Preview

Pornography and the Moral Dimensions of Censorship In A Democratic Society

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1849 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Pornography and the Moral Dimensions of Censorship In A Democratic Society
Pornography and the Moral Dimensions of Censorship In A Democratic Society
In discussing this topic, we cannot fully understand the topic without defining what censorship and pornography are. Censorship can be defined as the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by a government, media outlet or other controlling body. It can be done by governments and private organizations or by individuals who engage in self-censorship. It occurs in a variety of different contexts including speech, books, music, films, and other arts, the press, radio, television, and the Internet for a variety of reasons including national security, to control obscenity, child pornography, and hate speech, to protect children, to promote or restrict political or religious views, and to prevent slander and libel.
Many countries provide strong protections against censorship by law, but none of these protections are absolute and it is frequently necessary to balance conflicting rights in order to determine what can and cannot be censored. Censorship is typically referred to as whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others and so, some countries also feel that the law (government) censoring some things is unconstitutional as it violates their rights to freedom of speech and right to free expression. Another key term needed to understand this topic is pornography. Pornography can be described as the 'explicit representation of sexual activity in print or on film to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings. There is typically no limitation, other than for their moral values, so there are various types of pornography that range from male and female child porn to adult porn, both heterosexual and homosexual.
There are various harms and benefits of pornography, although in my opinion, there

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Censorship is just like a double-edge sword. If used properly, it serves as a valuable weapon. Governments and other regulatory institutions must learn to use it judiciously.…

    • 2355 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Censorship has always been a hot topic in society. The censorship of today is debated just as it was one hundred years ago. Back then, the author of “The Atlantic Monthly” clearly demonstrated that scenes inappropriate from some should not be freely publicized, and from the censorship seen in today’s society, it is clear that he has a valid point.…

    • 337 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There could be many reasons why people have to need to censor, and it usually depends on the type of government a certain country has and the type of citizens they have. And by type I mean by their race, religion, what they are interested in, what they do as a career, etc. A good example of this situation could be the book “Fahrenheit 451”. Besides from comic books and pornography, every single type of books are censored, from the religious texts to the fiction chapter books. Although books are the main things that are censored from this society, but without books, many other things have changed. Things such as it is illegal to be a pedestrian because people don’t have time to drive slowly and stop for others, therefore people drive really fast and if someone is pedestrian, they could get run over.…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Censorship Is Essential to an Open Society". Censorship. Bradley Steffens, Ed. Opposing Viewpoints Digests® Series. Greenhaven Press, 2001.…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    B604 RE GCSE

    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Censorship means to control what is said or written. It includes removing offensive, harmful, inappropriate or sensitive material.…

    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Denby essay

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Censorship is defined as the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by a government, media outlet or other controlling body. According to Denby, his main issue with censorship is with the media and how it affects our society, especially the younger generations. Denby makes things today seem responsible for the way that they are because of media’s portrayal of teenage life.…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Censorship In China Essay

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Censorship is the act of suppressing ideas, words or images so as to control the information or data that people can access. Private parties or the government can participate in promoting censoring for their benefit or as a way of protecting the community, religion or even a state from blasphemy, treason or explicit content. Censorship has been there for a long time, and it can be traced to as early as 300 Ad where a censorship law was passed in China. Blocking the ideas of people is viewed as a way of controlling the political and moral life of the society. Most governments use censorship as a way of preventing any evil influence from reaching the people in society`. Censorship has both active and negative impacts on the people. Does censorship…

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the world today there are many controversial topics which lead to many different perspectives about the different topics. A controversial topic is censorship. Censorship is the prohibition of any parts of books, movies, etc. that are considered unacceptable in society. Censorship is like any other controversial topic, there are people who are supporting and opposing censorship. But the people who live in the world are split between pro-censorship and anti-censorship, whether or not to censor certain books at schools. Definite view for pro-censorship has occurred in the Supreme Court ruling and the opinion of a congress member. While definite opposing view toward censorship is Gavin Mcinnes and Michael Anti. In order to understand the purpose…

    • 1259 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Censorship, in true form, is the systematic banning of books, the Internet, or other literature due to content that has been deemed inappropriate. In the United States, it is used widely in the context of adolescent literature. Resistors to this movement often claim that the government is violating many children’s first amendment rights. Numerous cases have been brought. Others find this act of restricting material devastating to the education system. Censorship has infringed on children’s first amendment rights and has violated the civil liberties of American youth.…

    • 1536 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Censorship can be defined as the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient as determined by a government, media, outlet, or other controlling body. Most frequently books are censored because they contain curse words, violence, sex, homosexuality, and the occult or rebellious…

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Censorship" (Gilman). In clarification, the act of censorship means, "to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable” (Haynes). The central characteristics of censorship can relate to the suppression of an idea or image because it offends or disturbs someone, material that involves social issues such as sexuality, religion, race and intense…

    • 1508 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rebuttal Research Paper

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Censorship according to the Encyclopedia Britannica is "The Act of changing or suppressing speech or writing that is considered subversive of the common good." Censorship, therefore, undermines and is contrary to the First Amendment, which is intended to allow freedom of speech.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Censorship in America

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Witherbee, Amy and Cushman, C. Ames. "Counterpoint: Sometimes Censorship is Necessary." 2011. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 21 March 2012.…

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Censorship is caused when books, movies, etc. are examined, and unacceptable parts are suppressed or the whole thing is banned. Schools nationwide have been banning books due to reasons such as racial issues, sexual explicit content, religious affiliations, violence, political bias, encouragement of “damaging” lifestyles, and etc. Often it is argued that banning books protects students from being exposed to inappropriate content, while others say that students should have the freedom to read what they want.…

    • 147 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Censorship is considered as objectionable, damaging and delicate. It is the act or practice to censor inappropriate things in communication speeches or anything that should not be showed in public. We do censorship to hide things that we do not want to show it to kids or it seems to contain too much adultery. Although parents try to hide censored things from their children, but they could still see it anywhere, any place that people would do it. Censorship can control the morality but might not be fully controlled it. Censorship as being said, cannot control all of what television or other social medias show to children. It can contain inappropriate things and vulgar content that have negative effects on a child.…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays