Forum j
Anti-porn view not censorship
By Annette Bridges
The recent letters concerning
free speet li and pornography.
parti< nlarlv in relation to maga
zine sales at the KMtare
symptomatic of the simplistic
dichotomy by which we gener
ally frame the deflate Akin to
the simplify ation of the repro
ductive rights issue, which Li
bels people as "pro-abortion"
or "pro-life" and ignores the
centrality of individual
c hoic.es. the pornography de
bate is thought of as a battle be
tween advocates of free speei h
and censorship We gain .1
deeper understanding of the
subject if we re examine our
definition of censorship
Commentary
Feminists who seek to limit
the distribution of violent and
exploitative porn (or art. or lit
erature] are accused of wishing
to "censor " This word con
jures up images of a dictatorial
suppression of artistic freedom,
it also implies presentation of a
distorted view of the truth In
fact, women have never had
this supposedh sac red freedom
of expression Whether we
speak of the media, of "erotic
art" (which claims aesthetic
worth) or of "pornography"
(vvhic It seeks only to c reate
"pleasure" lor the vieyver). \vt>
find that thrv < ontain exploit.!
live images of women ami are
generalK produced In those
(males) with I'limnmii and so
i ietal powor. thus denying
women self-expression .old pro
senting a skewered image of
the world ()ur art and media
■ire in fait filled with censor
ship all the more insidious as
it is covert, unspoken, and tie
[lies the existence of the female
creative subject to begin w ith
The pornography issue, then,
is not an issue of censorship of
male pleasure, but rather one of
the i i\ 11 rights of women (and
ini reasingly of women of color
witness the issue of Cent
house featuring bound Japanese
women) Women experiem e
violence daily in our society
and porn strengthens the link
between this violent e and male
pleasure A law banning \ io
lent pornography would he
based on the fact that its con
sumption occurs at the tost of
women and not on the same
high moral ground
Tim \\ebber's rhetoric nl
question "And what about all
of the nude women in classic
arthas an important enrol
lary Win is "c lassic art full
of nude women of images of
rape and kidnapping of women
all painted by men' (Certain
ly this art has been exploit.!
live Not as some would have
us believe Ins .him1 ot its midi
ty lull rather bei .lusc nt .1 i mu
plcn rri iprm its between the
aesthete s and the I'tliu s nt .1
sin ids I In' un.ilssis nt this
rri iprni its lir.irs im resent
hliini i‘ tu lhi‘ moralistic and
s.-lf righteous posturing nt .1
(esse I lelms
Kvpi 11 ills s intent porn is oh
s musls not the only vehii le foi
damaging images ot women
There are fesv people sslio
would ssish to outlaw I’lavbos.
but tills does not impls that sve
must hestosv our approval
I lie KMI' Hoard s decision
represents one small (hut sets
laudable) at t of inters notion
The tear, the rage the shame
and the lai k of sell esteem ill
svomen to which violence and
pornography contribute need to
he abolished hetore sse 1 an he
gin to speak of freedom ot ex
pressinn or ot speei li As leniiy
Kane suggested (< >l>i Mas Ja)
svomen do work hard to com
Itiand respei t and part 1 if
that svurk is the elimination nt
violent pornography I lei sug
gestion that those svomen sshn
pose for Penthouse are In
blame hossever, is luilii rous in
light of male censorship of
svomen s attempts to speak,
write, publish, nr sell (anything
other th.in their own bodies)
\niwllc Hridiies is ,1 /ugroe
resident and a / ’im ers/ti sfu
drill in 1 imi[juniti\ e liter,iturr
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