First Amendment Junk By Susan Jacoby Summary

Conferring to activist author, Susan Jacoby's essay “A First Amendment Junkie," the First Amendment should be centered on complete construal solely. All through her essay she conveys numerous cases that people have brought up as exemptions to the Amendment, but she states that they are just a ordinary misdirection. Child Porn is a status quo that several discuss should be an exception to the Amendment. However, rendering to Jacoby, Child Porn and the First Amendment are not associated. Child Porn is just an abuse of power that one has bequeathed upon themselves and it should be punished by law, but not as disobeying the First Amendment. Throughout Susan Jacoby's essay, she makes it very

In this essay I will discuss how pornography harms women in reference to A. W. Eatons paper, A Sensible Antiporn Feminism.  Eaton explains that pornography harms women by impairing their ability to pursue their interests. She does this by outlining the Harm Hypothesis, addressing and resolving issues commonly raised by critics of antiporn feminism, and then discussing the harms that are caused. I will then consider an objection raised by Cooke, and how it is unsuccessful.

In New York Times journalist Susan Jacoby's essay, "A First Amendment Junkie," Susan Jacoby makes an argument against the censorship of pornography. She mentions at the beginning of her essay that the majority of those who support censoring pornography are women, often feminists, and that these women generally consider themselves supporters of the First Amendment. Those who would usually support free speech, but will change their minds when it comes to pornography, are certain that pornography is more damaging than other controversial expressions. Jacoby finds it rather ridiculous that these feminists hold the belief that pornography is the most offensive example of free speech, when neo-Nazis are marching through neighborhoods inhabited by

A big aspect to obscenity is harm, but in obscenity, harm cannot be 100 percent prevented just like politics of disgust cannot be 100 percent changed. An example of this is child pornography, "Obscenity is to be distinguished sharply from child pornography, which is prohibited because children are harmed in its production and the harm cannot be effectively prevented so long as there is a profitable market for its products" (Koppelman, 1637). Obscenity, like politics of disgust plays an important role in law. Acts of obscenity do not mean that "the law should police what we feel" (Koppelman, 1639), just like society should not tell individuals what is disgusting or unlawful. Another way that it cannot be controlled is due to self-centeredness, "The first sort of objectification will here be called “self-centeredness.” It occurs when one is so focused on one’s own gratification that

This articles is based on a controversy in between the First Amendment and the dissemination of all depictions that appear to show children engaging in sexual explicit conduct. I am completely in favor of the freedom of speech law, even though these controversial pictures can generate problem through the people. I understand that they can create a wrong image of children involved on an act that should not be implicated, and that they can become acceptable to the viewer and even favoring this kind of art. However, we cannot block people ideas just because these images appear to look like something that is not legally acceptable. Child abuse or child pornography is unacceptable in all senses, but I believe that images that were generated pure

In class we discussed pornography and how it can either be seen as moral or immoral. In the book Exploring Ethics by Steven M. Cahn, Helen E. Longino wrote chapter thirty-eight titled Pornography, Oppression, and Freedom. Longino believes that pornography is immoral and that it causes more harm than good in society. She believes that pornography singles out woman and is defamatory, violent, and should be regulated. My argument is against Longino, if porn is restricted several movies would be deemed immoral because of nudity. The connection between violence against women and pornography would not change or even increase if restrictions apply. No one should be forced into pornography, but the option should be available without regulation.

While anti-pornography feminists such as Dworkin and Mackinnon argued that pornography disseminate negative beliefs on sex and further objectify females’ body and called for legislative censorship, libertarian feminists (e.g. Joel Feinberg; John Stuart Mill; Ronald Dworkin; Nadine Strossen) with a more sex-positive perspective, commenced to oppose radical feminists’ notions that pornography is intrinsically harmful. Bear in mind the issues of censorship, this group of feminists referred themselves as anti-censorship feminists who opposed pornography on the basis that it harm women, but argued that legislative regulation on pornography can be a threat to people’s autonomy

Censorship is monitoring or withholding information. The information can come from a book, drama, media, or any other form of entertainment; but it is usually considered a threat to the consumer. Yet the consumer is not always the audience. Sometimes the threat is to a politician or government official. The debate over topics in the realm of what is acceptable and what should be banned only continues to rise as more taboo topics become acceptable. Some argue that keeping certain things behind closed doors is imperative for a harmonious living place. Others say that a small discourse is critical to remain sane. Censorship is a way of protecting society from itself. Leaders and parental figures can make the choice to monitor what is read, watched, and consumed, but until the world lives the life worthy of a children’s’ book the effort is futile. While the narrative being taught may be inappropriate or harsher it doesn’t decrease the value of it.

The majority of modern pornography is not art, and by using a selective definition of Leo Tolstoy’s version of art, and John Dewey’s theory of art as experience, we can determine that pornography is nothing more than shallow entertainment that exacerbates social inequalities of society’s gender roles. Despite this, pornography has the potential to become art, and should therefore not be censored.

In the 1980s in America, a war raged. There were casualties and broken lives. What transpired during that war changed the face of America for generations. This was not a war between countries however; this was a war between women: what they called the “The Feminist Sex Wars”. “Anti-porn” feminists led by Andrea Dworkin debated with “pro-sex” feminists on subjects such as prostitution, erotica, and pornography and their position within feminism and our society. Dworkin and her supporters argued that these were products of a patriarchal society, that these were extremely harmful toward the image and status of women. Others such as Susie Bright argue that prostitution and pornography can be “feminist” or empowering to women, and are not intrinsically harmful. In this paper, I will endorse the view of radical feminists that pornography is harmful, not only for those who appear in it, but those who consume it.

With the need to censor pornography, there are many factors that need to be considered. In the past, the arguments involved have always been central focused upon immoral and religious views of pornography. In society today discussing the regulations of the sexually explicit material, would involve understanding the principles of legislating against such imagery. Ideas of rating pornography on

Obscenity revolves around what constitutes pornography and sexually explicit material to be protected by the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and press as stated in the Constitution. I want to look at the language and definitions of obscenity created by the Supreme Court and interrupt their effects on society. In this essay, I want to argue that the creation of the definition of obscenity and obscenity laws constructed from community standards can be harmful to society because they can be interrupted in many different ways.

One of the major impacts that censorship has had on society was with women and minorities. Around the era of WWII, a rise in childbirth also known as the “baby boom” era had a nationwide effect of anxieties when it came to sex. In fact, in the 1950s a statue in Indiana for masturbation came into effect making masturbation a crime; a person caught masturbating could be convicted and sentenced up to 14 years of jail time. Any sexual interaction between two people was deemed a sin in the eyes of society calling it bestiality, if the two people were not married. To further show how censorship blocks certain images

The rise of the adult entertainment industry has exploded in both popularity and accessibility within the last thirty years as a result of the emergence of pay-per-view adult movies, pornographic websites, and 1-900 phone lines. The number of topless bars, exotic car washes, X-rated theaters, and massage parlors in business has boomed greatly. Within this time, United States Supreme Court decisions recognized that First Amendment protection might very well extend to some types of non-obscene pornography and nude dancing as a form of nonverbal expressive speech (1). Though consequently, the possibility for such First Amendment right protection paved the way for increases in adult businesses. Although it may seem unlikely, the fate of First Amendment freedoms is irrevocably linked to the ongoing conflict between the agents administering the adult entertainment and those who defend public decency.

Pornography, depending on how one defines it, has existed for thousands of years in the forms of picture, sculpture, performance, and writing. Over the centuries the advent of new media has broadened the flow of distribution of pornography and erotica to the masses, making it readily accessible. From the printing press, to photography, to film, each new medium has provoked a call for censorship from concerned citizens during the early stages of its existence. Pornography has taken major steps, particularly in the last fifty years: Playboy, the first magazine of its type, produced its first issue in 1955; pornographic film gained widespread popularity in the 1970's; the invention of the VCR allowed consumers to