography causes rape, we must accept that we are letting the rapist off the hook. If we indicate that the pornography caused the rape, then we cannot also say, that it was the rapist who caused the rape (Adams). The most important charge against pornography, that it incites sexual aggression. Although rape statistics suggest otherwise, some experts believe the consumption of pornography may actually reduce the desire to rape by offering a safe, private outlet for their deviant sexual desires. Rape from a moral standpoint, is simply a more extreme form of a desire to use and objectify others who are at the root of the pornography industry (Darwin, 2012)...
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...Child pornography, also known as Paedophilia is one of these problems. Any one person can find child pornography on the internet with just a few clicks of the mouse using any search engine. Despite webmaster's and law enforcement officials' efforts to control child pornography and shut down illegal sites, new sites are posted using several ways to mask their identity. The Internet provides a new world for curious children. It offers entertainment, opportunities for education, information and communication. The Internet is a tool that opens a window of opportunities. As Internet use grows, so do the risks of children being exposed to inappropriate material, in particular, criminal activity by paedophiles and child pornographers. Many children first come in contact with the Internet at a very young age. Some children become victims of child pornography through close relatives who may have abused them. Some children become involved with chat services or newsgroup threads. It is usually through these sites that they meet child pornographers. Children may be asked to send explicit pictures of themselves taken either by a digital camera or scanned from a polaroid. The pornographer will then post the pictures on their web site, sometimes hiding them through encryption, steganography or password protecting them using a javascript or applet. Certain efforts have been made to control child pornography through...
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... There is a variety of responses received from people regarding the subject of pornography. It depends on how people perceive the subject depending on their information about the topic, their personal experiences, and through the things they come across in their every day encounters that are filtered through their senses, personality, attitudes and values that they have acquired from their lives in society and in their respective cultures. To better understand this discussion, background on the subject being written will be laid out. The Merriam – Webster dictionary defines pornography as the depiction of erotic behavior which can be in pictures, videos or writing intended to cause sexual excitement. Another definition states that it is a material that depicts erotic behavior with the same intent as the previous definition. It may also be the depiction of acts in a sensational manner as to arouse a quirk intense emotional reaction. Therefore, pornography can be in any form which depicts erotic behavior to cause sexual and emotional excitement. The authors have generated their own personal definition of pornography: “Pornography may be defined as the ‘explicit’ depiction, through any sort of medium, of sexual activity with the primary purpose of stimulating sexual excitement and pleasure.” (Gabaldon, Manlunas and Sandejas, 2009) Pornography roots from the Greek word, pornographos which means ‘to write about prostitutes’ or depiction...
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...Chapter 22 COMPUTER CRIME: PORNOGRAPHY, FRAUD, HACKING AND GAMBLING CHAPTER SUMMARY The Internet, a relatively recent phenomenon, has caused a change in how laws may or may not apply to formerly traditional situations. Furthermore, the Internet has allowed criminals to perpetrate crimes that could not exist but for cyberspace. Chapter 22 examines computer crime and the statutes enacted to combat this growing problem as well as the erosion of our personal privacy. Freedom of speech, online gambling and cybermedicine issues are also examined in light of contemporary applications and influences resulting from the Internet. CHAPTER OUTLINE I. COMPUTER CRIME AND CYBERCRIME A. Definitions 1. Computer crime consists of crimes involving: • Computers • Computer systems • Computer applications. 2. Cybercrime consists of computer crime that takes place in cyberspace 3. The Internet facilitates a number of opportunities for crimes to occur. 4. Typical cybercrime abuses include: • Hacking • Spreading of viruses • Fraud • IP theft • Appropriation of trade secrets • Defamation B. The USA Patriot Act, 2001 1. The USA Patriot Act provided significant new powers to federal law enforcement agencies. ...
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