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From: jcp@osiris.UUCP (Jody Patilla)
Newsgroups: net.flame,net.politics,net.women
Subject: Re: Possible Ban on Pornography
Message-ID: <504@osiris.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 1-Sep-85 09:51:01 EDT
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Posted: Sun Sep  1 09:51:01 1985
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> 	I don't have a stand on the broader issue of porn bans, but
> concerning these two points I will take exception. Every community has
> (often broad) standards of morality and taste. What causes Todd to later
> write that he wouldn't approve of child pornography ? Why would most
> people be repulsed by ,say, photos of dogs being chopped up (yuck)?
> Obviously most people feel that these are obscene and their distribution
> would be detrimental to society as a whole . We can set standards. 
> And we do.  Obviously , everyone is not going to be happy with any
> standard. But the ones we have , although not explicitly stated,
> do work. I suspect that only a small minority activelly disagree with them.

	I thnk that the difference here is that the children and the dogs
are not in a position to give any kind of informed consent. The adult men 
and women who appear in magazines and films are expected to *know* what they
are doing. The real problem is not pornography in particular - the type
of porn in question is only a symptom of a society-wide attitude that
regards women (and sometimes men) as objects. There are types of erotica
that are very enjoyable that do not degrade or objectify individuals and
it's unfair to lump them all together.
-- 
jcpatilla

"The bland leadeth the bland and they both shall fall into the kitsch."