Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Religious objections
A protest against an adult bookstore in Uniontown, Indiana, USASome religious
conservatives, such as Jerry Falwell, criticize pornography on moral grounds. They say
sex is reserved for married couples, to be used only as the Bible says, and assert that use
of pornography could lead to an overall increase in behavior considered to be sexually
immoral.
Feminist objections
Feminist positions on pornography are diverse. Some feminists, such as Diana
Russell, Andrea Dworkin, Catharine MacKinnon, Susan Brownmiller, Dorchen
Leidholdt, and Robin Morgan, argue that pornography is degrading to women, and
complicit in violence against women both in its production (where, they charge, abuse
and exploitation of women performing in pornography is rampant) and in its consumption
(where, they charge, pornography eroticizes the domination, humiliation, and coercion of
women, and reinforces sexual and cultural attitudes that are complicit in rape and sexual
harassment). Many feminists differentiate between different sorts of porn and may see
some as fairly harmless. Those that favour a complete ban on pornography are actually a
small minority, but they tend to receive more attention in the media. The majority of
feminists would consider porn to be a small issue.
The Supreme Court of Canada's 1992 ruling in R. v. Butler (the "Butler decision")
fueled further controversy, when the court decided to incorporate some elements of
Dworkin and MacKinnon's legal work on pornography into the existing Canadian
obscenity law. In Butler the Court held that Canadian obscenity law violated Canadian
citizens' rights to free speech under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms if
enforced on grounds of morality or community standards of decency; but that obscenity
law could be enforced constitutionally against some pornography on the basis of the
Charter's guarantees of sex equality. The Court's decision cited extensively from briefs
prepared by the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), with the support
and participation of Catharine MacKinnon. Andrea Dworkin opposed LEAF's position,
arguing that feminists should not support or attempt to reform criminal obscenity law.
Controversy between anti-pornography feminists and their critics grew when the
Canadian government raided and prosecuted Glad Day Bookshop, a gay bookstore in
Ontario, in its first obscenity prosecution under the Butler criteria. The bookstore was
prosecuted for selling copies of the lesbian sado-masochist magazine, Bad Attitude. In
1993, copies of Andrea Dworkin's book Pornography: Men Possessing Women were held
for inspection by Canadian customs agents [2], fostering an urban legend that Dworkin's
own books had also been banned from Canada under a law that she herself had promoted.
However, the Butler decision did not adopt the whole of Dworkin and MacKinnon's
ordinance; Dworkin did not support the decision; and the impoundment of her books
(which were released shortly after they were inspected) was a standard procedural
measure, unrelated to the Butler decision.
In Britain, the late 1970s saw a wave of radical feminism. Groups such as Women
Against Violence Against Women and Angry Women protested against the use of sexual
imagery in advertising and in cinema. Some members committed arson against sex shops.
However, this movement was short-lived. Its demise was prompted by counter-
demonstrations by black women and disabled women. Pornography was seen by the latter
as a very minor issue that had been prioritised by White middle-class women above the
discrimination that black women and/or disabled women were facing.
Feminist Criticism of the Anti-Pornography Position
Other feminists are against censorship; some describe themselves as sex-positive
feminists and criticize anti-pornography activism. They take a wide range of views
towards existing pornography: some view the growth of pornography as a crucial part of
the sexual revolution and they say has contributed to women's liberation; others view the
existing pornography industry as misogynist and rife with exploitation, but hold that
pornography could be and sometimes is feminist, and propose to reform or radically alter
the pornography industry rather than opposing it wholesale. They typically oppose the
theory of anti-pornography feminism -- which they accuse of selective handling of
evidence, and sometimes of being prudish or as intolerant of sexual difference -- and also
the political practice of anti-pornography feminism -- which is characterized as
censorship and accuse of complicity with conservative defenses of the oppressive sexual
status quo. Notable advocates of the position include sociologist Laura Kipnis, columnist
and editor Susie Bright, essayist and therapist Patrick Califia and porn actress and writer
Nina Hartley.