Romeo and Juilet

The Anti-Pornography Feminist Movement “I don’t need statistics to tell me that there is a relationship between pornography and real violence. My body remembers.” This chilling testimony from a female rape victim to a grand jury in 1983 represents the evils that pornography represents in the United States. There are strong correlations between sex crimes and pornography that have divided feminists over whether free speech is worth the sheer magnitude of sex-crime victims. Free speech is protected by the First Amendment and most people have differing views on its meaning. One thing that cannot be ignored is the fact that 90% of sexual offenders have used pornography “frequently.” I believe that the anti-pornography movement is not only just, but essential. I would like to explore various aspects of the anti-pornography movement including the history, players, rhetoric and the impact. I believe that shedding light on the ways that pornography effects human beings, we will feel differently about the “freedom of speech.” In the 1960’s and 1970’s, debates over pornography mirrored the counter-culture’s battle with conservative values. The 1969 case Stanley v. Georgia, “community standards” were challenged and the court upheld the civil rights for consumers to possess pornography in their homes. However, the 1970’s brought about the VCR and feminists began to redefine pornography to explore the impact of the porn industry on women and their place in society. Though many feminists were frightened by the prospect that they may be working hand in hand with conservatives to regulate this practice, many women jumped to action when new surveys and statistics were revealed about pornography and women. To most of these women, the immorality was not the sexual content, but its violation of a woman’s dignity, a lie about who women are and what they want. Out of these theories, writers like Andrea Dworkin, Catherine MacKinnon and Dr. Diana Russell founded and encouraged many...