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{\center \Huge A Feminist View of Pornography}
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{\center \large Marc Horowitz \\
December 7, 1988 \\}
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{\center \normalsize Professor Michael Hardimon \\
Recitation Section 4, TA Larry Kaye \\}
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{\bf Thesis:} Men control all aspects of today's society.  From their
position of power, they define the positions of men and women in
society in such a way that they remain in power.  Pornography
reflecting subordination of women is one tool in men's quest for power.
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In ``Not a Moral Issue,'' MacKinnon gives an argument against abortion
from a feminist's point of view.  Her main point is that in today's
society, male domination controls all aspects of today's society,
usually subconsciously.  The law of obscenity is only one case of a
situation which men have shaped to their own benefit.

MacKinnon begins by asserting that ``the law of obscenity has never
even considered pornography as a women's issue.''  By this, she means
that because society is controlled by men, men never consider
looking at pornography from a women's point of view.  This leads to a
male-centered view of obscenity which conflicts directly with the
feminist view.  The male, supporting his position of dominance over
the woman, calls ``obscene'' that which does not excite him and does
not further his domination, and makes these illegal.  He calls
``pornographic'' that which excites him and portrays women as
subservient and as objects of domination, and makes these legal.  A
woman, however, sees the real meaning of this view.  The ``obscene''
material is the nonpartisan material which she would find unoffensive
compared to the degradation found in the ``pornographic'' material.
If the law of obscenity considered the feminist's position, then this
confusion between what men and women consider pornographic would be
eliminated. 

To consider pornography as a women's issue, it would be necessary to
evaluate a work in terms of the way it portrayed women.  Books or
other publications which portray women as objects to be controlled
would be outlawed.  Because this would eliminate that which men find
erotic and supporting of their superior image, the male-controlled
society will never adopt such changes.  To recognize the feminist's
position, one must see the distinction between sex, a biological fact,
and gender, a presupposition of power imposed by the society.  A man
is a man and a woman is a woman not because of his or her sex, but
because of the view society takes of the person.  Because men control
this perception, men are seen above women.  This is the basis of the
feminists disagreement with current laws of obscenity.

Once one accepts the feminist's position, then many facts about the
distinction between pornography and obscenity become clear.  Obscenity
law is based on morality, specifically what the male considers right
and wrong.  In this way, it is very abstract and subject to
interpretation.  Pornography, on the other hand, is based on politics,
specifically the power of the male contrasted with the powerlessness
of the woman.  Something which dehumanizes women or otherwise elevates
men above them is pornographic.  Pornography, then, is a very concrete
idea.

The case of pornography is only a specific case of the lack of
protection that the law has for women's rights.  In its lack of
recognition of the feminist point of view, the law intentionally
overlooks violations of women's rights.  For example, the First
Amendment assures that Congress cannot limit freedom of speech.  Using
this as a blanket of protection, statements which implicitly abridge
the rights of women by giving men power are allowed.

In general, MacKinnon believes that whatever society believes is
caused by men's forcing their beliefs on society.  Any change in this
would require a fundamental restructuring of the chain of power in
society.  Men use abstractions such as morality to keep themselves in
situations too vague to be disproven.  Women, on the other hand,
because of their position, can see that they are being repressed, and
can pose concrete arguments for their position.
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