Pornography in a Free Society

This volume looks at pornography from a broad perspective and concludes that its widespread availability has contributed much to the controversy.

Gordon Hawkins (Author), Franklin E. Zimring (Author)

9780521406000, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 25 January 1991

252 pages, 3 b/w illus. 15 tables
22.9 x 15.3 x 1.7 cm, 0.36 kg

'This is a highly informative and thought-provoking book. It makes a worth-while contribution to our understanding of public policy and pornography.' Ethics

Pornography in a Free Society deals with what has been called the 'civil war over smut'. It addresses an issue about which citizens of Western nations are sharply divided. Gordon Hawkins and Franklin Zimring attempt to look at the problem of pornography in a wider perspective than that of partisan political debate. To that end, they compare two American reports on pornography commissioned by Presidents Johnson and Reagan, the first published in 1970 and the latter in 1986, with the report of the British Committee on Obscenity and Film Censorship, which appeared during the years between the American reports. They discuss the radical feminist challenge to pornography and the question of pornography and children. Going on to consider likely future developments, the authors argue that the furore over pornography and the appointment of commissions are part of a 'ceremony of adjustment' to widespread availability of sexually explicit material and they predict less social concern about pornography as time passes.

List of tables and figures
Preface
Acknowledgements
Part I. Pornography and the Pornography Commissions: Introduction
1. Experts on what? The origins and composition of pornography commissions
2. On definitions
3. The nature and distribution of pornography in the United States
4. Pornographic communication and social harm: a review of the reviews
5. Freedom of expression and the public law of pornography
Part II. Public Policy After Liberalization: Introduction
6. Pornography and the subjugation of women: the radical feminist challenge
7. Pornography and child protection
8. Pornography in perspective: social response in the noncensoring society
9. Notes toward the future
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Social issues & processes [JFF]