PORN & OBSCENITY TEST

1873 Comstock Act

prohibited mailing "obscene," "lewd," or "lascivious" material, including materials about sex education.

Roth versus miller-- differences

roth, it is a national community standard, in miller it can mean states, cities, towns, a more narrow community with more leeway for prosecution (local, state community). I.e., manhattan is different community than ohio Miller- community standards at state level We live under miller versus CA today

Homosociality

social bonds between members of same sex

What is the repressive hypothesis

- Foucault argues that Victorians did not repress sexuality, but rather produced a discourse that encouraged people to talk about it -Repressive Hypothesis: proposed by historians who say that society repressed sex and sexuality from 17th-20th century; sex became more taboo as we approach the Victorian era; people were free and open about sexuality until 17th century; Foucault disagrees with this: does not believe that repression of sex is because of rise of capitalism; he says sex is not repressed, but instead, it became central to all of life, and it became a largely discussed topic/discourse; -"Putting sex into a discourse"-alternative theory to the repressive hypothesis, Focault means that sex was regulated and there were various ways a society provided clues about good sex and bad sex, this means situating sex within other paradigms of power acknowledging how some sexualities are privileged over others; examples- Catholic confessional practice, psychological diagnosis of unhealthy/pathological sexuality; -Foucault's putting sex into discourse examples: psychological diagnosis of unhealthy/pathological sexuality; Catholic confessional practice; not the gendering of sexuality

Miller v. California

- Miller doing mass mailing campaign for adult book sales that are pornographic in nature, he is convicted for knowingly distributing obscene material - The dissenting opinion- arguing the obscenity is not mentioned in bill of rights of constitution, without such clarification its difficult to make distinction, vagueness - establish three part test - if average person appeals to the prurient interest of work (within community standard) - Depicts sexual conduct in patently offensive way - Does work have literary, artistic, political or scientific value

What is porn?

- Sexual material intended to arouse - Community guidelines vary, difficult with online communities

How was porn and obscenity described in early America?

Censored and defined by men Other forms arose away from the market → pamphlets and carvings Largely british and overseas influence Upper Class men engaged in social aspect of porn → peep shows Mass production more narrow, homemade broader Poor documentation Limited privacy and home exposure Obscenity was defined by who is effects the most

name of Fanny Hill case

Commonwealth v. Holmes

Order of court cases

Hicklin (1868), Hicklin test Roth v. United States (1957) Stanley V. Georgia (1969) Miller V. California (1973) "How Rude!" Sammy Mouthed

Commonwealth v. Holmes

Holmes, selling Fanny Hill in MASS charged with " being a scandalous and evil-disposed person, youths could be corrupted

Handmade and Homemade

How capitalism and markets shape pornography Authorship less clear Criticism of author of this piece- assumption in other histories that pornography people bought was pornography they wanted Availability reigns supreme Sexual scripts - is desire able to be articulated free from social ideas of what is correct and what's on the market Homemade- outside the market, not commercialized is more truthful Dominant sexual scripts are always represented bc there is a market to consume it Niche sexual desires and scripts aren't commercialized due to smaller audience Don't buy that they are expressions of sexual desire but they have interesting things to say about desire more broadly

How did presence of postcards, magazine, ads, male body create queer communities?

National gay commercial market before national gay political community; YMCA

What is common law?

Natural governing order before laws Derived from english common law Some written, some not, legal thought of what is natural and correct Long history of cases that established how law should be

Are there laws against obscenity in the US right now?

Obscenity isn't protected under the first amendment (free speech) STL County Code for obscenity

Roth v. United States

Obscenity not protected by the first amendment Material is obscene if the average person, applying contemporary community standards would find that material appeals to prurient interest and without redeeming social importance/value Different from previous law Social importance is new Used to be ANY (most susceptible) person instead of average

What is obscene?

Offensive to moral principles

Sadists and Sissies: Four Frameworks

Psychiatric framework (dangers) Children Cold War (gender inequality in US) Racial politics

Aristotle masterpiece

Purpose → medical book, written form of oral tradition, sex and marriage manual; Book of sexual scripts- this is how sex should be done

Hicklin Test

Something is obscene if "corrupts those whose minds are open to such immoral influences" Most susceptible not average!!!

Thomas Laqueur and One-Sex Theory

Woman as man turned inside out Idea that women needed orgasm to conceive prevalent under this theory, same biological response

Foreign postcards

Women who were colonial subjects were objectified and exploited for pornographic purposes → orientalized Placing colonized women in raw and natural settings for photos → "primitive look" Colonized women are seen as less worthy → whose nude photos are sold in hidden vs public methods "Arab type" → muslim women in headscarves with breasts exposed → "imperial gaze" White women or men, needed envelope Foreign nude was allowed as postcards These postcards got away with depicting pubic hair and genitalia while displaying colonial subjects as a cultural other. Placing these subjects in the nude in a natural setting was believed to be a culturally genuine image.

Stanley V. Georgia

You can have obscene materials in private home How is this different? Individual possession instead of production