Sexual content has been used since the dawn of civilization with the ancient Greeks and played an important role in books, poems, music and arts. France was the first to photograph nude models in the name of “art” and appeared in titles that celebrated naturism. The first adult magazine was published in the 1880’s, nude pictures and erotic stories have satisfied a diversity of people. This lifestyle business has changed generations making a great impact on couples’ sexuality and serving as educational purposes. People judge and classify adult magazines as obscene, immoral, shameful and that they should not exist. Magazines have the right to publish such explicit obscene content under the U.S. Constitution 1st amendment freedom of speech. In the film The People vs Larry Flynt, Larry Flynt CEO of Hustler’s magazine, became involved in several court cases in the United States as a result of his publishing and selling of his adult magazine.
The 1st amendment has a historic struggle to define its high purposes and it has never been clearly constructed Larry Flynt started his business with the idea to make money in a level way, become wealthy and support his family. He published Hustlers Magazine under the freedom of speech that protects the right of anyone to publish any material or express something without not harming anyone. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech , or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”. The government may not jail, fine, or impose civil liability on people or organizations based on what they say or write, except in exceptional circumstances (Batten).
The sales of Larry’s magazines are said to violate the community standards because exposes obscene and depicts a clearly offensive hard-core sexual conduct specifically defined by the constructed regulating state law in Cincinnati, Ohio. Meanwhile the judge or jury sitting in judgment gets to make the punishment decision for beliefs that are offensive. Civil liberties are rights and freedoms held by individuals and protected by the government. Today we live in a free country where we can make a free decision for ourselves as Larry believes “we have right to decide for ourselves without restrictions”. Indeed, America is one of the strongest countries in the world today only because it is the freest country. The First Amendment does not require for a jury to consider national standards when attempting to define whether certain materials that are obscene as a question.
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However, Larry’s magazines did not violate the community standards because of its considered obscene material. “Obscenity’ is a legal term; the character or quality of being obscene; an act, utterance, or item tending to corrupt the public morals by its indecency or lewdness (Batten). In different parts of the country, jury’s interpretation of community standards are different and for Larry Flynt local community standards were considered violated. Different decision have been made by courts in what is prohibited, and allowable materials often appear wrong such differences make laws inconsistently and are often applied incorrectly The U.S. courts have had a difficult time determining what is obscene but have concluded in order to establish obscenity, “the material must apart from engaging to the indecent interest, be “absolutely without good social value,” and “clearly offensive because it disrespects current community standards relating to the description of sexual matters.”
If it draws to the unacceptable interest of the average person, is clearly offensive considering the community standards and lacks good social value (Batten).” Obscene matters are constitutional and awarded by the First Amendment protection freedom of speech and only a national standard could be applied when determining the obscenity of such material. The Miller test established in 1972 under the U.S. Supreme Court the Court ruled that, to be obscene in the eyes of the law, materials must: be taken as a whole appeal to a lewd interest in sex; be patently offensive by affronting contemporary community standards; and be ‘utterly without redeeming social value. (Mikula and Mabunda). Therefore, under the Miller test Larry Flynt is innocent of his publishing’s’.
Moreover, portraying sexual activity between consenting adults became legal in the United States and this dramatically increased the growth of the production in the adult pornography industry both in magazines and films. People claim that some individuals develop dysregulated or compulsive pornography usage patterns such as addiction. That it also disrupts daily lives and cause harm to the sexual functioning and relationships. Indeed, nudism started as a part of the education of the natural bodies through art, books, music, etc. then turned into erotic to educate sexual partners. Organized nudism burst into the American scene in the early 1930’s. In the United States, the first adult magazine was playboy and established in December of 1953.
Pornography, is a limited term, that refers to the erotic content of books, magazines, films, and recordings. “Pornography” taken from a Greek term meaning ‘writing about prostitutes’—refers to depictions of sexual organs, sexual activity, or other sexually explicit subject matter that are intended to elicit sexual arousal in the viewer (Gale in context). During the twentieth century sexuality was regarded as a male domain but the publishing industry has changed throughout the years and has implemented material to conform a diversity of sexual preference such as lesbians, gay, bisexuals and transsexuals. State regulation of hard-core pornography make it unavailable to nonadults, a regulation which was found constitutionally permissible. Therefore, any present laws prohibiting the consensual sale or distribution of explicit sexual materials to adults are particularly unacceptable upon their reasonable request.
Overall, there are many views and beliefs of what is considered obscene. Porn is to be said to never be called art and should not be covered under our bill of right. People have negative opinions of how Larry Flynt portraits woman in his magazine, but his work is not illegal. We live in a world where people are sexually oppressed by society and find sexually explicit material helpful to their sexual health which helps to diminish anxieties. Sexual expression that may enhance individual enjoyment and relational connection. “The First Amendment protects works which, taken as a whole, have serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value, regardless of whether the government or majority of the people approve of the ideas these works represent (Batten).” As we see it in the Film The people vs Larry Flynt, the first amendment is important to demonstrate why Hustler magazine is protected under the U.S Constitution First Amendment of freedom of the speech.
