Agnostic.com

7 3

Is porn defined legally anywhere? What was it Mae West said when told that the sex act was dirty and nasty? "Only when you're doing it right!"

Dick_Martin 7 Feb 10
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

7 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

0

I’ve seen pornography defined as something specifically designed to elicit arousal & also as something depicting sex without any artistic value. Don’t know about legally...though I feel like I got that second part from The People vs. Larry Flynt (maybe).

1

In British law, pornography is generally defined using the word 'indecent.' Now all you need is a definition of 'indecent.'

We have an R18 classification for films. Material that is classified with this rating may only be shown in licensed cinemas, may only be sold in licenced sex shops, and cannot legally be supplied by mail order (although this law seems to be broken quite frequently.) Given those restrictions, R18 is effectively a certification for pornograpy. The precise rules used to establish that a film is R18 (rather than just 18 ) seem to be a bit of a mystery.

UK law certainly defines extreme pornography. It is illegal, for example, to create, distribute or own pictures of certain sexual acts. The definition revolves around things that are likely to cause injury to someone's breasts, anus or genitals. So penetration with oversized objects, and cutting or piercing of those specific parts are all things that we are banned from creating or possessing images of, even though the sexual acts themselves are perfectly legal. I kid you not, in British porn you can show four fingers entering an anus or a vagina, but if the thumb goes in too, you're in trouble.

UK law also defines child pornography. Somewhat bizarrely, to include drawings and cartoons. That joke image of Lisa Simpson blowing Bart that you forwarded to a friend? That could theoretically put you in prison here. Hentai also becomes problematic, because it's difficult to establish the ages of the characters.

General porn is a bit too nuanced to define legally. It could encompass anything from mildly titillating erotica right through to closeups of penetration. The focus (probably rightly) is what should be available to which audiences. And so we tend to leave the final decision to the censors.

1

I still can't get over the fact that the USA has such a problem with female nipples. I think the Mull of Kintyre rule still applies in Australia for willies, so if it doesn't look like you can do anything with it it can go to air on normal television. Tits are a non event. However even the slightest whiff of pedophilia is a no go zone, which is fair enough.
It seems there are some other laws regarding pornography but except in the case of public exhibition and video games they are rarely policed.

Kimba Level 7 Feb 11, 2018
2

Under my home country's criminal code, "Pornographic material" is defined as "Inappropriate, unacceptable or incompatible with the public morals material, that represents opened sexual behavior. As such is to be understood behavior, that expresses real or simulated sexual intercourse between persons of the same or different sex, sodomy, masturbation, sexual sadism or masochism, or the lustful exhibition of a person's sexual organs."

Yet as per myself, I fail to see what "sexual behavior" has to do with morals, as long it does not include violence, coercion, deception or by other means non-consentual participation of one or more of the persons performing.

4

I love Mae West.
Another favorite quote of hers.."when confronted with temptations, I always try to pick the one I've not tried yet.

1

Pornography was defined as anything that has no value, I do believe. I have to go back to my memory of criminal law classes in high school for that nugget of memory...I think I will look it up and check after I post this...an intellectual gamble...haha

obscenity was defined as "utterly without redeeming social importance"....I was close! Too many hits to the head, and beers under the bridge since then, me thinks...haha

4

Thanks to religion a picture or film of two people doing the most natural thing in the world, the thing that got us all here, making love to each other is of course illegal, immoral, disgusting, frowned upon in good company and that we all have seen and probably have in our homes and in our hands right now still can't be admitted to. They did a good job.

Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:23030
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.