Sex, Violence and the Media - Essay Example

Hw fr shuld prngrphy be regulted in the 21st century The issue f prngrphy hs been cnsiderble tpic f reserch nd discussin in recent time. The generlcnsensus in this re hs cncluded significnt munt f sexully vilent mterils n televisin, pper nd Internet. The 1986 reprt f the ttrney Generl's Cmmissin n Prngrphy cncluded tht prngrphy hd becme substntilly mre vilent since the 1970s. Hwever, this cnclusin is bsed n necdtl ccunts rther thn scientific reserch. llegtins s t the vilent nture f prngrphy re replete in the literture. Fr exmple, Mrshll nd Brbree (1984) stted tht "there hve been drmtic increses in the munt f vilent sex in bth sft cre . . . nd hrd cre prngrphy. . . vilble in Western scieties". Brry (1979) stted, "The mst prevlent theme in prngrphy is ne f utter cntempt fr wmen . . . (wh) re rped, ejculted n, urinted n, nlly penetrted, beten, nd, with the dvent f snuff films, murdered in n rgy f plesure". Russell nd Lederer (1980) lleged tht prngrphy usully cmbines sme srt f vilence with sex. Dwrkin (1981) in describing prngrphy stted, "rel wmen re tied up, stretched, hnged, fucked, gng-bnged, whipped, beten, nd begging fr mre". Similrly, Griffin (1981) described prngrphy s "usully wmn, smetimes mn, ften child, is bducted by frce, verblly bused, beten, bund hnd nd ft nd ggged, ften trtured, ften hung, his r her bdy suspended, wunded, nd then murdered". ll these clims s fr prngrphy nd its negtive impct n sciety hs evked cntrversil pprch t the regultin f prngrphy nd subsequent vilence in 21th century. Frm ne side the demcrtic system is beleived t hve freedm in mss medi nd thus expnd different kinds f infrmtin, frm nther side the bscentity by which the wrld hs been filled with respect t prngrphy mkes it imprtnt t regulte nd cntrl the infrmtin vilble fr the peple f different ges. The prngrphy cntrversy is cmplex ne, spnning persnl, technicl nd public rgument (see Gdnight) s it invkes scil, mrl, legl, nd ethicl clims. It ls rises interesting thereticl questins but the wy persnl testimny pertes in public rgument. Prir t ll f these cnsidertins, hwever, is hw the cntrversy is distinguished by the primry rle plyed by definitinl rgument. Ultimtely, the cntrversy ws nd is ver the definitin f prngrphy. Legisltive nd dministrtive ctin is "inseprble frm... defin[ing] wht prngrphy ment -- since the justice nd effectiveness f ny lw depend n the precisin with which its bject is identified" (Kendrick 215). The centrlity f definitin mkes sense, given tht bservtins re but implictins f the prticulr terminlgy in terms f which the bservtins re mde"1. Nmes select, reflect, nd deflect relity. Thus, definitinl rgument is cnstnt, if implicit. prt f persusin insfr s the prcess f cnvincing requires nt nly tht given plicy be ccepted but ls tht given vcbulry (r set f understndings) be integrted int the public repertire. In this cse, nce definitin f prngrphy hs been ccepted, prticulr curse f ctin fllws. If prngrphy is bscenity, then criminl snctins shuld be impsed ginst ll thse invlved in its prductin nd use. If prngrphy is expressin, then it shuld be encurged in sciety tht vlues free expressin. If prngrphy is the subrdintin f wmen, then civil snctins shuld be pplied ginst thse wh hrm the wmen; the wmen invlved in prngrphy's prductin re nt criminls, but ne f the peple hrmed by discrimintry ct. ccrdingly, befre ny ther type f nlysis f the prngrphy cntrversy my be cmpleted, cler understnding f the dynmics f the definitinl cntrversy is required. The vlutin f wmen's sexulity in prngrphy is bjective nd rel becuse wmen re s regrded nd s vlued. The frce depicted in prngrphy is bjective nd rel becuse frce is s used ginst wmen. The debsing f wmen depicted in prngrphy nd intrinsic t it is bjective nd rel in tht wmen re s debsed. The spred f prngrphy nd vilence in medi wrld is gret. In recent nlysis f the cntents f sexul mteril, Winick (1985) fund tht ech f the 430 sexully explicit mgzines vilble fr sle t n dult bkstre in the New Yrk Times Squre re, 1.2% prtryed sdmschism nd 4.9% bndge. Mrever, bndge mgzines prtryed men s the submissive prtner pprximtely ne-hlf f the time. Sble (1986) ls exmined pprximtely 300 mgzines frm n dult bk stre nd fund 16% cntined sdmschistic r bndge depictins. He similrly fund mles mre cmmnly prtryed s the submissive prtner. The uses f wmen depicted in prngrphy re bjective nd rel becuse wmen re s used. The wmen used in prngrphy re used in prngrphy. The definitin f wmen rticulted systemticlly nd cnsistently in prngrphy is bjective nd rel in tht rel wmen exist within nd must live with cnstnt reference t the bundries f this definitin. lthugh sexully vilent episdes my be smewht lnger in X-rted vides, n percentge bsis R-rted vides cntin mre sexul vilence (s well s nnsexul vilence) ginst wmen, suggesting tht the present U.S. rtings system nd cncern but prngrphy msk wht my be ptentilly mre hrmful mteril. The widespred diffusin f cble televisin nd especilly videcssette recrders hs given the hme viewer ccess t lrge vriety f mtin pictures previusly seen nly in mvie theters. Much R-rted (nd ccsinlly X-rted) mteril is wtched by children nd dlescents, wh wuld be denied dmissin t these films in theter. When R-rted nd Xrted mterils re viewed in the theter, expsure is usully limited t single viewing. With the dvent f cble televisin, children hve the pprtunity t view prblemtic films severl times in given mnth; videcssette plyers enble them nt nly t view entire mvies repetedly but t select nd reply prblemtic scenes. Previus nlyses f printed mteril nd films hve led t mixed cnclusins but the levels f sexul vilence in sexully explicit mterils. Sme studies hve shwn reltively high levels f vilence; thers hve fund less vilence nd mre sex between mutully cnsenting prticipnts. Smith's exmintin f 428 dults pperbcks published between 1968 nd 1974 fund mre thn 4,500 sex episdes, ne-fifth invlving rpe (lmst ll f wmn by mn). The verge number f rpes depicted incresed frm tw per bk in 1968 t three in 1970-1973 nd fur in 1974. The mjrity f 430 strnger hrd-cre mgzines sld in dults bkstres in New Yrk City's Times Squre depicted mutully cnsenting reltinships. Where representtins f frce were fund, these tended t be stylized, but men were prtryed s dminting wmen in mre thn 70 percent f the bndge-discipline mteril. These studies prvide us with n estimte f the rtes f vilent r cercive behvir in sme types f sexully explicit mteril, but they d nt enble us t cmpre these levels f vilence t levels in ther mterils. n exmintin f the munt f vilence in vrius types f mtin pictures reveled tht X-rted mvies hd fewer vilent cts thn the G-, PG-, r R-rted mvies. The verge number f vilent cts per mvie ws 20.3 fr the R-rted, 16.2 fr the G-rted, 15.3 fr the PG mvies, nd 4.4 fr the X-rted mvies. When cntrlling fr mvie length, the X-rted hd fewer vilent cts per hur thn ny f the ther mvies. Similrly, when nlyzing by type f vilence, X-rted mvies hd fewer vilent cts, regrdless f the type f vilence, thn ny f the ther mvies (Leyshn, 1981). Althugh vilent sexul prtryls re rther infrequent in dult vides nd mgzines, there hs been little reserch n whether such prtryls re incresing. ne f the first reserch effrts t ddress this questin ws Hrsnyi's nlysis f the Kinsey Sex Institute's, Ertic Film rchives. She identified mderte increses in the munt f vilence in sexul mteril frm the 1920s thrugh the 1960s. Her nlysis cncluded tht f the films prduced in the 1920s, 6.0% hd vilent scenes; thse frm the 1930s, 12.0%; thse frm the 1940s, 10.7%; thse frm the 1950s, 11.6%; nd 17% f the films frm the 1960s hd vilent scenes(7) (Slde, 1984, pp. 159-161). Slde cnducted surveys three times yer frm 1979 t 1984 in the 3 lrgest rcdes in Times Squre, exmining pprximtely 300 lps r videtpes. The percentge f vilence in thse sexul films ws highest (11.5%) in 1981. Plys's (1984) nlysis f generl relese vides nd X-rted vides in Cnd fund the X-rted vides cntined less ggressin, s well s less sexul ggressin thn ny f the ther ctegries f vides vilble. Mrever, he fund tht ggressive nd sexully ggressive scenes were decresing in X-rted vides when the yer f prductin ws tken int ccunt. The 30-yer lngitudinl cntent-nlysis f Plyby mgzine shwed tht the number f vilent nd sexully vilent prtryls ws miniml in cmprisn t the verll prtryls ver this perid. Mrever, there ws n evidence f liner increse in vilent nd/r sexully vilent prtryls. Rther, they fund curviliner reltinship between vilent nd sexully vilent depictins. Furthermre, the number f vilent nd sexully vilent crtns nd pictrils decresed in recent yers. Anther public surce f prngrphy expnsin tht hs becme ne f the esiest wy t receive ny infrmtin n the tpic in recent times is Internet. With its rpid, wrldwide develpment ne cn nt nly wrk educte r cmmunicte nline but ls hve different kinds f entertinments which ftentimes include indicent links. Cmmercil interests ct s driving frce behind these pplictins, but ne f the byprducts is sex. In fct the ltter is ne f the mst reserched keywrds n the Internet. Prngrphic web sites hve shwn significnt grwth in the pst yers, incresing by nerly 300 dy nd $700 millin yer. They nw ttl pprximtely 170,000. "Cybersex" r "cyberprn" cme hnd-in-glve with glbl intercnnectivity. As lng s Internet differs frm cmmn frms f prngrphic mterils prngrphy there is unique in severl imprtnt wys: () It is widely vilble thrugh Bulletin Brd Services (BBS) grups nd vi the Wrld Wide Web thrugh dtbse ccesses, interctive services, e-mil, Internet Rely Cht (IRC), nd rel-time dt feeds; (b) it is ctive nd interctive thrugh the presenttin f mterils in multimedi frmts such s digitized mving imges, nimted sequences, sexully explicit texts, ht chts, nd interctive sexul gmes; nd (c) cnsumers ls re prducers f prngrphic mterils. The min resn why prngrphy shuld be regulted in 21th century is becuse the ccess t the infrmtin tht tends t cuse vilence is vilble fr peple f different ges, including children. The cncern ver children's ccess t sexully explicit Internet cntent is further wrrnted given the incredible grwth f the Internet prngrphy industry, lrgely enbled by the brderless nd nnymus wrld f cyberspce. Sex sells: the (estimted) number f prngrphic websites jumped frm 28,000 t 60,000 between 1998 nd 2000. Prngrphic websites re mng the mst ppulr sites. recent study fund tht the number f individul visitrs t Internet prn sites jumped thirty percent frm December 1999 t Februry 2001, frm twenty-tw millin t twenty-eight millin. It is n surprise tht Internet prngrphy is big business, cmprising eleven percent f the entire $9 billin e-cmmerce pie in 1998. Industry fllwers prject tht e-prn lne will generte ver $3 billin by 2003. The gret mjrity f prngrphic websites re ctully free nd serve s bit r tesers ment t lure peple int the cmmercil websites. Therefre, children nline my hve free nd unhindered ccess t lmst ll f the vilble dult cntent n the Internet. This is true regrdless f whether the child is curius nd Internet svvy r merely surfing the Web fr schl ssignment r t lern mre but his r her fvrite hbbies r sprts. Indvertent expsure t nline prngrphy hppens mst ften when children surf the Web r pen e-mils with ttchments. Such indvertent expsures re cmmn, prticulrly since they mst ften result frm misspelling f website's ddress r serching nd surfing the Web. The prblem f indvertent expsure is heightened by the very rchitecture f the Internet becuse: sex n the Internet is nt segregted nd signpsted like in bkstre, nd it is nt esy t vid. Sme hevy-duty imgery is incredibly esy t stumble upn.... [Y]uth d nt hve t be ll tht ctive in explring the Internet t run crss sexul mteril indvertently2 Sexully explicit mteril vilble n the Internet is nthing shrt f stunding, rnging frm cmmnplce prngrphic mgzine still-frmes t interctive sexul encunters. ther well-knwn sites n the Internet include ne tht bsted live brdcst f yung cuple lsing their virginity tgether s well s ne with imges f cllege student's bedrm, twenty-fur hurs dy, 365 dys yer. Mny sites hve bvius nmes, bsed n bdy prts, sexul psitins, fetishes, etc. In dditin t these dult sites, nd perhps mre ptentilly dngerus, re thse which re inncuusly-nmed but cntin dult cntent. Fr exmple, if ne enters "whitehuse.cm" r "sleepingbeuty.cm" int web brwser, insted f seeing the hme f the President r firy tle princess, ne wuld view still phts f nked wmen inviting the user t buy prngrphic mteril. Thus, sexully explicit websites get trffic thrugh bvius nd nn-bvius wys, enhncing their vst rech. B. Perceptins nd Relity--(Filed) ttempts t Federl Regultin. In respnse t public cncern, the United Sttes Cngress hs tried t regulte sexully explicit mteril n the Internet severl times. Cngress hs fund pliticlly expedient slutins, nne f which is cnstitutinlly sund. Cngress's tp, dwn ttempts t regulte hve been rebuked by the federl curts, which hve held tht these federl slutins vilte cnstitutinl gurntees. The min nd mst influencil structure tht shuld regulte prngrphy in Internet nd ther public surces is Gvernment. Cngress tt perfrms n behlf f gvernment shuld urge nd fcilitte serius self-regultin, perhps kin t the Mtin Picture sscitin f meric's mvie rting system. While the gvernment cnnt mndte such slutin, federl interventin nd incentives culd help crete vluntry rting system. simple system wuld dd dmins like .xxx, .dult, r .kids, which wuld then llw fr esier screening. The hrd prt is chieving vluntry greement. But if there is the will, this pliticlly ppeling slutin shuld be pursued. Vluntry greements wuld nt vilte the First mendment, s there wuld be n stte ctin, nd they wuld be pliticlly ppeling in tht they re simple nd t the very lest superficilly effective, becuse f the wy in which they ese filtering.T the extent tht Sttes nd lclities cn ferret ut sexully explicit mteril in their districts, then they shuld hve the pwer t enfrce cmmunity nrms. Fr exmple, t the extent tht the Thmses knew they were sending mteril t Tennessee, their prsecutin ws crrect, nd it shuld be crried ut by lcl prsecutrs. But prsecutrs shuld nt be ble t g n fishing expeditins t find tht which will ffend the lcl cmmunity, even thugh prduced elsewhere nd dwnlded withut the uplder's knwledge. Bibligrphy: 1. Mlmuth, N. M., nd Spinner, B. (1980). lngitudinl cntent nlysis f sexul vilence in the best-selling ertic mgzines. J. Sex Res. 17: 226-237. 2. Mrshll, W. L., nd Brbree, H. E. (1984). behvirl view f rpe. Int. J. Lw Psychit. 7: 51-57. 3. Russell, D., nd Lederer, L. (1980). Questins we get sked mst ften. In Lederer, L. (ed.), Tke Bck the Night: Wmen n Prngrphy, Willim Mrrw, New Yrk. 4. Griffin, S. (1981). Prngrphy nd Silence, Hrper & Rw, New Yrk. 5. Kendrick, Wlter. The Secret Museum: Prngrphy in Mdern Culture. New Yrk: Penguin, 1987 6. Leyshn, M. (1981). Vilence in mtin pictures: cmprtive study. M.. thesis, The hi Stte University, Clumbus. Read More