Document Type
Honors Project
Abstract
This research examines the division in US obscenity law that enables strict sex censorship while overlooking violence. By investigating the social and legal development of obscenity in US culture, I argue that the contemporary duality in obscenity censorship standards arose from a family of forces consisting of faith, economy, and identity in early American history. While sexuality ingrained itself in American culture as a commodity in need of regulation, violence was decentralized from the state and proliferated. This phenomenon led to a prioritization of suppressing sexual speech over violent speech. This paper traces the emergence this duality and its source.
Recommended Citation
Bhakta, Rushabh P., "Deciphering a Duality: Understanding Conflicting Standards in Sex & Violence Censorship in U.S. Obscenity Law" (2012). Political Science Honors Projects. 36.
https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/poli_honors/36
Included in
American Politics Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Jurisprudence Commons, Law and Gender Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Sexuality and the Law Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons
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