Pornography and censorship (samine the economic conditions in which women's role in biological reproduction ensured their social inequality: In particular He must malese the specific forms that this 'Ppression does under capitalism. These dorms are interperen With the nerds o capital and the oppression of the working class. ket to such a malesis is the torm of the nuclear tamil, the side of the oppression of Women, with its division of the privite "Dersary belong tans to your ad for Twinkle Toes bedroom slippers.. sphere from the public, is heterosexual imperatives, its subordinaion of Momen to the demands of men, and the ideology of the home as 'the haven from the harsh world outside. This home is where most violence "guns women and children is in lad carried but. leis also the role of the mclear tamil do reproduce both the labour fores and capital ist ideolog!, to ensure the continuation of the capitalise sustom. An analisis that ignores these aspects of the relation between sexual and ilass oppression can all too casily produce demands that confuse not only the struggle tor class emancipation but that for the liberation of women themselves. The casc against the radical fominists and
their demands is tourtold. First, there is no
statistical evidence to support the idea of a
causal link between pornographs and
violence against women. Indeed, in coun-
tres where pornography has been made
freds arailable, there has been a decrease in
the numberof reported artacks. Not that this proves the opposite, for all sorts of other lactors - crononne, social and historical
have to be taken into account in a discussion of violent sexual atacks.
Secondle, there is the question of the definition of pornography. In arccentbook,
Mariana Valverde pouts out that any detinition has to take account of the context in which so-called pornography is produced and consumed. An article by a group of Women discussing sexual experiences in a dominise journal would be 'read' differently from the same article published in sott-porn magazine. Further, many feminists would describo the representation of women as passive recipients of male passion In romance fiction, as not only sexist but pornographic. Far from being sexually exphen (indeed the language about sexual detrity is usually ambiguous) such texts Assume d constant cquation between male power and violence, even if that violence remains only a potential:
'Women always looked a Alex Brent like
that. Hislean, hard body held a menacing
sexuality, an implicit threat of sexual
violence which attracted women like iron
filings to a magnet*
Whatever the definition of pornography it will be open to very wide interpretation. This problem is a critical one in the demand tor censorship imposed by the state. State controlsin Britain would include all sorts of sexual maerial for censorship: set manuals, books like Make it Happo?, lesbran and gay literature and images all could be banned. while TV serials, films and books glorifying male violence would be lett untouched.
Thirdly, claiming a causal link berween pornographic material and acts of violence assume's a direct relation between representation and reality, between fantasy and fact. While we all find male violence against women and children abhorrent, it is simplistic to suggest that looking at such material produces a given set of responses. 25
Behavioural psychologists might argue such a correlation, but feminists, amongst others, have developed a critique of such theories.
Lastly, and most dangerously, the radical feminist argument undermines an esplora tion of female sexuality. In a patriarchal, capitalist society, women's sexuality will inevitably be fraught with contradications. Formed in a male-dominated framework, with the heterosexual imperative enforced by the nuclear family, female sexuality is bound to be partly informed, by male-donnated desires and tantasics. The exploration of female sexuality from a feminist direction can only be hindered by a repressive attitude towards sexual imagery.
So what should socialist feminists be doing about pornography? If pornography is one end of a continuum of sexist imagery," there is no reason why it alone should be singled out for attack. In the seventies we also attacked beauty contests: feminists continue to undermine sexist adverts with their slogans. Such direct action plays a uscful role in drawing public attention to oppressive images, of women. The advertising hoardings which line our streets with sexist images the representation of women in TV soap operas like Dallas and Dynasty
pervasive and pernicious, these are more more effective forms of sexist propaganda than pornography, which is consumed in private and which represents the result of
conscious, if sexist, choice.
Rather than single out pornography, the
sexually explicit end of oppressive imagery,
rather than call on the state to determine
what we should be allowed to see and read,
we should campaign agamnst all sexist
representations. Direct action has its place in
such a campaign — graffiti on adverts, the
removal of pin-ups in workplaces ..- but the
self-organisation of women, the autono-
mous women's liberation movement, will be
the only force to fight sexism effectively.
The women who organised in support of the
miners' strike of 1984/5, radicalised at the
same time over sexual issues, such as on the
question of lesbian and gay liberation. It was
the women who won first the men, and later
the NUM as a whole, to a recognition of the
importance of sexual politics, overcoming
long-held and deepseated prejudices.
However much we oppose male violence
against women and children, its existence in
our society cannot be adequately explained
by patriarchy alone. The capitalist system
which divides women from men, black from
white, old from young; the nuclear family
where most violence actually occurs —- these
also have to be part of the analysis in
understanding, and then organising against,
violence against women.
1 Andrea Footnotes Dworkin: Pornography, The
Women's Press (1981).
2 Susan Brownmiller: Against Our Will, Pen-
guin (1977).
3 Mariana Valverde: Sex, Power and Pleasure,
Women's Press of Canada (1985).
4 Ibid, page 138. Jane Cousins: Make it Happy, Virago, 1978. 26 6 For an excellent exposition of this argument see Ros Sexuality," Feminist Review, Summer 1982. Coward's: "Sexual Violence and
While we oppose the pornography free zone campaign Force on Prostitution and Pornography initiated by Task (TOPP), we are critical of pomography, its false representation of women's sexvality, and sexist imagery of all types, and we encourage and support protest of such depictions. We are enraged by the
assaults and rapes women experience and sensitive to the discomfort
women feel about pornography some Yet, there are better, and less dangerous, ways to combat violence against women and sexism then the pornography free zone campaign.
But, what's wrong with supporting the pornography free zone campaign as a
Tan educational effort? First, we objectto the notion that a 'pornography free zone' is a place that is 'safe for women and children' as the TOPP sticker claims. We object because the slogan trivializes realily by suggest-
that the absence of pornography makes women safe and, implicitly, that
pornography is what endangers women. Pornography is not the same as rape
The problem of pornography is part of
a much larger social and economic
problem of the subordination of women
in society as a whole. Pornography is an
extreme example of a society that objectifies women, but the specific focus on
pornography and sexually explicit imag
ery advocated by some feminists ob-
scures how degrading depictions of
women permeate society.
Sexist attitudes toward women are
encouraged by advertisements on TV,
appropriate behaviour, and by a culture
which continually reinforces male domi-
nance. Female sexuality is commodified
in various ways, typified by wuit esses in
bunny suits and advertisements that use
women's bodies to sell cars. Porno-
graphy is one end of the continuum.
It is not only the media which is sexist
Women are se-
gregated into jobs which require them to
serve others, such jobs as secretarial
work and domestic service. As a group
women earn 59 cents to a dollar earned
Suppressing pornography will not end
violence against women. Rape, wife-
beating, and other forms of such violence
have been around for a long time, long
before pornography was widely avail
able. This violence is caused by deeper
sources of anti-women attitudes. Some
pornography may condone such
violence, but pornography does not
cause it.
Secondly, we object to the porn-free
linked zone campaign because it is directly to national anti-pornography
legislative efforts led by Catharine
MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin and led
locally by TOPP. The definition of porno-
graphy in the pornography free zone
campaign is essentially the same as the
definition in the Dworkin/MacKinnon
Protesting outside Ann Summer sex shop in Edgware Road Why we oppose the pornography free zone campaign
which is vague and open to anti-feminist interpretation. Support for the porn free zone campaign will be used both to build support, and as evidence of support, for future anti-pornography legislation. The ordinance relies upon the courts to determine which sexually explicit fall under its vague definition and which materials may be legally required removed from theatres and bookstores. We know that ultimately this type of legislation will be used against our literature and films. It will be used to — and will encourage - attacks upon feminist, lesbian, and gay lives, beliets, literature and art.
The pornography free zone campaign mimics the nationwide nuclear free zone campaign strategy. Both are symbolic and both provide no true guarantee to safety. The nuclear free zone campaign clearly stated that its purpose lay in ultimately pressuring the government to legislate the banning of nuclear arms.
The pornography tree zone campaign
denies a broader goal. We expect that the
pornography free zone campaign will, in
fact, be used to propose again an
anti-pornography ordinance or a ban-
ning of pornography in this community. If
this is not the case, what is the purpose of
a symbolic act that uses essentially the
same definition of pornography as the
Dworkin/MacKinnon ordinance does?
INIERNAIIONAL No. 'I July/August 1986
sodomy as an evil encouraged by and Yellow Silk, an erotic magazine.
VIOLENCE
We must reiterate our opposition to censorship, regardless of its brand name, 'civil rights' ordinance, or otherwise. Any legislation attempting to control the sale, distribution or availability of sexual materials will be used against us. Right wing groups and leaders already actively support this legislation. We know that they are not our friends and won't side-step trampling over feminist or lesbian or gay rights.
In Minneapolis, the anti-pornography ordinance did not pass, but a new obscenity ordinance did ushered through in its wake. In Suffolk County, New York, the anti-porn ordinance was amended to attack gays by including pornography.
In Canada, the Ontario Censorship Board, which bans films in the name of protecting women, has already twisted teminist-inspired legislation and language and used it to censor feminist films, including the feminist critique of pornography, 'Not a Love Story'
Feminists across the country are debating the problems of pornography and the proposed legislative effort. Many feminists, lesbians, and gays oppose the Dworkin/MacKinnon anti-pornography ordinance and dispute the ordinance's definition of pornography.
We have fought hard to get the judicial and law enforcement systems to interpret and enforce the 'rights of all men' to include minorities, women, gays, lesbians and other oppressed groups. Many parts of this state and the nation still have little consciousness or concern about defending our rights.
We have no faith in this country's judges' ability or interest to look at
PORNOGRAPHY IS umme AGAINST WOMEN ADU T feminist photographs of nude women's
- which show beauly and sexual pleasure from a woman's viewpoint and are sold for women - and distinguish them from the kinds of pictures in Playboy or Hustler, which are sexist and are the aim of this kind of ordinance
Some feminist literature that could fall under the pornography free zone campaign's definition of pornography include: books favouring abortion (conservative groups like 'Women Victimized by
believe that abortion violence against women and could use this ordinance against pro-choice literature), The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Sisterhood is Powerful by Robin Morgan,
Feminist and progressive booksellers across the country have made it clear that they would cease stocking literature which might be considered pornographic due to the ordinance's threat of costly litigation. Local feminist artists fear censorship of their art, films, and literature.
Our disagreement with TOPP's support of the anti-pornography ordinance continues in our vIew of the current anti-pornography zone campaign. The mere removal of pornography from view, a dangerous strategy for the women's movement, will not change the pervasive attitudes of male domination. The attitudes and materials will remain. We need criticism of pornography and sexism, but we also need to create positive images and build toward something different. The problems of sexual assault, sexism, and sexist imagery are not simple
We hope that feminists and progressives will continue to join us in taking up new, and older, feminist ideas, instead of
supporting the anti-porn legislative/
censorship approach of attacking these
problems. The activist program we sug
gest will not be as easy to accomplish as
stirring up sentiment against porno-
graphy, a feeling that many share
because they find any depiction of nudity
and sexuality offensive, but it may bring
about more substantive changes.
Let's create and support access to images, literature, and films which depict female and male sexuality positively,
which are made for women's pleasure
and which are not exploitive instead of fearing pornography designed by and for men. Let's create and support liberating images. To speak of sex exclusively in terms of rape is a disservice to ourselves Let's fight for our own sexual rights and our own erotica.
We also advocate showing critical films, open discussions, and leafletting pornography shows. Let's institute a ten minute 're-education' period before the start of pornography as well as may R-rated films to teach people about sexism and to explain our objections to the depiction of female sexuality in these films
We see these alternatives as being part of a needed comprehenseive feminist program for women's liberation to adequately address sexism and the violence women experience and fear. Such a strategy should also include at least all of the following * Fighting for our right to determine our own sexuality, for access to birth control and abortion, and for lesbian and gay rights * Empowering women to fight back and refuse to be victims by teaching selfdetense courses in schools and at work and demanding better lighting on city and campus streets. * Demanding sex education for adults and children that does more than teach the 'evils' and dangers of sexuality, but also teaches choice and non-sexist behaviour, and which discusses sexuality not only in terms of traditional, heterosexual relationships. Demanding the resources to permit developing imaginative and appealing approaches to sex education, rather than the boring and moralistic ones offered today. * Demanding quality and affordable 24 hour childcare under community and parent control. * Fighting for comparable worth, affirmative action, and unionization * Enforcement and expansion of existing rules against sexual harassment.
Yes, this and the other alternatives we have presented here may sound like a laundry list of things to work on. We, as countless others, have been engaging in these struggles for a long time already. Women's subordination is deeply ingrained in society, and fighting it successtully requires a multifaceted and grass-roots organizing approach. Reprinted from Against the Current, No. 1, Jan. 1986. 27
AFTER ALMOST thirty years of unremitting illness,