Critical reflection 1 (WEEK 8)

Different Between Pornography and Obscenity
Pornography is not the same thing as obscenity although people often use the terms interchangeably. Obscenity is a legal concept that applies to those forms of pornography that society considers the most harmful to sexual morality, and that it punishes under criminal law. In the United States, for example, the Supereme Court limits the definition of obscenity to “hard core” pornographic depictions, meaning extremely explicit portrayals of sex. Thus, pornography is illegal only if judged to be obscene. Many feminist thinkers, such as Americans Gloria Steinem, Catharine MacKinnon, and Andrea Dworkin, have proposed another definition of pornography, distinguishing it from erotica. Such thinkers define pornography as the “sexually explicit subordination of women” and view it as a form of discrimination against women, not simply a violation of traditional moral norms. Erotica, on the other hand, is sexually explicit material that portrays men and women in postures of equality and mutual respect. Although little is known about the origins of pornography, it is as old as written records. The ancient Greeks used pornographic themes in songs in Dionysian festivals, and ancient Romans painted pornographic pictures on walls in the ancient city of Pompeii. Pornography was also prevalent in some ancient Eastern cultures, such as those of India, Japan, and China. In medieval Europe, authors used bawdy ballads and verses to ridicule the church, and Il decamerone (1353; The Decameron) by Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio was licentious in nature. It was not until the 1800s, however, that pornography began to become a social problem, primarily because the spread of technology—such as printing, photography, and motor vehicles—made it more readily available and because of the growth of democracy and individual freedom.

Different Between Indecent and Obscenity
The differentiation between indecent and obscenity material is a particularly difficult one, and a contentious First Amendment issue that has not fully been settled. Similarly, the level of offense (if any) generated by a profane word or phrase depends on region, context, and audience.

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761568395/Pornography.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/