Should pornography be banned as a threat to women?
Resources used to support "yes"
According to Catherine A. MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin, pornography can be
defined as the graphic, sexually explicit subordination of women in
pictures or in words. Pornography should be banned as a threat to women
because it dehumanizes women into becoming sexual objects - things,
commodities. Women in pornographic movies are often raped and forced to
act in degrading ways. But viewers of these films come to believe that
these women enjoy these acts, leading men into believing that this is the
way that all women like to be treated. [Ashley Levin.]
WWW
- Pornography
This Web site gives facts that are relevant to various aspects
of pornography and its effects. Although much of the information is from
a religious group (Southern Baptist Christian Life Commission), the
information is based on research. It is a good
source as a "debate handbook." [Recommended by Contessa Mendoza.]
- Pornography
- Safe or Sexual? by Valerie Richards (University of Michigan,
Dearborn)
This excellent essay presents a variety of views of
pornography, including those of women's rights organizations. [Recommended
by Anna Lisa Perez.]
- Studies on the
Effects of Pornography
This Web site presents summaries of laboratory studies
of the effect of violent and nonviolent pornography as well as
correlational field studies on pornography, community attitudes toward
pornography, etc. Abstracts of the papers cited are from the American
Psychological Association. [Recommended by Lalaunie
Hayes and Ashley Levin.]
- Testimony
of Dee Jepsen, Executive Director, Enough Is Enough
Timothy of Dee Jepsen, Executive Director of Enough is Enough,
on behalf of the Protection of Children from Computer Pornography Act of
1995. [Recommended by Dawn Burden.]
- Pornography.
Equality, and a Discrimination-Free Workplace by Rebecca L. Eisenberg
This article was originally published in The Harward Law
Review in 1993. It discusses the direct effects of pornography on women
as well as pornography in the workplace. "Pornography may be speech...but
in the circumstances of a male-dominated workplace, pornography is an
issue of power." [Recommended by Stacy Baker.]
- Civil
Rights Anti-Pornography Lesgislation: Addressing the Harm to Women by
Steven Hill and Nina Silver
This article was originally published in the 1992 book
Transforming A Rape Culture. It is a detailed
examination of the this ordinance, which allows victims to
bring civil lawsuits to seek monetary damages and injunctive
relief from those who have harmed them. [Recommended by
Dawn Burden and Ashley Levin.]
- Pornography
Happens to Women by Andrea Dworkin
This is a 1993 speech delivered by Andrea Dworkin at a
conference
entitled "Speech, Equality and Harm: Feminist Legal Perspectives on
Pornography and Hate Propaganda" at the University of Chicago Law School
on March 6, 1993. Ms. Dworkin discusses the
many adverse effects of pornography as she drafted them for the anti-pornography
civil rights ordinance for the City of Minneapolis in 1983.
- Lecture Notes on Ann
Garry by Michael F. Goodman (Humboldt State University)
This is a summary of a lecture given by Ann Garry, who spoke
about how pornography is harmful to women. She describes how pornography
is related to the double standard for men and women. [Recommended by
Ashley Levin.]
- Women's
Forum Debates Censorship by Jennifer Thompson
In Sydney Australia, Dr. Marlene Goldsmith defended a 1994
bill to restrict images of
objectification and dehumanization of women. [Recommended by Laura
Matthies.]
- The
Pornography Plague by Kerby Anderson (Probe Ministeries)
This article reviews harmful effects of pornography.
Although it is published by a religious group, except for one section,
the author presents research evidence - including references. A variety of
topics are covered, including definitions, censorship and freedom of
speech
issues, steps to combat pornography, etc. [Recommended by Contessa
Mendoza.]
- Server-based
Filters Only Answer to Cyber-Porn by Dwayne Hastings
This article is presented by The Ethics and Religious Liberty
Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Its author addresses the
issue that pornography is too available on the Internet as well as its
effect of children and women. The ERLC president endorses Rated-G Online,
a Christian Internet service provider that filters offensive and dangerous
sites at the server level. [Recommended by Debra Busher.]
JOURNAL ARTICLES & PERIODICALS
- Lebegue, B. (1991). Pornography Made Me Do It. Bulletin of the American
Academy of Psychiatry and the Law , 19, (1), 43-48.
Reviews 3050 magazine and book titles surveyed by the 1986 Attorney General's
Commission on Pornography. Articles were broken down into appropriate
categories, i.e., S&M, etc.
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