There is an ongoing debate on whether the government should regulate pornography because it is harmful or offensive to women and society. Offense and harm seemingly go hand in hand but are two different concepts. Being offended means being in a disliked mental state such as annoyance, disgust, or shame, but without being harmed (Feinberg, 1988, p. 278). Being offended is less serious than being harmed; thus, John Stuart Mill’s harm principle, which states the government can only interfere with one’s liberty to prevent harm to others, does not apply. However, Joel Feinberg’s offense principle allows the government to prevent people from committing certain offensive acts. The harm principle bans pornography because of the harm caused to women,
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Scoccia believes that the consumption of violent pornography perpetuates sexual violence against women. Scoccia (1996) explains that pornography can be banned under the persuasion principle when two requirements are met, nonpersuasive speech and harm, which are both present in pornography (p. 781). The persuasion principle, which is in line with the harm principle, states that “it is seldom if ever permissible to censor speech on the grounds that it might or in face does persuade hearers to accept and act on a bad viewpoint or noxious ideas” (Scoccia, 1996, p. 777). Basically, any speech that brings harm by persuading people cannot be banned because it is not clear that any harm will be done. In my opinion, offense is only a legitimate justification for limiting freedom when it involves children. Children should not be exposed to offensive material because they might not know right from wrong and could think it is okay to have sex at a young age and that it is okay for men to degrade and hurt women. On that note, if pornograhpy is not regulated, it should at least be socially condemned to promote gender …show more content…
He focuses mostly on post production harms, which are indirect harms that come from the consumer of pornography rather than the harms from the actual making of the pornography. For example, gender inequality and increased sexaul abuse toward women after the watching of pornography are indirect harms whereas the abuse of women during the making of the pornography is a direct harm. Eaton (2007) states that “by harnessing representations of women’s subordination to a ubiquitous and weighty pleasure, pornography is especially effective at getting its audience to internalize its egalitarian views” (p. 680). Not only does he believe that men harm women due to pornography, he believes that women harm women because of it. In other words, women see other women being degraded in pornography and judge that women for allowing it or for being in a pornographic film in general rather than judge the men for degrading the
Scoccia believes that the consumption of violent pornography perpetuates sexual violence against women. Scoccia (1996) explains that pornography can be banned under the persuasion principle when two requirements are met, nonpersuasive speech and harm, which are both present in pornography (p. 781). The persuasion principle, which is in line with the harm principle, states that “it is seldom if ever permissible to censor speech on the grounds that it might or in face does persuade hearers to accept and act on a bad viewpoint or noxious ideas” (Scoccia, 1996, p. 777). Basically, any speech that brings harm by persuading people cannot be banned because it is not clear that any harm will be done. In my opinion, offense is only a legitimate justification for limiting freedom when it involves children. Children should not be exposed to offensive material because they might not know right from wrong and could think it is okay to have sex at a young age and that it is okay for men to degrade and hurt women. On that note, if pornograhpy is not regulated, it should at least be socially condemned to promote gender …show more content…
He focuses mostly on post production harms, which are indirect harms that come from the consumer of pornography rather than the harms from the actual making of the pornography. For example, gender inequality and increased sexaul abuse toward women after the watching of pornography are indirect harms whereas the abuse of women during the making of the pornography is a direct harm. Eaton (2007) states that “by harnessing representations of women’s subordination to a ubiquitous and weighty pleasure, pornography is especially effective at getting its audience to internalize its egalitarian views” (p. 680). Not only does he believe that men harm women due to pornography, he believes that women harm women because of it. In other words, women see other women being degraded in pornography and judge that women for allowing it or for being in a pornographic film in general rather than judge the men for degrading the