Intro: In the name of younger generation some people claiming to be ‘liberated’ are protesting the most when the ban was announced. While discussing the issue, we need to have some idea where we are heading.
Recently, out of the database of millions of pornographic websites, 857 websites had their access denied, which perhaps in the hyper-liberal point of view was an attempt to confiscate right to privacy by the government. The thin line between ‘control’ and ‘ban’ got desperately collided to form dim opinions on infringements of personal liberty, so much so that shutdown of few pornographic websites was seen as a ban on watching the porn in privacy, which is completely not the case.
The vehement cries from various sectors of media, made us question that Is pornography that much essential for the human race or civilisation? In defence, people started to define our culture in the sense of Kamasutra and Khujraho, which again suggests our inability in distinguishing between erotica and porn, and how we got confused between the two.
People against the porn-control are in favor of banning child pornography, as going by their logic-it promotes violence against children, but, seldom do they think whether imprints of objectifying women in adult pornography is doing any benefit to the better half of the Indian society. Any violence or crime against the women is hugely supported by a popular argument that says “laws made for crime against women won’t bring the change, unless the moral mindset is changed”. Why can this selective control over pornography be seen as an effort to realign the eroded mindset?
Availability of pornography in all forms has been scientifically proven to cause a damaged thought process, which leads to damaging actions. When accessed, porn is not able to identify the maturity levels of the consumer, and thereby is open to be consumed by and for children.
All forms of pornographic material are blocked in most government colleges and universities in the US, a country that is supposedly believed to harness and harbinger the porn industry. Sure, there might be ways to circumvent such blocks but it is interesting to note that there are no protests on these campuses against the policy.
Coming to the freedom argument, that is often used by self-declared liberals to justify their fury against so many things which they say infringe their freedom. They have been crying foul when certain books get banned, certain NGOs get banned and certain commodities are banned because, all of it in the end, infringes their freedom. Despite repeated attempts, they seldom understand that freedom comes with limitations, and can be of various types such as legal, social, physical and psychological. Pornography has an essential psychological limitation attached to it, though you may be free to view the adult content, you are not free from not being influenced if you watch it, as it directly hampers the subconscious mind and starts to influence the behavior.
Today, we stand as the fifth largest consumer of pornography worldwide (India Today, Nov’14). In a survey of 300 children under the age of 13 in India, 67 per cent admitted to accessing porn sites, most by their cell phones. (Cath News India, 2011). More than 80 per cent of Indian high school students have been exposed to porn. (The Indian Express, July’13). Out of a survey of 8,000 girls and women in India, 49 per cent said they learned about sexual intercourse by watching pornography. (India.com, June’14). 80 per cent of college students in India watch porn; 40 per cent watch rape porn.76 per cent said that watching rape porn leads to the desire to rape a woman. (ABP Live, July’14)
By endorsing this futile liberty, we are endorsing some of these statistics above, and yes this will be thought
patterns with which some of our children might grow up. Fighters of freedom in complete access to porn won’t question how the pornographic material is made; they won’t question whether those who work in porn
videos really wish to work in it. And, by the way-the temples of Khajuraho never caused visitors to rape, and Kamasutra never reduced a person to commodity.
Divyansh Dev
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