What Is Obscenity? Essay, Research Paper
Censorship
The freedom to read is essential to the democratic way of life. But
today, that freedom is under attack. Private groups and public authorities
everywhere are working to remove both books and periodicals from sale, to
exclude certain books from public schools, to censor and silence magazines
and newspapers, and to limit “controversial” books and periodicals to the
general public. The suppression of reading materials is suppression of
creative thought. Books and periodicals are not the only ones being
suppressed by pressures to the political and social systems. They are also
being brought against the educational system, films, radio, television, and
against the graphic and theatre arts. However or whenever these attacks
occur, they usually fall at least one of the following categories:
Religion
Sociology & Race
Language
Drugs
Sex
Inappropriate Adolescent Behaviour
What is Obscenity? Clearly something hard to talk about
constructively. “Obscenity” is difficult to discuss honestly. After all,
what makes a thing obscene? It is Something too vague perhaps to be
defined. It’s an elusive term we use, but can’t explain. Different people
often see things differently. Some see obscenity in nude pictures, statues,
paintings, etc. While others find less obscenity in these things. All the
same, “obscene” isn’t the same as “wrong” or “bad”. Clearly obscenity is
not identical with evil. It only covers a single segment of it. But what is
that segment? A look at the words “obscenity” and “pornography” suggests
that it is a segment that didn’t worry people very much till relatively
recently.
Though censorship was known in english law quite early on, it wasn’t
for obscenity but for heresy and sedition.”Undue” exploitation of sex” is
what criminal law in Canada prohibits. This is how criminal law defines
obscenity. But it is rather vague. It doesn’t differentiate between
“ordinary obscenity” and “hard-core pornography.” The first denoting the
ordinary run of “girlie magazines and the second denoting pictures ,
literature and so on that deal with rape, sadism, masochism, bestiality,
necrophilia and other perversions. People tend to object far more to
“hard-core pornography.” Another distinction unfortunately overlooked by
our criminal law is the distinction between isolated instances of obscenity
and the products of vast commercial enterprise.
There has been an increasing trend towards children’s literature that
reflects a more realistic approach to the life both fiction and
non-fiction, with subjects that include sex, homosexuality, divorce, child
abuse, drugs, violence, etc. And they are these realistic books that have
people outraged. In school libraries, the most frequent complaints come
from parents about the school’s selections. And in public libraries,
parents were once again the single greatest source of challenges to
materials.
The world is filled with “obscene” things. And it would seem that
those parents are just trying to protect their children from the outside
world. But does it really help? These day, an average elementary school
student knows many things. They are influenced by a wide range of sources,
from television and other forms of media, their environment at home and
school, their personality and their background. Why they read does not
necessarily mean that they will follow. Literature is a valued source of
knowledge for these children, and should not be held back. So rather than
applying full censorship, it should be made an age-related censorship. Many
of the complaints that were issued were of the immaturity of the readers.
And younger children should be prevented from borrowing material intended
for an older age group. Controversial materials should still be held either
in reserve stock, available on request, or under a section for parents and
teachers who can decide for themselves whether the material is suitable or
not.
Our would is not perfect. We are a world filled with violence, sex,
racism, etc. Certain literature like “hard-core pornography” should be
censored to the general public. These types of “explicit sex” truly have no
meaning. They degrade the human race by increasing physical, mental and
sexual abuse against women, animals, and sometimes against men. These
inhuman treatments should not be shown to prevent other potential people
from “experimenting” these acts of disgust. “Ordinary obscenity” should be
censored closely, but with an objective view. They may also cause an
increase in the violence against women, so they must be reduced and kept
out of reach of the immature readers. To make a tree grow correctly, you
must start caring from the very beginning. You must not block its
nutrients, water nor sunlight, but allow it to move around a bit. We have a
governing social system that mainly frowns upon the violence against women.
There should indeed be access to most types of literature, but in varying
degrees of freedom, determined not by censorship, but by controlled access.
Parents are trying to protect their children from the harsh realities of
life, but are they really helping, or hindering?
Bibliography
The Censorship Iceberg: The results of a survey of challenges in
school and public libraries. By Dr. David Jenkins. School Libraries
in Canada. Fall, 1985. v.6 n.1 p19-22
Sanitized textbooks reflect a pious paradise that never was. By
June Callwood. The Globe and Mail. March 18, 1987. pA2-A3
Suffer the little children. By Janet Collins. Books in Canada.
October 1991. v.20 n.7 p25-27
Court bans ‘humanist’ books from Alabama public schools. By Robin
Toner. The Globe and Mail. March 5, 1987. pA10
Censorship in the children’s library. By Rupert Colley. The Junior
Bookshelf. June 1990. v.54 n.3 p121-123
Censorship News. Spring 1985. n20
Limits of criminal law – obscenity: a test case. By The Law Reform
Commission: working paper no. 10. p7-9
Censorship: stopping the book banners. By the book and periodical
development council. August 1988. p1-17