1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910783795503321

Autore

Nowlin Christopher J (Christopher Jon), <1964->

Titolo

Judging obscenity [[electronic resource] ] : a critical history of expert evidence / / Christopher Nowlin

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Montreal ; ; Ithaca [N.Y.], : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2003

ISBN

1-282-86101-8

9786612861017

0-7735-7090-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (302 p.)

Disciplina

345.71/0274

Soggetti

Trials (Obscenity) - Canada

Evidence, Expert - Canada

Pornography - Canada

Trials (Obscenity) - United States

Evidence, Expert - United States

Pornography - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [265]-274) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front Matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- The Constitutional Backdrop for Reviewing Expert Opinions about Pornography -- Progressivism and Legislative Facts in the Shaping of Public Policy -- Experts and Obscenity Law: American Rules and Innovations (1884–1990) -- Experts and Obscenity Law: Canadian Rules and Derivations (1942–2000) -- From Sadomasochism to Child Pornography: Experts Narrow Their Focus While Canadian Courts Broaden Their Horizons -- Indecency Law: Microscopic and Macroscopic Views of the Female Breast and Lap-Dancing in the Dark -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- List of Cases -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

He demonstrates that these communities of experts are divided on such questions as, Can a novel or film be both high art and obscene? and, Is the world of heterosexual pornography categorically different from the worlds of gay and lesbian pornography? He observes that the ideas of an "average" psychological or behavioral response to a story or an image and the "community" standard of decency or tolerance are



outmoded myths that elude all attempts at careful measurement. Nowlin concludes that lack of agreement among experts, for example, as to how and why some sexually explicit imagery titillates or pleases some people, while disgusting or demeaning others, can no longer be viewed simply in terms of moral, religious, or even political predilections. Judging Obscenity traces the way freedom of speech and the right to equality have taken shape within the worlds of pornographic expression and consumption and provides a historical glimpse of changing views about literature and art, as well as a critical examination of the nature of social science research in matters of human sexuality, media-response, and sexual expression.