- The anti-pornography movement of the late 1970s was sustained initially by a general consensus that pornography was degrading to women. The movement argued that pornography depicting violence against women was especially harmful because it contributed to the acceptance of the rape myth. Prodded by demonstrations in “sex districts” like Times Square, feminist groups argued for strict enforcement of criminal obscenity laws and lobbied for legislation declaring pornography a form of sex discrimination that violated women's civil rights. They were joined by right-wing fundamentalists who opposed pornography for religious reasons. By the early 1980s, feminist anti-pornography groups formed to oppose legislation against pornography primarily on First Amendment grounds. Feminists, like the courts and public opinion, remain strongly divided about what constitutes pornography and whether pornography that degrades and violates women should be censored.
|