Pornography Essay, Research Paper

The freedom of speech in communities is important, but many people say that the selling of pornographic magazines in grocery, convenience stores, and others stores is a big problem. Many people think that magazines, like pornographic ones, send bad messages out to people especially kids. They think that the magazines cause an uproar in peoples moral standards and be the cause of various criminal acts. From 1954 to 1968 Playboy averaged in monthly depictions of children, crime, and vioplence. Since 1975, with the additions of Penthouse and Hustler, the publication rate has increased to 111 monthly depictions.

Many people may see pornographic magazines as a freedom of speech and/or a freedom of press and that is why they are able to be distributed in stores. Others think that there should be certain restrictions placed on the freedom of speech, without hurting the First Amendment. Several years ago, the National Federation for Decency put out a nation wide boycott of the7-Eleven chain whose 7,600 stores sold Playboy, Penthouse, and other pornographic magazines which featured sexually explicit articles and photographs. In doing this, the Southland Corporation, the owner of the 7-Eleven chain, was told to stop the carrying and selling of the pornographic magazines.

Not only do the stores in the United States sell pornographic magazines, but the government does too. For years the United States Government has been the biggest seller of pornographic magazines in the world. On United States Military Bases, 12.6 million copies of different pornographic magazines are sold annually. Also, 4.3 Million dollars a year goes to the government for selling the magazines. Because of the selling of pornographic magazines, some of the government officails wanted an end to the government selling of it. In 1996, the Military honor and Decency Act was passed. The Act banned all sale of pornographic magazines at “exchange” stores on all United States military bases.

Many poeple feel pornography is degrading to not only women, but men and children as well. They feel that pornography can scar a child’s life whether it be through seing a magazine or being molested or raped by someone who is an avid pornography reader. An estimated 70% of both pornographic magazines and videos somehow end up in the hands of children.In a recent letter sent to an anonymous chain store, a customer asked if the store owners who had the pornographic magazines on their shelves had considered the potential harm of the magazines on the society. The customer went on to provide an example of the way these types of magazines effect the communities they are in, stating a hurendous way in which a boy was mutilated by a man who was copying an act he had read about in Hustler. This particular letter shows that not all customers agree with the selling of pornographic magazines. Also the letter shows that these types of magazines are a threat to the health and safety of society.

It was concluded that both pornographic videos and magazines cause a high crime rate throughout the United States. In a recent study by FBI researchers, 29 out of 36 serial killers revealed taht they were addicted to either pornographic magazines or videos, or both and that they included them in their sexual activities. Some of these sexual activities included serial-rape murder. The Los Angeles Police Department found either adult or child pornography (videos, magazines, photos) in all 43 cases it investigated. Alss, states with the highest readership of pornographic magazines tend to have the highest incidence of reported rapes. 86% of all rapists admit to the regular use of porn. Of the 86%, 75% admitted to actual imitation of pornographic scenes.