Slideshow from a seminar about ethic, social and legal issues surrounding pornography with emphasis on Internet pornography

1. DIGITAL SEX: Pornography and the Pornification of Society Colm Walsh CS6032/11

2. Introduction

3. Introduction Definition of Pornography Brief History of Sexual Revolution Debate on Pornography (US and Worldwide) Ethical Frameworks Feminism: Gender and The Gaze Internet Child Pornography Virtual Child Pornography

4. Defining Pornography

5. Defining Pornography Content-based Definitions

6. Defining Pornography Content-based Definitions Erotica: Sexually explicit; Non-degrading and non-violent portrayal of consensual sexual activity

7. Defining Pornography Content-based Definitions Degrading Pornography: Sexually explicit; Degrades, debases and dehumanizes people (generally women) in a fashion that endorses such degradation

8. Defining Pornography Content-based Definitions Violent Pornography: Sexually explicit; Depicts and endorses the utility and normativeness of sexual violence (usually directed by men against women)

9. Defining Pornography Content-based Definitions The definitions can be problematic Achieving agreement about whether material falls into into one or the other categories remains an unrealized objective

10. Reports on the Prevalence of Violent Pornography Conflicting and Inconsistent

11. Reports on the Prevalence of Violent Pornography Conflicting and Inconsistent Malamuth and Spinner (1980): Steady increase in sexual violence in Playboy and Penthouse across the 1970s Scott and Cuvelier(1993): Studied same magazines over same years and found that sexually violent images and cartoons were extraordinarily rare and even decreasing in frequency over time

12. Reports on the Prevalence of Violent Pornography Conflicting and Inconsistent Cowan et al. (1988): 51% of X-rated videos portrayed the rape of a woman Garcia and Milano (1991): Found vastly less sexual violence in such videos Palys (1986): Levels of sexual violence in X-rated videos had been declining across the decade under study

13. Reports on the Prevalence of Violent Pornography Conflicting and Inconsistent Barron and Kimmell(2000): High levels of sexual violence in sexually explicit magazines, videos and Internet sex story postings but at the same time the perpetrators of violence are usually or often women

14. Brief History of the Sexual Revolution

15. Brief History of the Sexual Revolution 1950s / 1960s: Traditional sexual norms and practices, including restrictions on production and consumption of pornography called into question

16. Brief History of the Sexual Revolution 1950s / 1960s: Traditional sexual norms and practices, including restrictions on production and consumption of pornography called into question 1969: Denmark first country to legalize pornography

17. Brief History of the Sexual Revolution 1950s / 1960s: Traditional sexual norms and practices, including restrictions on production and consumption of pornography called into question 1969: Denmark first country to legalize pornography 1970: West Germany legalizes pornography

18. Brief History of the Sexual Revolution 1950s / 1960s: Traditional sexual norms and practices, including restrictions on production and consumption of pornography called into question 1969: Denmark first country to legalize pornography 1970: West Germany legalizes pornography 1971: Sweden legalizes pornography

19. The Debate in the USA

20. The Debate in the USA Social and Religious Conservatives: preservation of traditional morality, importance of protecting women and children from harms associated with pornography

21. The Debate in the USA Social and Religious Conservatives: preservation of traditional morality, importance of protecting women and children from harms associated with pornography Progressives: freedom of expression as protected by First Amendment rights

22. The Debate among Feminists (USA) "Anti-porn feminists" VS "Anti-anti-porn feminists"

23. The Debate among Feminists (USA) "Anti-porn feminists" VS "Anti-anti-porn feminists” Anti-porn feminists: Tried to develop definitions of pornography that would strengthen its regulation and control; Ended siding with religious conservatives

24. The Debate among Feminists (USA) "Anti-porn feminists" VS "Anti-anti-porn feminists” Anti-anti-porn feminists: Argued censorship was dangerous for women, especially progressive feminists, as well as for other groups marginalized by mainstream society; Sexual liberation and equality (GLBT)

25. The Debate among Feminists (USA) "Anti-porn feminists" VS "Anti-anti-porn feminists” Anti-porn feminists were seen to be as repressive as their conservative allies

26. The Debate among Feminists (USA) "Anti-porn feminists" VS "Anti-anti-porn feminists” Anti-porn feminists were seen to be as repressive as their conservative allies Censorship of pornography = censorship of women's freedom to define and express their own sexualities above and beyond the boundaries and assumptions of heterosexuality as the norm

27. The US context Important in setting the terms and frameworks for early debates on Internet pornography

28. The US context Important in setting the terms and frameworks for early debates on Internet pornography But as WWW brought about global interconnectivity the debate spread past the boundaries of the US

29. The US context Important in setting the terms and frameworks for early debates on Internet pornography But as WWW brought about global interconnectivity the debate spread past the boundaries of the US Definitions of pornography have become more diverse

30. Diverse Definitions of Pornography India: material that simply implies sex (including beauty pageants)

31. Diverse Definitions of Pornography Indonesia: “Sexual material made by people in the forms of pictures, sketches, illustrations, photos, writings, voice, sounds, motion pictures, animation, cartoons, poems, conversations, body movements and other forms of communication through various mass media or public displays that can arouse sexual desires and/or violate public moral values.”

32. Diverse Definitions of Pornography Japan:People who sell or distribute obscene materials can be punished by fines or imprisonment. Showing pubic hair and adult genitalia is considered obscene. Video pornography in Japan routinely depicts explicit sex scenes with the participants’ genitalia obscured by mosaics.

33. Worldwide Debate on Internet Pornography Has become more complicated

34. Worldwide Debate on Internet Pornography Has become more complicated Netporn: "… the ways in which online technologies restructure the pornographic, encompassing variations of peer-to-peer porn, amateur porn and [USENET group] alt.porn …” - Paasonen

35. Worldwide Debate on Internet Pornography Netporn Conferences, Amsterdam 2005, 2007:“… are novel zones for academics, activists and artists to discuss and experience new phenomena around web-based sex and pornography. We are part of a porn-friendly, yet critical digital generation, bothered by a cultural climate of narrow-mindedness and porn hysteria. Critical studies about pornography and queer activism have been carried out in previous decades, but we are looking to discuss our tactile immersion in pornographic networks.” - Katrien Jacobs, Marije Janssen, and MatteoPasquinelli

36. Beware of False Dichotomies "… some discuss pornography as a social problem, others de-politicize it as hip and fun. There is little in terms of middle ground.” - Paasonen

37. Beware of False Dichotomies False Dichotomy

38. Beware of False Dichotomies False Dichotomy "exclusive either/or" characteristic of journalistic practice

39. Beware of False Dichotomies False Dichotomy "exclusive either/or" characteristic of journalistic practice we should see if there might be other legitimate alternatives not expressed in these dichotomies

40. Beware of False Dichotomies False Dichotomy "exclusive either/or" characteristic of journalistic practice we should see if there might be other legitimate alternatives not expressed in these dichotomies "false" because they exclude options that should be considered

41. Beware of False Dichotomies False Dichotomy "exclusive either/or" characteristic of journalistic practice we should see if there might be other legitimate alternatives not expressed in these dichotomies "false" because they exclude options that should be considered couching important matters can create Moral Panic

42. Beware of False Dichotomies False Dichotomy moral panic makes it too easy to reject important ethical critiques as we seek to ignore those critiques as only the result of a moral panic

43. Kant and Pornography

44. Kant and Pornography A nude female model appearing on the cover of Playboy, for example, is a sexual object for magazine viewers

45. Kant and Pornography A nude female model appearing on the cover of Playboy, for example, is a sexual object for magazine viewers Viewers treat the model as an object, a means, not as an end

46. Kant and Pornography A nude female model appearing on the cover of Playboy, for example, is a sexual object for magazine viewers Viewers treat the model as an object, a means, not as an end Pornography is unethical and should not be produced or consumed

47. Consequentialism and Pornography

48. Consequentialism and Pornography 2 perspectives

49. Consequentialism and Pornography 2 perspectives Pro-censorship Consequentialists: some argue that pornography should be seen as an example of women's subordination to men and should be banned while others rely on studies that prove pornography's harm to its consumers

50. Consequentialism and Pornography 2 perspectives Anti-censorship Consequentialists: argue that the only way to support censorship of pornography is to prove the harmful consequences and that studies show no link between pornography and alleged harm

51. Utilitarianism and New Media

52. Utilitarianism and New Media Benefits of New Media

53. Utilitarianism and New Media Benefits of New Media Mobile Phone: speed in communication, etc Computer games: educational, entertaining, etc Internet Pornography: expression of sexual identity, harmless stimulation, etc

54. Utilitarianism and New Media Harms of New Media

55. Utilitarianism and New Media Harms of New Media Mobile Phone: dangerous/useless distractions, used for child porn Computer games: addictive, encourage violence Internet Pornography: women as objects, moral/social decay

56. John Stuart Mill

57. John Stuart Mill Libertarian Utilitarian

58. John Stuart Mill Mill’s On Liberty (1859)

59. John Stuart Mill Mill’s On Liberty (1859) Deals with the “silencing” of expression Concerned with the drawing of boundaries

60. John Stuart Mill Mill’s On Liberty (1859) Two recent reassessments of On Liberty with regards to pornography

61. John Stuart Mill Mill’s On Liberty (1859) David Dyzenhaus reads On Liberty as an argument for protecting people’s real interests from harm

62. John Stuart Mill Mill’s On Liberty (1859) David Dyzenhaus reads On Liberty as an argument for protecting people’s real interests from harm Robert Skipper sees this interpretation as a slippery-slope problem and argues that Mill would would have had little time for feminist demands for censorship – he would “slam the door” on them

63. John Stuart Mill Mill’s On Liberty (1859) Dyzenhaus and Skipper: Despite conflicting conclusions they agree on 3 basic points

64. John Stuart Mill Mill’s On Liberty (1859) Dyzenhaus and Skipper: Despite conflicting conclusions they agree on 3 basic points 1. Mill believed in freedom of expression 2. Mill believed in a harm principle as the basis for legislation 3. These two beliefs are in conflict when it comes to issue of pornography

65. John Stuart Mill Mill’s On Liberty (1859) Dyzenhaus and Skipper: The difference; Freedom of expression and harm principle conflict Dyzenhaus: Harm Principle wins Skipper: Freedom of Expression wins

66. John Stuart Mill Mill’s On Liberty (1859) A third critic, Richard Vernon, argues that both Dyzenhaus and Skipper’s approaches are flawed He argues that Mill did not believe in freedom of expression and did not employ a “harm principle”

67. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze”

68. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” Virtually all past philosophers who have developed ethical frameworks: men

69. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” Is it possible that the conceptions, approaches, values, etc. that make up prevailing ethical (and other philosophical) frameworks reflect characteristically "male" or "masculinist" ways of knowing and thinking?

70. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” Is it possible that the conceptions, approaches, values, etc. that make up prevailing ethical (and other philosophical) frameworks reflect characteristically "male" or "masculinist" ways of knowing and thinking?

71. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” To state it negatively: is it possible that these prevailing ethical frameworks thus tend to ignore or exclude what are characteristically women's ways of knowing and reflecting on ethical issues?

72. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” Foucault: The Gaze Technical term referred to as a "clinical" or "observing" gaze

73. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” Foucault: The Gaze Technical term referred to as a "clinical" or "observing" gaze The Birth of the Clinic: "… it was this constant gaze upon the patient, this age-old, yet ever renewed attention that enabled medicine not to disappear entirely with each new speculation, but to preserve itself … … in a continuous historicity."

74. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” Feminist approach to the gaze relating to cyberstalking and Internet pornography

75. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” Feminist approach to the gaze relating to cyberstalking and Internet pornography “The gaze": an embodied gaze rather than an anonymous 'view from nowhere'.

76. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” Feminist approach to the gaze relating to cyberstalking and Internet pornography “The gaze": an embodied gaze rather than an anonymous 'view from nowhere'. It has both a gazer and a gazed-upon subject

77. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” Most consumers of Internet pornography and cyberstalkers: men Most victims: women

78. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” Most consumers of Internet pornography and cyberstalkers: men Most victims: women Do policy documents address this issue?

79. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” Effective tool in making an analysis: Feminist Theory, in particular Feminist Ethics

80. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” “The Return Gaze” An ethics of resistance of invasions of privacy, bodily or virtual

81. Feminism: Gender and “The Gaze” “The Return Gaze” An ethics of resistance of invasions of privacy, bodily or virtual Not always effective ex. UK, summer 2000

82. Virtue Ethics and Pornography

83. Virtue Ethics and Pornography Sensibility that what we ought to do as human beings is, first of all, to become excellent human beings (develop and fulfill our most important capacities) Aristotle and Socrates: capacity to reason

84. Virtue Ethics and Pornography "What sort of person do I want/need to become to be content?” "What sorts of habits should I cultivate in my behaviors that will lead to fostering my reason and thereby lead to greater harmony in myself and with others including the larger natural order?” - Ess

85. Legal Status of Child Pornography by Country

86. Case Study: Wonderland Club and Operation Landmark

87. Case Study: Wonderland Club and Operation Landmark Wonderland Club: International pedophile ring, traded 3/4 million images of child porn on the Internet

88. Case Study: Wonderland Club and Operation Landmark Wonderland Club: International pedophile ring, traded 3/4 million images of child porn on the Internet Group of people thought they were protected by the anonymity of the Internet Traded sexually explicit images of children and talked about them Technology as a trigger

89. Case Study: Wonderland Club and Operation Landmark In the UK, child pornography used to be rare and hard to find

90. Case Study: Wonderland Club and Operation Landmark In the UK, child pornography used to be rare and hard to find 'Operation Landmark’: the police uncovered 60,000 images of children being traded on 33 newsgroups

91. Case Study: Wonderland Club and Operation Landmark In the UK, child pornography used to be rare and hard to find 'Operation Landmark’: the police uncovered 60,000 images of children being traded on 33 newsgroups The implication: quantity of child porn has grown enormously and that there is a casual link between this and the widespread use of the Internet

92. Case Study: Wonderland Club and Operation Landmark Police watched the pedophile ring live, and anonymously, over a 2 year period, in order to gain enough evidence (the gaze of the authorities on the criminal activity)

93. Case Study: Wonderland Club and Operation Landmark Police watched the pedophile ring live, and anonymously, over a 2 year period, in order to gain enough evidence (the gaze of the authorities on the criminal activity) However, UK law at the time only allowed a max sentence of 18 months: this underscores the need for Internet legislation to keep pace with criminal activity

94. Case Study: Wonderland Club and Operation Landmark Internet Service Providers responsibility called into question

95. Case Study: Wonderland Club and Operation Landmark Internet Service Providers responsibility called into question On one hand: ISP had not done enough to police its user groups On the other hand: serious issues of freedom of speech are raised

96. Case Study: Wonderland Club and Operation Landmark The gaze of the criminals on their victims The gaze of the authorities on the criminal activity The gaze upon the children whose lives have been wrecked by abuse: the images may be there forever, gazed upon by others, their abuse continues for the rest of their lives

97. Shallit’s Laws of New Media Advocate of free speech on the Internet

98. Shallit’s Laws of New Media First Law of New Media: every new medium of expression will be used for sex (ancient fertility symbols, printing press, photography)

99. Shallit’s Laws of New Media First Law of New Media: every new medium of expression will be used for sex (ancient fertility symbols, printing press, photography) Second Law of New Media: every new medium will come under attack because of the first law

100. Shallit’s Laws of New Media First Law of New Media: every new medium of expression will be used for sex (ancient fertility symbols, printing press, photography) Second Law of New Media: every new medium will come under attack because of the first law Third Law of New Media: Excessive censorship will apply to the new medium because of laws one and two

101. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

102. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Commercial imperative of contemporary capitalism: Expand consumption

103. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Commercial imperative of contemporary capitalism: Expand consumption

104. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Commercial imperative of contemporary capitalism: Expand consumption Increased marketing and advertising for and to children

105. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Commercial imperative of contemporary capitalism: Expand consumption Increased marketing and advertising for and to children In the process, continuously expanding the sexualization of children's images

106. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Commercial imperative of contemporary capitalism: Expand consumption Increased marketing and advertising for and to children In the process, continuously expanding the sexualization of children's images Response to proliferating erotic images of children: attempts to control and contain child sexuality

107. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY 1996 Communications Decency Act: Crime to have adult material online where children could find it REJECTED (interfered with legally protected free speech)

108. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY 1996 Child Pornography Protection Act: Sites with material deemed 'harmful to minors' required to collect proof of age (credit card) PASSED

109. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY 2002 Children's Internet Protection Act: Public libraries required to filter internet access to material deemed harmful to minors

110. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY More recent debate on Internet pornography Expanded to include concerns about new technologies, media representations of violence, changing definitions on childhood, concerns about child molestation, the globalization of the Internet

111. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Pre Digital Revolution: Photograph of a child engaged in sexual activity evidence of a crime

112. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Pre Digital Revolution: Photograph of a child engaged in sexual activity evidence of a crime Present Law (US): Virtual images of children engaged in sexual acts (without participation of children) are legal Combined images: Now Illegal ex. Britney Spears

113. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Knox VS United States 1993

114. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Knox VS United States 1993 Controversial Supreme Court Case Redefined photographic child pornography

115. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Knox VS United States 1993 Controversial Supreme Court Case Redefined photographic child pornography Shifted basis from using the photo as evidence from a crime scene to judging a photo as a representation

116. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Knox VS United States 1993 Did not matter if a real child had been harmed

117. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Knox VS United States 1993 Did not matter if a real child had been harmed Clothed children could be interpreted as indecently displayed

118. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Knox VS United States 1993 Did not matter if a real child had been harmed Clothed children could be interpreted as indecently displayed Allowed cases to be decided on the basis of sexual interpretation

119. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Overlapping Confusion Kids in underwear or swimming-suit ads are often censored while… Kids in adult outfits, dancing suggestively can be found in child modeling contests, child model websites and some children's entertainment

120. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Ashcroft VS Free Speech Coalition 2002

121. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Ashcroft VS Free Speech Coalition 2002 Photo-realistic images and Computer Generated Images granted 'free speech' protections (no ocurringof an actual crime, production did not create victims)

122. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Ashcroft VS Free Speech Coalition 2002 The case of images of models who appear to be underage but are in fact not (ex. Larry Flint, Hustler, 'Barely Legal' series) Majority found that government couldn't criminalize presenting adults as children

123. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Technology and New Media

124. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Technology and New Media In the era of digital imagery and global internet circulation of images, quantitative changes have produced a qualitatively different situation

125. VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY Technology and New Media In the era of digital imagery and global internet circulation of images, quantitative changes have produced a qualitatively different situation Technological change puts into the hands of anyone who can afford it, and has access to children, the ability to take and circulate images of children engaged in sexual activity (Greased information)

126. References Virtual Child Porn: The Law and the Semiotics of the Image, Chuck Kleinhans John Stuart Mill and Pornography: Beyond the Harm Principle, Richard Vernon Internet Pornography: A Social Psychological Perspective on Internet Sexuality, William A. Fisher and Azy Barak Cyberstalking and Internet pornography: Gender and the gaze, Alison Adam Notes on Reading Foucault’s The Birth of the Clinic, Lois Shawver The Ethical Dilemma of Internet Pornography in the State of Kuwait, Hasan A. Abbas and Salah M. Fadhli The Nigerian Web Content: Combating Pornography using Content Filters, OlumideBabatopeLonge and Folake A. Longe Creating the Standards of a Global Community: Regulating Pornography on the Internet – An International Concern, Robyn Forman Pollack Digital Media Ethics, Charles Ess