Is a proposed pornography ban in Europe properly progressive or merely masturbatory?
The European Union parliament is voting on a report calling for a ban on “all forms of pornography”, based on the premise that this will halt the oppression of women.
This is confusing on several levels.
First off, I honestly cannot imagine they mean “all forms of pornography”. Nobody I’ve ever seen use that phrase has had any conception of how many forms of pornography are out there, making the world a more orgasmic place. Usually what they mean is “heterosexual and lesbian video and magazine porn of ostensibly vanilla nature and curiously specific genre conventions marketed specifically to straight men via certain known marketing channels”. Which I guess they intend to ban in all its forms.
Dr. Brooke Maganti, who tends to know whereof she speaks, criticizes British support for this idea thusly:
Compare and contrast with Lib Dem peer Floella Benjamin’s uninformed remarks about an ‘epidemic’ of violent online porn leading people on a “seemingly unstoppable march into a moral wasteland”. Let me guess… she based her conclusions on the Lib Dem-commissioned Bailey report on sexualisation, which contained no evidence to support that erroneous assumption? Or the equally logic-free earlier report from the Labour government? That’s assuming she did research at all past shock-horror headlines running rampant through Fleet Street like a bad case of herpes.
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She’s got a point. Most of the opposition to pornography comes from a basic squick response, a visceral “ew!” that a lot of folks feel when they see porn, especially the real freaky stuff. And you know what—that’s a totally legitimate response. People have a right to dislike smut all they like. Mind you, most of the opposition to gay rights has been based on the exact same squick response, so I don’t think its political history is what you’d call unbesmirched.
More to the point, history is rife with porn bans. Religious, political, moral, legal and illegal. My personal favorite is the ridiculous reign of Anthony Comstock, which would be hilarious except for the suicides. And yet history is markedly lacking in eras that didn’t have porn.
There is a strong argument to be made that banning pornography is morally wrong, a grotesque abridgement of free speech and a cruel denial of human need. You can absolutely argue that attempting to deny human sexuality in all its rich diversity is a dangerously common form of oppression that too often lays the groundwork for worse abuses to follow. I have a lot of sympathy for those arguments, but I can’t help but feel like they’re unnecessary. After all; if we know for a fact that a policy doesn’t work worth a damn, why is there any serious debate about enacting it?
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If after observing something you are uncomfortable with (as in porn) your response is that it should be prohibited (which is impossible) you’re really just saying you don’t want to talk about what it means and why it makes your uncomfortable. It’s not important whether porn should or shouldn’t be *allowed* – what’s important is why people use it and how it affects us.. but anyone that wants to ban it doesn’t want to have that discussion. The best way to get people to change their behavior is not through force but through honest discussion and questioning of an issue.… Read more »
Define pornography. This may sound a bit trite, however it has not proven to be that easy in the past. Don’t forget that the UK actually still has the same obscenity laws now that it ad in the 1960’s when porn was supposedly illegal, and yet somehow pornography has not only slipped through the net (and so does not somehow corrupt the viewer) but has mainstreamed. I would place a wager that more than half of the people reading this can name an adult film star. For all of the posturing the UK has law in place to deal with… Read more »
And this is exactly why I object to the argument “I have nothing to hide therefore I don’t mind if the government is spying on me”. Because in any country at any time in history, you’re only one legislative act away from being on the wrong side of the law, whether it’s watching a bit of mild porn or holding a particular political or religious opinion.
I support the ban. The porn world is running wild, even porn directors admit they have no idea where it’s going, other than more and more extreme. It will be good to slow it down. I don’t buy the free speech / libertarian bend.
Ban porn and yet the majority of porn will still be made (sexting). What do they do then, lock up happily married couples turning each other on?
As a good anti-communitarian, I believe that the best society is libertarianism at the individual and group level, and socialism at the government and business level. Things like porn-bans, of course, are a distraction because they do what communitarianism usually does: focus inappropriately on control of individual behavior as a distraction from really controlling the big interests in society. Europe has too much of this stuff, but I still hold out hope for the US.
Well damn … there’s two of us?
Make that three of us.
Usually what they mean is “heterosexual and lesbian video and magazine porn of ostensibly vanilla nature and curiously specific genre conventions marketed specifically to straight men via certain known marketing channels”. Which I guess they intend to ban in all its forms. Not necessarily. If the ban would be based upon MacKinnon/Dworkin-style feminist indictments of pornography, then any kind of pornography could or should be banned, because presumably any and all kinds of pornography are infected and co-opted by patriarchy and heteronormativity and such, no matter what the advertised orientation of the material. Is pornography always wrong in MacKinnon’s view?… Read more »
A quick demonstration of just how crazy McKinnon is was her marriage to one of the biggest narcissists our age has had to offer. A busted creep meter for sure.
I presume you are referring to MacKinnon’s engagement to Jeffrey Masson? But from what I heard, they never married and the association ended between them. Masson went on to marry some German doctor. MacKinnon refuses to discuss the relationship at all. I don’t know anything about Masson’s personal behavior or him being a narcissist. Though he did once threaten some people who criticized MacKinnon’s books.
QED. I couldn’t remember his name and was too lazy to google. I’ve heard Dworkin speak, and the speech was pure mysandric fascism. Some of her books are a bit better. Her memoir was actually touching, and made her seem human. But she certainly engaged in hate-speech when speaking.
Hey, Dworkin’s guy was pretty interesting, though John Stoltenberg . Think his title was Refusing to be a Man. Fascinating read.
Nicely put.
This proposed ban may just be a bit of grandstanding. Please, don’t anyone think that American politicians are the only ones who pimp themselves for media attention. It’s a not uncommon ploy in politics to propose something that has very little chance of ever happening, but the proposal makes you look good and it makes the opposition look like monsters. For example, in the U.S. we have the usual flag-burning amendment proposal (what’s wrong with that, do you hate America?) and the slavery reparations proposal (what, do you hate black people?) Sometimes it’s even better for you if you DON’T… Read more »
Might I suggest one follows the money?
Could you elaborate a little? For example, is there more money to be made fighting porn than is generated by porn?
Hey WOT Well, I hadn’t wanted to get into this because it is both complicated and murky. Usually with such things, the motivation lies in getting money. I simply suggested that this would be a profitable line of inquiry. So. You did ask, remember that. This tome was asked for, unlike the rest of my maunderings. Betcha it gets moderated for length. I’d approve that moderation personally . . . On the other hand I could NOT post it….. nahhhh, the moderators need to keep their skills sharp! Noah provides the link – text he used is “ban on “all… Read more »
I don’t live in Europe, but this certainly seems like the same old ‘pay attention to your Ew factor rather than what we’re doing with your taxes’ ploy.