Page 324 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

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oBsCenity and indeCenCy

Areas that have challenged the media’s right to freedom of speech have long
revolved around issues of human sexuality, and expressions and language that
violate standards of taste and decency. The history of censoring sexually explicit
scenes considered to violate standards of decency goes back to the early days
of film. As social mores and community standards have evolved over the years,
so too have legal protections and the definition of what is acceptable and what
is not on television, radio, and film. The changes in Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) policy brought about by the wardrobe malfunction that ex-
posed Janet Jackson’s breast during her halftime performance with Justine Tim-
berlake illustrate that these topics remain battleground issues for the media.

oBsCEniTy

Given our Puritan heritage, the long history of battles fought over the defini-
tion of obscenity, and the measures taken to stop it, should come as no surprise.
Under British law in the time of the monarchies, sexually explicit writings and
images were considered “obscene libel,” and were outlawed. When the Puritans
left Britain to pursue religious freedom, they brought their codes of sexual mod-
esty and chastity with them. Hundreds of years later, despite the Sexual Revolu-
tion of the 1960s, America remains a country in which depictions of nudity and
sexuality make many uncomfortable and are frequently met with calls for sanc-
tion or censorship. Despite the fact that the First Amendment provides for the
separation of Church and State, this is one area in which religious beliefs about
sexuality and sin have consistently spilled over into the realm of law.

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