Censorship Essay -- essays research papers fc

Censorship The freedom to read is essential to the democratic way of life. But today, that freedom is under attack. Private groups and public authorities everywhere are working to remove both books and periodicals from sale, to exclude certain books from public schools, to censor and silence magazines and newspapers, and to limit "controversial" books and periodicals to the general public. The suppression of reading materials is suppression of creative thought. Books and periodicals are not the only ones being suppressed by pressures to the political and social systems. They are also being brought against the educational system, films, radio, television, and against the graphic and theatre arts. However or whenever these attacks occur, they usually fall at least one of the following categories: Religion War & Peace (Violence) Sociology & Race Language Drugs Sex Inappropriate Adolescent Behaviour What is Obscenity? Clearly something hard to talk about constructively. "Obscenity" is difficult to discuss honestly. After all, what makes a thing obscene? It is Something too vague perhaps to be defined. It's an elusive term we use, but can't explain. Different people often see things differently. Some see obscenity in nude pictures, statues, paintings, etc. While others find less obscenity in these things. All the same, "obscene" isn't the same as "wrong" or "bad". Clearly obscenity is not identical with evil. It only covers a single segment of it. But what is that segment? A look at the words "obscenity" and "pornography" suggests that it is a segment that didn't worry people very much till relatively recently. Though censorship was known in english law quite early on, it wasn't for obscenity but for heresy and sedition."Undue" exploitation of sex" is what criminal law in Canada prohibits. This is how criminal law defines obscenity. But it is rather vague. It doesn't differentiate between "ordinary obscenity" and "hard-core pornography." The first denoting the ordinary run of "girlie magazines and the second denoting pictures , literature and so on that deal with rape, sadism, masochism, bestiality, necrophilia and other perversions. People tend to object far more to "hard-core pornography." Another distinction unfortunately overlo... ...m that mainly frowns upon the violence against women. There should indeed be access to most types of literature, but in varying degrees of freedom, determined not by censorship, but by controlled access. Parents are trying to protect their children from the harsh realities of life, but are they really helping, or hindering? Bibliography The Censorship Iceberg: The results of a survey of challenges in school and public libraries. By Dr. David Jenkins. School Libraries in Canada. Fall, 1985. v.6 n.1 p19-22 Sanitized textbooks reflect a pious paradise that never was. By June Callwood. The Globe and Mail. March 18, 1987. pA2-A3 Suffer the little children. By Janet Collins. Books in Canada. October 1991. v.20 n.7 p25-27 Court bans 'humanist' books from Alabama public schools. By Robin Toner. The Globe and Mail. March 5, 1987. pA10 Censorship in the children's library. By Rupert Colley. The Junior Bookshelf. June 1990. v.54 n.3 p121-123 Censorship News. Spring 1985. n20 Limits of criminal law - obscenity: a test case. By The Law Reform Commission: working paper no. 10. p7-9 Censorship: stopping the book banners. By the book and periodical development council. August 1988. p1-17