What To Do About Porn
E-mail By Brian Dombrausky Bio/Address
Pornography can
have many different meanings depending upon who is defining it. Many lawyers
have made a great deal of money by defining it according to the needs of their
clients/ and have confused the truth of it more than a
little. The American Heritage Dictionary defines pornography as
"pictures, writing, or other material that is sexually explicit and
intended to arouse sexual passion."
There are degrees
of pornography. The most important line is that between pornography that
appeals to people of normal sexuality> and that which
appeals to people of deviant sexuality. Even the fundamentalists out there
must recognize the difference. Whether or not all pornography is bad, there's
little defense for deviant porn. There will certainly be no defense of it
offered here. However, the kind of material that appeals to sex offenders is
not the kind of pornography that bears discussion.
The fact is that humans are sexual beings. Unless a person is sexually unhealthy, that person will require some form of sexual stimulation. What should be done for persons of normal sexuality who are incarcerated?
The completely
ignorant will respond that such people may just suffer/ and
deal with it. The religious may offer their own faith as a method of
controlling sexual energy. This overlooks not only the pathetic record of many
religious leaders to control these very impulses, but also the flawed
characters that find their way into incarceration in the first place. While
religion may be a good way of enriching that character, depriving a normal
person of all access to normal sexual expression cannot be a positive
influence. It is certainly not in the best interests of either the inmate or
the society that will one day receive that person into it again.
Pornography of the normal kind should always be permitted in prison. There may be cause to restrict sex offenders from possessing any form of pornography; there is little hope for perverts and no need to maintain their regular level of libido. Such people are already screwed up. What is important is allowing a person to emerge from the prison environment with a healthy sexuality. Suppressing something as powerful as sexuality is not healthy!
For reasons
unknown, the Michigan Department of Corrections has banned pornography from
its facilities. This cannot accomplish anything good for anyone except the
politicians that enacted this idea. The effects, short and long term, upon
inmates are unknown. It may seem nice to make criminals suffer in an extra
way. Aside from being petty-minded, this is stupid. Prison is not a good place
to be. Few people emerge from prison improved by the experience. The prison
environment surrounds criminals with other criminals/ and
turns them into better and more ambitious criminals. Sociologists have known
this for decades. There is no reasonable expectation of prisons accomplishing
anything else, ever. Why screw up criminals in yet another way?
The cold truth is that stomping on human sexuality creates perverts. The Michigan Department of Corrections is a taxpayer-funded pervert factory. What else is accomplished by this policy? Politicians trumpeting their courageous abuse of prisoners unable to retaliate? Fundamentalists smugly happy that they have a cesspool of human misery porn-free? These are not accomplishments worth even one more pervert walking the streets!
