ENGL 1101 Argumentative essay - Grade: 80 PDF

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This was a research paper on a topic of our choice to learn how to write an argumentative essay ...

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Engl 1102-PX Pornography: at what point is it not seen as acceptable? Porn is defined by Webster's Dictionary as “television programs, magazine, books, etc. that are regarded as emphasizing the sensuous or sensational aspects of a nonsexual subject and stimulating a compulsive interest in their audience.” With over 40 million Americans as active porn viewers, its not surprising that this industry is a 20 billion dollar business. And with such a larger viewing audience, everybody is bound to have their own personal preferences as to what they would want to see. Also with such a vast amount of websites, the possibilities of what you can view is practically endless. So at what point does porn becomes unacceptable? When it comes to judging content, a person's definition of what’s unacceptable well differ from someone else’s. One person might feel that exposure to violence is sexually stimulating while another might believe that sexually explicit material poses a moral danger. And at what point should porn be censored or banned? In an industry where anything and everything goes, how far can the pornography industry go before it becomes unacceptable? I believe that it becomes unacceptable when a person becomes harmed in any way. According to Alix Nalezinski, the writer of Censorship; Risk assessment; Pornography; Wounds & injuries; Rape -- Prevention. The philosophical positions on what type pornography should be censored or otherwise specially restricted. The other extreme sees porn as just a healthy expression of sexuality. Many see pornography is heartily encouraged in order to help people discover what pleases them sexually, no matter how graphic or violent the material is. People will argue that as long as consenting adults are involved and no one gets hurt, then anything goes. But what of those who do not directly obtain any benefit from viewing violent pornography? They should also be in favor of allowing it if there are indirect benefits to them of

allowing the material. There are a number of significant benefits. The first might be that everyone benefits from there being the greatest amount of general freedom. By allowing all ideas, lifestyles, and activities, then people are exposed to new ideas, lifestyles, and activities from which they can choose. In particular, if people are interested in expanding the limits of their sexual activities, then viewing pornography may give them new ideas about which they might not have thought. It is not that people will generally choose a more radical sexual lifestyle, but that general freedom increases the options in all areas of life. However, this approach fails to recognize the negative detrimental effects porn can have on an individuals. When in porn, the actors began to act out scenes that can be conceived as consensual, even though it looks forced is not acceptable. A prime example is called hard-core porn. It’s characterized by the excessive use of masculine elements, as well as by the male gender possession of all penetrable orifices the female body has the defining criteria of hardcore are erection of the penis, penetration of any orifice, and ejaculation. Also body fragmentation in hard-core, too, but unlike soft-core, the fragmentation is constructed from an angle of violence and male dominance. And the most important part of hard-core is the oral and anal exploitation of the partner. Sodomizing of the female partner increases the objectification of the female body, as it is presented as “destined” to submit to male virility in all possible aspects. While on camera this may look enjoyable for both parties as we might be tempted to believe, this is not the case. This genre of porn can ultimately lead to harm against women, either by causing viewers to perform acts of overt harm or my creating a climate of acceptance or at least unconcern about harms against women, such as rape and other forms of sexual assault because the viewers may believe that it’s okay to act out what they see and there be nothing wrong with it.

As addressed by writer Abhilash Nair of Real porn and pseudo porn: the regulatory road, that pornography leads to harm against women, either by causing viewers to perform acts of overt harm against women or by creating a climate of acceptance or at least unconcern about harms against women, such as rape and other forms of sexual assault to be acceptable. And such a thing happened in the UK. A mother whose daughter died at the hands of a man obsessed with violent internet porn has won her fight for a ban on possessing such violent pornographic images. Jane Longhurst, was found dead on 19 April 2003. She had been strangled with a pair of tights and her body kept in storage for weeks before it was found by police. Graham Coutts, the man responsible for Jane’s murder was to be said to have been addicted to violent porn for 3 years before the murder took place. "Such material has no place in our society,” stated by Mrs. Longhurst, the victim’s mother. This is just one example of how violence in porn can have negatively on the ones who watches it and ultimately takes someone’s life. With this being said, not everyone who watches violent porn will go out and commit these types of violent crimes. Yes, some may just find the pornography to be just that, a sexual expression that is shared with themselves and or their partners. The issue with this type of violent pornography is that some people are influenced by what they see, as in the case of Graham Coutts and Jane Longhurst, the violence images became and reality and a young woman lost her life because of it. This is when what is seen in pornography becomes unacceptable. But just because it seems unacceptable to you, doesn’t mean that all porn that falls into that category should be censored. A censor’s “good reason” for censoring a fact is usually that its dissemination will cause harm or damage to others. However, not everyone thinks that porn should censored and nothing should be off limits with censorship. Sexual censorship should not exist according to Cario Davis writer of Why Pornography Should Not Be Censored. When we

are confronted with an in increasing incidence of physical violence in present-day society, and increasing acceptance of this higher level of violence as being unavoidable. He says that “sexual censorship affects individual human happiness and relationships.” And by limiting what someone is able to see is the same as violating someone's freedom of speech. Opposition to censorship must inevitably involve us in defending things and people whom we may dislike and disapprove of. Why should a small group of individuals have what they prefer to watch censored because not everyone complete understands it. This can be seen as censorship being the same as supreme arrogance, you are limiting what a person is able to see because of your beliefs and what you see to be right and wrong. You aren’t taking into consideration what they want to see and ultimately taking away their voice because they will be seen as “wrong.” This is why the case for free speech in relation to sex is precisely the same as the case for free speech in any other area of life. Far from it being the case that opposition to censorship depends upon an erroneous belief that all pornography is harmless, the true ground for objecting to moral censors is that their activities are likely to be far more harmful to society. Yes, while moral censoring pornography just because someone doesn’t completely understand it is wrong, that doesn't mean that the porn industry should not be able to get away with anything that they want to do. I think that the censorship of pornography is necessarily justified when it comes to physical harm towards another person. Pornography regulation is an area that has always courted controversy debate. Everyone responded to pornography in different ways, while regulation of traditional pornography was principally based on morality and prevailing societal values, others see pornography as the primary cause for censorship and regulation. And I would agree. Pornographers to realize the potential of the Internet, which now plays host to vastly differing types of pornography, from

‘normal’ adult porn to violent porn. It's hard to find a balance between what is acceptable and what should be censored since everyone who watches porn has different preferences. But the line has to be drawn somewhere. When it comes to expressing oneself sexually through pornography is one thing but once you cross over into the hard-core territory is when it starts to become unacceptable. When falsely making consensual sex look real and promoting physical harm/violence during sex should be censored for all to see. When made widely available a young woman's life was taken away. And this is when porn becomes unacceptable to watch. Not by just watching the act itself, but when that fantasy world created becomes a dark reality. So pornography should not be censored unless such risks become unacceptable to that person....