One important issue is the impact of pornography on those who use it. Arguments have been advanced on both sides of the question of whether and how pornography is helpful or harmful. Pornography can provide an endless variety of sexual fantasy material for arousal during masturbation without the potential of being rejected, being criticized by […]

Graphic sexual images have become so ubiquitous that many university literature, film, anthropology, law, and women’s studies departments offer "porn curriculum" courses that delve into pornography issues (Cullen, 2006). The mainstreaming of aspects of pornography and sex work into U. S. culture is so prevalent that author Ariel Levy has described today’s culture as "raunch […]

The ease of access and privacy afforded by cable television and the VCR, followed closely by the Internet and mobile wireless devices, has extended access to pornography to people who previously would not have gone to an adult movie theater or bookstore. This increase in availability may be especially true for women, who comprise one […]

SEX & POLITiCS Pornography as Social Criticism Sex for Sale What Constitutes Obscenity? The 1957 Supreme Court decision defined obscenity in order to implement censorship. It established the following three criteria for evaluating obscenity: 1. The dominant theme of the work as a whole must appeal to prurient interest in sex. 2. The work must […]

Pictorial and written representations of sexuality are not modern inventions; even prehistoric cave drawings depict sexual activity. The ancient Indian love manual Kama Sutra, dating from about 400 CE, summarized philosophies of sexuality and spirituality in its descriptions of specific sexual techniques. Ancient Greek and Roman societies extensively used sexual themes to decorate housewares and […]

Child pornography is excluded from the First Amendment protection of free speech. The production, sale, and distribution of sexual images of children under the age of 18 are illegal under numerous federal and state laws. Even offering to provide or request­ing to obtain child pornography carries a mandatory 5-year prison sentence (Sherman, 2008) . Federal […]

Straight, gay, and lesbian porn are broad categories that do not begin to include the enormous variety of sexually explicit topics. Specialty pornography "is a mighty testa­ment to the infinite variety of human imagination" (Hanus, 2006b, p. 59). It caters to the wide range of interests in bondage and discipline; sadomasochism fetishes; trans­gender, pregnant, old/mature, […]

Sexually explicit films developed for heterosexual, gay, or lesbian consumers differ < in some of their general characteristics. Much of straight porn is based on a formula of close-up views of various positions of intercourse and oral and anal sex. Two 5 women having sex, threesomes, and group sex are often part of the formula. […]

A subtype of sexually explicit materials is erotica. Erotica can be either soft — or hard­core, but it is a distinct kind of pornography, regardless of how explicit the material is. The word erotica is rooted in eros, or "passionate love" (Steinem, 1998). Erotica consists of "depictions of sexuality which display mutuality, respect, affection, and […]

The term pornography refers to any written, visual, or spoken material depicting sex­ual activity or genital exposure that is intended to be sexually arousing. Pornography is usually considered hard-core when explicit images of genitals are shown, whereas soft-core stops short of revealing genitals. We can separate pornography into two addi­tional categories. Degrading pornography objectifies and […]