The pros and cons of porn
The government of India recently told the Supreme Court that it is difficult to block international porn sites in the country. This was in response to the court’s directive after an advocate filed a petition appealing for banning the porn sites as they were one of the major causes for crimes against women.
Ideally, pornography means material that is sexually explicit and intended for the purpose of sexual arousal. A better word to use will be sexually explicit material (SEM). SEM can be classified into erotica — SEM that depict sexual activity but do not contain themes of the subjugation of women or men, endorsement of violence; degrading pornography — SEM that degrades, debases, and dehumanises people; violent pornography — SEM that portrays and endorses sexual violence. The last two types are the ones which can cause damage.
If we take movies as a category, an intimate scene alone does not constitute pornography or obscenity. Violence, rape, flouting law, depicting women as sexual objects, double-meaning entendres, smoking, drinking etc. all come under the umbrella of obscenity. While commercial exploitation of sexuality ought to be condemned, healthy sexuality can be permitted.
The Internet is an entirely unlimited window of possibilities. A blanket ban to cover up things is impractical. Since we are not in a position to categorise the areas of obscenity and ban porn sites, a pragmatic approach would be to equip people to be more aware and discriminative; the ability to gauge for oneself.
The writer is a sexologist. You can mail him at dr.narayana@deccanmail.com
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