J.M Coetzee's "The Harms Of Pornography"

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According
to author J.M. Coetzee and his article "The Harms of Pornography", the real
questions here are, "what is the difference between obscenity and pornography",
and even more importantly, "where do we draw the line between the two"? Coetzee
brings up a good point here. A point on which the entire debate over pornography
hinges. What is the defenition of "obscenity"? An excerpt from a speech by Mike
Godwin, Online Counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, gives a good
definition of obscenity in his on-line article: "Fear of Freedom: The Backlash
Against Free Speech on the 'Net'".

Everybody more or less knows something about what qualifies as obscene.
You know it has something to do with "community standards," right? And
with appealing to the "prurient interest." A work has to be a patently
offensive depiction of materials banned by state statute and appeal to the
prurient interest to be obscene and it also has to meet one other
requirement. It also has to lack ...

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an industry that mass produces sexual intrusion,
access to, possession and use of women by men for profit". MacKinnon approaches
pornography not from a "moral" standpoint, but strictly from the "political"
point of view that says pornography is a threat to the gender equality of our
nation. I say she is wrong and that not only is pornography okay, but in many
cases could contribute to the health of our society. I will quickly agree that
pornography should be kept away from the eyes of our children, and that there is
a proper time and place for it, but consider some of the acts that, providing
that pornogrpahy was made illegal, would not only go under ground but might
actually become real ...

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