Back on the Band Wagon

Yes, "American Psycho" is "speech" and no, I don't believe the answer is to repeal the First Amendment. But neither is the answer to quietly accept the existence and promotion - indeed, the "mainstreaming" - of pornolence in our society. Just as the person who yells "sex" in a crowded theater (or is that "fire"?) is held accountable for any damages arising out of that act, so, too, should those who promote or advocate violence be held accountable for their actions. To that end, MacKinnon and Dworkin wrote an anti-pornography civil rights ordinance for the city of Minneapolis. This law permitted civil suits to be brought by individuals harmed by pornography, against the persons who produced the specific pornography that harmed them. (The burden of proving the connection is on the individual bringing suit.) Unfortunately, although several U.S. municipalities adopted the law, it was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1985, a ruling later affirmed without comment by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The movement to define pornolence as a violation of women's civil rights has had better luck in Canada, which does not have an exact corollary to the U.S. First Amendment. In February 1992, Canada's Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that "criminal obscenity" can be defined by the harm it does to women, rather than by what is "offensive." This was first time a court established the precedent that a threat to the equality and safety of women "is a substantial concern which justifies restricting the otherwise full exercise of the freedom of expression." This was not an adoption of the ordinance co-authored by Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon, although it certainly was supportive of the theory behind the ordinance. A statement prepared by MacKinnon and Dworkin explains the relationship of that ruling to their ordinance more clearly.

Still, perhaps not all legal avenues have been closed to women in the U.S. At the Minneapolis hearings regarding the Dworkin-MacKinnon ordinance, testimony from victims, therapists, and social scientists revealed, among other things, that pornography is frequently forced on women who then have to imitate the depicted sex acts, and that rapes have been patterned on specific pieces of pornography. So, perhaps some of the other existing legal limitations on "free speech" might apply. After all, if "incitement" to commit a crime is a criminal act, then how is "incitement" to commit a criminal assault not a criminal act?

Legal action against pornolence is certainly worth pursuing. But ultimately, I do not think the solution to pornolence will be found in the courts. Pornolence is not really a legal problem, it is a cultural problem, and it requires a cultural decision to end it. It will end when we refuse to accept it in our homes or our neighborhoods; when we shun it and the people who make and consume it; when we impose "economic sanctions" on the people who produce or distribute it; when producers of sexual pornography start disassociating themselves from the purveyors of pornolence. Then, and only then, will we be rid of it.

Of course, this means that we can't leave the job up to a few lawyers and high-profile court cases. It means we must speak out. We must be vocal and consistent in our disapproval of pornolence, and make those who would defend or consume it social pariahs, as the anti-smoking campaign did to smokers. It means we must pay attention to where our money is going, to make sure that it doesn't enrich the producers of pornolence. It means we must refuse to grant "safe passage" to those who would sell or distribute the stuff in the name of "free speech." It means we must remember and reiterate that free speech only means the producers have a right to produce it. It doesn't mean they have a right to find distributors for it, and it doesn't mean that we have to buy it, or patronize businesses who sell it. In the end, this isn't really a battle of dueling legal rights. It is a battle for the cultural consciousness of our society. And, ultimately, the responsibility for creating a "cultural decision" to end pornolence rests with us, the citizens of that culture.

Karen

More Information

Article: Civil Rights Anti-Pornography Legislation
Commentary by Steven Hill and Nina Silver on legal efforts to address pornography's harm to women. Originally published in Transforming a Rape Culture.

Article: Feminism and Free Speech
A publication from Feminists for Free Expression which argues that sexism, not sex, degrades women, and that we will not eliminate sexism by banning sex.

Article: Hollywood Cleans Up Hustler
A copy of Gloria Steinhem's NY Times editorial about the movie "The People vs. Larry Flynt," hosted at Feminist.com

Article: I Want Naked Men!
3rdWWWave co-founder looks at the feminist sex debate, and finds it tiresome. Both the right wing and the left wing are starting from the same point: Sex for a man means doing, and sex for a woman means being done to.

Article: Old Ways, New Means
VoTech Education Guide Diana Fell looks at the cyber-twist the internet has put on the "world's oldest profession."

Pornography: Safe or Sexual?
An college student essay about the pornography debate among feminist, with a concise statement of the questions on which feminists devide.

Article: XXX: A Woman's Right To Pornography
An excerpt from the Wendy McElroy book which argues that pornography is part of a healthy free flow of information about sex.

E-Text: Pornography and Civil Rights
A "guide book" explaining the theory and practice of anti-pornography civil rights law drafted by Catharine A. MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin

E-Text: Pornography: Men Possessing Women
Selected excerpts from Andrea Dworkin's book of the same name. Part of a larger "Andrea Dworkin Online Library."

Site: Always Causing Legal Unrest
Anti-pornography activist Nikki Craft's site, chronicles her many adventures in civil disobedience in her fight against pornography.

More on Women's Sexuality
A menu of resources about women's sexuality including health, erotica, teens and relationships link libraries

Back to Article Index