The Pornography Debate, Part Three: What is Obscenity?

With John Stagliano facing obscenity charges for two movies he distributes as well as an online movie trailer I find myself, as well as others, asking more and more often, what constitutes obscene. Everyone has their own opinion. What bothers one person doesn't bother someone else.

It's interesting that when a big name pornographer like John Stagliano (in the past it has been Larry Flint) is pulled into the media spotlight over something the government decided is obscene, groups like Morality in Media come out of the woodwork. Currently they are complaining that while they are happy Stagliano and his company Evil Angel Productions are being targeted, they are upset that others aren't being targeted. This is a group that recently went after Wal-Mart for displaying the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition where children could see it, calling it soft-core pornography. If it were up to conservative groups like Morality in Media everything we viewed would conform to the standards of the Christian Coalition. The problem is, not everyone holds those beliefs.

There are just as many people out there that want proper sex education promoting condom use, safe sex and education on sexually transmitted diseases as there are people wanting abstinence only education. Currently any organization promoting and educating about safe sex and sexually transmitted diseases and not abstinence only loose federal tax dollars. Unfortunately there really is no middle ground on this topic, its one extreme or the other.

The same goes for entertainment. There are just as many that want only family friendly entertainment to be the norm as there are those that want more adult oriented entertainment. Personally, I get tired of watching family friendly shows and movies. Yes, I enjoyed watching the family movies The Game Plan and Meet the Robinsons. However, I also enjoy movies like The Marine and Van Wilder. I don't read Sports Illustrated, but I do read Savage that often features tattoos and piercings in sensitive areas. Given free reign groups like Morality in Media would have all these things outlawed as being "obscene" and "immoral".