Obscenity, pornography and indecency (critical reflection1)

Definition of Obscenity, Pornography and Indecency.
According to the Word Web Pro,

Obscene :
1. Designed to incite to indecency or lust
2. Offensive to the mind
3. Suggestive of or tending to moral looseness

Obscenity:
1. The trait of behaving in an obscene manner
2. An offensive or indecent word or phrase
3. An obscene act

Pornography:
1. Creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire

Indecent:
1. Not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society
2. Offensive to good taste especially in sexual matters
3. Offending against sexual mores in conduct or appearance

Indecency:
1. The quality of being indecent
2. An indecent or improper act


In US, the censorship is controlled by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission). The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government. The FCC works towards six strategic goals and one of the areas is the media.

What makes material “obscene?”

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, tobe obscene, material must meet a three-prong test:

(1) an average person, applying contemporary community standards, must find that the material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest (i.e., materialhaving a tendency to excite lustful thoughts).
(2) the material must depict or describe, in a patently offensive way,sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable law.
(3) the material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary, artistic,political, or scientific value. The Supreme Court has indicated that this testis designed to cover hard-core pornography.

What makes a pornographic work obscene?

Pornography is the term used to describe a work which uses sexual images with the primary purpose of causing sexual arousal. Some of this material may be "indecent," that is, offensive to some but still protected by the First Amendment. But some pornography is "obscene," and is not constitutionally protected.

A less technical way of classifying pornography divides it into two categories:
a)Hard-core porn- features total nudity, lewd display of genitalia, actual representation of sex acts, bestiality, incest, fetishes, homosexuality, exploitation of children and violence.
b)Soft-core porn- such as Playboy magazine, may also include full nudity and lewd presentation of genitalia, but will not emphasize violence and sexual perversion.

Pornography merchants work to target various interests and demographic groups. There are trading cards featuring porn celebrities. One can find group-specific pornography for Asians, African-Americans, older people, pregnant or lactating women, obese men and women, and so on. If there is the slightest chance that the depiction of a sex act will titillate people, someone will produce and market it.

Pornography, of course, is not the exclusive cause of sex crimes or of hostility toward women (except a person imitates violent porn). It is clear, however, that pornography fuels perverse behaviour in what seems to be a growing number of deviant individuals. Many who study the problem agree that pornography's effect on society is growing, and the more and longer porn is used, the greater its impact on an individual.

What makes material “indecent?”

Material is indecent if, in context, it depicts or describes sexual orexcretory organs or activities in terms patently offensive as measured bycontemporary community standards for the broadcast medium. In each case, the FCC must determine whether the material describes or depicts sexual or excretoryorgans or activities and, if so, whether the material is “patently offensive.”
In the FCC's assessment of whether material is “patently offensive,”context is critical.

The FCC looks at three primary factors when analyzingbroadcast material:
(1) whether the description or depiction is explicit orgraphic
(2) whether the material dwells on or repeats at length descriptions ordepictions of sexual or excretory organs
(3) whether the material appears to pander or is used to titillate or shock.No single factor is determinative. The FCC weighs and balances these factorsbecause each case presents its own mix of these, and possibly other,factors.

The general difference between obscenity and indecency is indecency is milder than obscenity. Obscenity relates to a larger audience whereas indecency has a smaller scope. Indecency is used to gauge a media whether it is suitable for a certain group of audience, such as small children. If the material is found to be inapropriate for that age group, it is restricted from being broadcasted at certain hours. However, if a material is found to be obscene, it is censored and not broadcasted at all.