Pornography and Civil Rights: A New Day for Women's Equality

pornographers; now, the law has affirmatively decided that

pornography is more important than the women admit edly

harmed. This the law has done. This the law can and must

undo.

Civil Rights and Speech

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Pornography and Civil Rights

Questions and Answers

Q: What is the difference between hard-core and soft-core

pornography?

A: Before pornography became an above-ground industry,

the distinction was pret y simple. “Hard-core” was pornography in which an erect penis was shown. The penis could belong to a man or to an animal. For this reason, the pornography of bestiality, which usually showed a male animal penetrating a woman, was considered to be “hard-core. ” There was a real taboo against showing the erect penis on the screen or

in magazines. Police were more likely to make arrests and to

confiscate material if the erect penis was graphical y shown.

As pornography became more mainstream, with more legal

protection, people inside and outside the pornography industry began to obfuscate the meaning of “hard- core. ” People outside the pornography industry, many of whom were not

consumers of pornography but felt that they knew what was

in it, began to use “hard-core” to refer to explicitly debasing

or violent material and “soft-core” to refer to material they

thought was purely sexual. “Hard-core” came to mean the

worst pornography, “soft-core” the most benign.

Because Playboy and Penthouse, for instance, were the most available and most legitimate pornography, they became the standard for “soft-core, ” material that was supposedly purely sexual, not

misogynist or violent. Currently in popular usage, “soft-core” is

virtually a synonym for Playboy and Penthouse. In one sense, both magazines are “soft-core”: neither shows the erect penis; in fact,

with rare exception, neither shows nude men. But in a more important sense, “soft-core” is a misnomer, because both magazines show violent and violating uses of women’s bodies; both magazines include overtly violent material; both magazines have material that promotes rape and child sexual abuse.

As used by most people, the two terms are fairly meaningless. Most often, “soft-core” means pornography that some-Quesdons and Answers

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one thinks is okay; “hard-core” is pornography that someone

thinks is the real stuff, dirty, mean, and at least a little abusive

and repulsive. “Hard-core” has the aura of breaking taboos

around it and pornographers use it in advertising as a point

of pride.

The terms tell us nothing about how women are used in

pornography and nothing about how the pornography itself

is then used on women or children.

Q: How can you object to Playboy?

A: Playboy is a bona fide part of the trade in women.