NCJ Number
107485
Journal
New England Law Review Volume: 20 Issue: 4 Dated: (1984-1985) Pages: 649-685
Date Published
1985
Length
36 pages
Annotation
Because feminist analyses place so much value on the connection between the personal and the political, divergent personal reactions of various women's groups to the issue of pornography have produced tensions and contradictions at the level of political analysis.
Abstract
Three themes emerge in debates over pornography, State regulation, and feminist theory. The first relates to the relationship between the ideal of freedom and the social role of pornography for men and women. The second relates to the effect of gender equality on freedom of speech and the effects of regulation of pornography on men's and women's freedom of speech. The third suggests that if the State and its laws are tools of patriarchal domination, then antipornography feminists cannot expect the State to act in the interests of some women without acting against the interests of others. In the context of these themes, the legal implications of the Canadian Charter of Rights sex equality provisions are discussed as they relate to civil rights approaches to pornography regulation. 157 footnotes.