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Why Is Fisting Illegal In American Porn? While I absolutely understand- and definitely believe in- the illegalization of certain acts in porn (guyren, animals, forced or coerced sex/rape, etc.), I don't understand why fisting- vaginal or anal- is considered obscene. Extreme, certainly. But worthy of censorship?
From 1999-2002, director Seymore Butts came under fire for a fisting scene in one of his films, and even this year, one of my favorite producers, in the commentary for her film, remarked that the laws made it impossible to show fisting.
Under what statutes are fisting illegal? And are they really, because I'm sure I've heard of U.S. fisting porn, too. If anyone could elucidate me on the subject, I'd be much obliged, because I can't seem to find much with Google.
So tell me- why are four fingers okay, but five unthinkable?
(And please, no moral crusaders. If you don't like porn, that's fine by me, but if you have no answers for me, don't bother to answer). | Obscentity laws are usually written at the state level. The specific statutes vary from location to location. I'm not aware of any statutes that prohibit depictions of fisting in particular, but they certainly could exist. Usually, they simply prohibit "offensive" or "perverted" depictions of sexual activity.
Since the statues are often written in vague language, they are interpreted to include anything "the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest in sex", that "depicts (sex)...in a patently offensive way" and that "lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value." (These quotes come from the Supreme Court ruling in Miller vs. California, which established the kinds of explicit materials not protected by the First Amemdnment)
So basically, the laws typically prohibit the production of porn that most people in the community would find to be sexual, offensive, and without any other value. Since most people find fisting to be pretty extreme, and since it is definitely used for a sexual purpose, producing films of it can be prohibited by most state laws.
Just because it CAN be prohibited doesn't always mean that it is. Many times obscenity laws aren't enforced very vigorously. It's common for the authorities to crack down every once in awhile as a publicity stunt or to garner support from religious conservatives before an election, but typically law enforcement agencies have bigger problems to take care of. That's why you can still find porn of many varieties in the U.S.
As for my personal opinion, I think all obscenity laws are illegitimate. If people want to privately produce and watch sex, even bizarre and extreme sex, the government shouldn't be involved as long as everyone is consenting and of age. |
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