Pornography and the Internet

Adam Minsky
filed under "Sexuality"

The modern day internet can be said to have shaped the prevalence of pornography like no other medium before it. Indeed such is the ready access to a huge range of pornographic images one has to seriously question why the subject matter continues to be such a taboo subject in the Western world. Pornography was first labelled as such by the French in the beginnings of the 18th century. It was widely used at that time in politically inspired cartoons designed to drum up resistance to the French aristocracy. It was and is referred to by historians as “political” pornography and can be regarded as widely different to the pornography that exists today. Pornography was also used to directly criticise the actions of the Catholic Church and the Christian clergy more generally. This happened many times in leaflets, newspapers and books produced around this time, to the huge chagrin of the Church. In the 21st century, such has been the development of technology, that this has changed the way pornography is now distributed. The internet is at the very heart of this step change. It is not too long ago that people used to have to visit various establishments and provide photo id so as to be able to view pornographic material in many Western countries. Whilst regulating access to pornography it also allowed governments to ensure that any illegal and illicit sales of pornography were seriously limited. It is certainly true to say that the laws governing the internet have not caught up with the developments in internet technology. The modern day world wide web can easily be referred to as a kind of virtual “wild west" where perhaps the laws applying are not so much an archaic set of government legislation but more a matter as to what technology has enabled and developed. About the author: Adam Minsky is a writer specialising in the appreciation of all forms of erotic art. He runs the http://www.met-art-girls.net< /a> web site which profiles the unique talents of erotic photographers within the met art and met- art mediums.