It is somewhat ironic that, in a society where sex appeal is used to sell everything from perfume to cars to shampoo, and where the consumption of porn involves some 40 million Americans (hardly a minority), artistic representations of nudes are regularly banned from being shown in public places.

This is not a new development: Notwithstanding the fact that, historically, the nude has been one of the central subjects of art, it has been subjected to regular censorship attempts.

On its unveiling in Florence in 1501, onlookers stoned Michelangelo’s “David,” breaking off an arm. At Forest Lawn Memorial Park in California, the penis on a reproduction of “David” was masked with a fig leaf from 1939-69; its removal caused complaints. In Lake Alfred, FL in 2001 a replica of David was dressed with a loincloth after community complaints.

Today, classical nudes like Michelangelo’s David, which are modeled on the ideal bodies of Greek sculpture and exude an aura of art, age, and “purity” are rarely challenged, but their contemporary counterparts are not as lucky - even when they are abstract or stylized. And “real” nudes, that is nudes realistically portraying imperfect, sensuous, non-idealized bodies are censored with relentless regularity.

Because of their religious beliefs or upbringing some people are uncomfortable with the human body. The reasons they give when attempting to ban its representations are that children could see them or that they constitute “sexual harassment.”

Some people equate all representations of nudes with pornography and associate all nudity with sex. As there is no established legal definition of pornography (In the famous words of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s “You know it when you see it”), and as contemporary art frequently toys with the conventions of porn, it is very hard to draw a line between the two. A working definition could be that the sole purpose of pornography is to create sexual arousal and that art (even as it might arouse some viewers - to each his own!) has multiple layers of meaning and creates multiple effects.

Nudes in both art and porn enjoy constitutional protection, although art is protected to a higher degree. The only sexual expression that is not protected by the First Amendment is obscenity. Needless to say, nudes, even if they appeal to someone’s sexual imagination, are not obscene. To be obscene, material should, among other criteria, lack serious social, political or artistic value.

Sometimes, even if a work is not considered obscene for adults, it might be deemed too sexually explicit for the eyes of minors. So-called “harmful to minors” standards (link) are applied to shield children from material such as commercial porn. Sometimes, however, it is wrongfully used to justify the removal of representations of nudes. There is no evidence whatsoever that minors would be harmed by seeing sexually explicit expression, let alone by the sight of a nude sculpture.

» July 6, 2007- Video Pulled from Display Upon Request by Corporate Sponsor The Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh pulled a video installation by artist Carolina Loyola-Garcia from display in its “Best of Pittsburgh 2007” exhibition.  One of the Festival’s corporate sponsors, PPG Industries, had offered its property for the exhibition but objected to the video installation on the basis that it was inappropriate for display.  The video, entitled “The need to wash the self with milk and honey” showed a nude female bathing with milk and honey in the woods.  The Festival’s Executive Director pulled the piece, stating that PPG “ was within its rights as a corporate partner” in asking for the work to be removed.  She further stated that “nudity doesn’t belong in street front windows”.

Private funding to arts organizations is necessary to their survival. However, the need for support should not interfere with an organization’s mission to present the best work and foster an open dialogue within the community. In a public arts festival, a corporate contributor could be allowed final say over what gets exhibited, based on the vague claim of its “appropriateness.” For this reason NCAC is calling on Elizabeth Reiss, Executive Director of TRAF to clarify the Festival’s relationship with its various contributors and re-affirm its commitment to artistic merit and creative freedom.

» July 5, 2007- Nude Public Sculpture in Loveland, CO Under Attack Critics are pushing to have "Triangle," a bronze sculpture by Kirsten Kokkin, moved from its location at a busy roundabout on the eastern edge of Loveland to a park where people can choose whether to look at it. Others want the 7-foot-tall depiction of a nude man and two nude women completely removed from public view.

See NCAC's letter to the editor commenting on the proposed ordinance to allow the city council to overrule the Visual Arts Commission, which oversees the city's public art program.

» April 11, 2007- In Memory of Kurt Vonnegut (1922 – 2007)

» February 6, 2002- Statues Covered with DrapesThere has been quite a lot of concern among our supporters over the recent "aesthetic intervention" in the Department of Justice: the two giant statues of the Spirit of Justice and the Majesty of Justice, present in the Great Hall of the department since the 1930s, were permanently covered in blue drapes. The department claims they are making a formal aesthetic decision: blue just looks good on camera. This explanation is not taken seriously by anybody. It is quite clear that Attorney General John Ashcroft was simply not comfortable being repeatedly photographed in front of the female statue of the Majesty of Justice, one of whose breasts is exposed.

» June 24, 2005 - Sexual Passage Causes Abrupt Ban of Kent Haruf’s “Plainsong”Seniors at Sierra Vista High School in Las Vegas, Nevada must have been confused when their English teacher took away books they were still reading: Kent Haruf's acclaimed novel, Plainsong. At issue was a brief sexual passage. Without submitting challenges to the novel to a review committee, the assistant principal ordered teacher Gerald McGee to "collect all the books, box them up and put them away immediately."

» January 11, 2005- ACLU Says Texas Police Violated Art Gallery Owner's Freedom of ExpressionA mural depicting the large hand of God pointing to an apple and a nude figure of Eve was targeted by local police officers who threatened to charge the building's owner with violation of a law against corrupting minors by showing them hard-core pornography. A Pilot, TX gallery owner covered the breasts of a classical image of Eve with a yellow police line sticker to avoid arrest on "harmful to minors" grounds. The mural is also garnished with a "temporarily censored" notice.

» September 10, 2004- Court strikes down Pennsylvania porn law A federal court struck down a Pennsylvania law that would require Internet providers to block access to Web sites that might carry child pornography. Judge Jan E. Dubois ruled that "the Act cannot be implemented without excessive blocking of innocent speech in violation of the First Amendment."

» Fall 2004- Teacher Fired for Assigning The Diary of Anne FrankAt Fowler High School in Fowler, CO, first-year teacher Sara McCleary was not rehired because she assigned to ninth-grade English students The Diary of Anne Frank. After a parent objected to a sexual reference, the School Board terminated her contract and removed the book from classrooms, leaving a single copy in the library.

The Supreme Court upheld the injunction against the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), Congress' latest effort to prevent children from accessing "harmful" sexual material online, reiterating that the rights of adults cannot be sacrificed even to protect children. On remand, the government must prove that there are no alternatives to achieve its goals. Since internet filters screen material from all sources, while COPA regulates only sources in the US, the Court expressed doubt that the Government could carry its burden. [CN #94 Summer 2004]

A film about the Declaration of Independence, 1776, was banned in Fairfax County, VA middle schools. In the film Thomas Jefferson tells John Adams that he "burns" for his wife. Adams asks "will you be a patriot...or a lover?" The social studies coordinator, Sara Shoob, explained that "There's some sexual innuendo and language, and when you're talking about the Declaration of Independence, that does not have to be part of your discussion." [CN #93 Spring 2004]

» October 1, 2003- Nevada County, CA Show Cancelled Because of NudeThe work of 65 artists was taken down from Annual Open Studios Art show in California's Nevada County Rood Administrative Center because the work of five of the artists contains partial nudity. Free Speech Groups Protest Nevada County Art Censorship and Call for Guidelines Respecting Artistic Freedom and Cultural Diversity.

Related:

»October 9, 2003 press release for this incident

»October 2, 2003 letter by the NCAC in response to the incident

 

» August 9, 2002 - Iowa Library Keeps Ban on Teen Advice Book Board members of a public library in Dyersville, Iowa voted to keep Sari Says, by Sari Locker, off its shelves, citing it as inappropriate material for their library. The book provides teens with advice on a variety of subjects, and one chapter deals with sex.
Related:» NCAC Letter to Dysersville Paper About Removal of Sari Says

» NCAC Letter to Dyersville Public Library About Removal of Sari Says

» September 29, 2002- Banned Books Event Attracts Readers and Writers Author Sari Locker joined NCAC at its booth in New York City at New York Is Book Country on September 29, 2002 signing her recent book, Sari Says: The Real Dirt on Everything from Sex to Schools.

» May 31, 2002- Court overturns library filtering rulesAt the end of its term the Supreme Court dealt a blow to the right of library patrons to unfiltered use of computers, ruling that the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is constitutional. The Justices acknowledge that filters block material that is protected speech and fail to block much targeted sexual content, but ruled, nonetheless, that Congress may withhold funding from libraries that don't filter the Internet, in the interest of protecting minors from expression that is "harmful to minors." Dissenters disagreed with the majority's rationale that the law is constitutional in large part because adults can ask to have a computer unblocked, pointing out that the unblocking process is burdensome. The ruling overturns a federal district court opinion that CIPA violates the First Amendment.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for the second time that a law prohibiting commercial websites from posting material that is "harmful to minors" is overly broad, not narrowly tailored, and impermissibly vague. The federal court had found the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) unconstitutional on community standards grounds, but broadened its ruling on remand from the Supreme Court.

» June 21, 2002- Photographer's shots of nude teens ruled not pornographicNude is not lascivious, determined a federal court in throwing out a case against a Pennsylvania photographer who had taken photos of her teen-age daughter and friends showering at the beach. Senior Circuit Judge John T. Noonan, sitting on the 3rd Circuit, ruled that the photos were not pornographic.

» March 21, 2002- NCAC SLAMS TENNESSEE ARTS COMMISSION'S "NO NUDES" POLICY NCAC has generated a public debate in Nashville, Tennessee in response to the Tennessee Arts Commission policy to not display nudes in the gallery. We were alerted to the controversy by artist Ernie Sandidge whose work was accepted for exhibition but then rejected because it contained nudity. We are planning a public forum to follow up on discussions that have appeared in the local press and on radio. We and many TN residents were amazed that an arts organization should put a blanket ban on one of the central subjects of art.

See: NCAC LETTER TO THE TENNESSEE ARTS COMMISSION CONCERNING THEIR "NO NUDES" POLICY

» December 20, 2001- ACLU Takes Action After Acclaimed Novel Sophie's Choice Is Removed From School LibraryIn California, the highly acclaimed novel, Sophie's Choice, by William Styron was removed from La Mirada High School library by the principal, after a parent's complaint about isolated sexual references. As NCAC often observes, it is fine literature that is most frequently censored: Sophie's Choice has won the prestigious National Book Award. NCAC and other groups are urging school officials to honor students' First Amendment rights by returning the book to the library shelves.

Also See: 'Sophie's Choice' Has Been Returned To La Mirada High School Library

» September 27, 2001- Male Nude Proves Too Realistic for California Art League The Elsie May Goodwin Art Center, run by the Stockton Art League, rejected a sculpture by one of its members-Vincent Mazo-because the piece was too anatomically explicit.

12 librarians at the Minneapolis Public Library filed a sexual harassment complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission protesting unfiltered computers where patrons can access pornography. The EEOC issued a probable cause finding, but this would not be legally binding if the case went to court. [CN #82 Summer 2001]

» Pat Payne's Violence in Religious and Sexual Imagery Pat Payne's Violence in Religious and Sexual Imagery, a series of works blending both religious and sexual images, was removed in March 2001 from public display at Santa Fe Community College due to protests about the perceived religious criticism and disrespect. See Censorship, Not Curatorial Discretion

Congress has passed legislation to restrict access to computers in public libraries and schools that receive e-rate funds from the government. To qualify for funds the libraries and schools must install software that filters out visual images that are child pornography, obscenity, or "harmful to minors," even though no such software exists. The American Library Association, the ACLU and others will challenge the new law in the courts. [CN #81 Spring 2001]

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in the Child Pornography Protection Act of 1996 that bans sexual depictions of anyone who "appears to be" younger than 18. Three Circuit Courts (1st, 4th, and 11th) have upheld the statute while the ninth has ruled it "unconstitutionally vague and overbroad." [CN #81 Spring 2001]

In Utah, a full-time official enforces the state's obscenity laws, and stores rent expurgated-only videos. "Porn czar" Paula Houston will draft Utah's "moral nuisance law" and a model law "to abate and discourage obscenity and pornography." Video store owner Ray Lines rents videos stripped of sex, sin, swearwords, nudity, and violence. Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, and Titanic are among the films edited to be Mormon-friendly. [CN # 81 Spring 2001]

Child pornography. In California, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled "unconstitutionally vague and overbroad" the provision of the Child Pornography Protection Act of 1996 (CPPA) that bans sexual depictions of anyone who "appears to be" younger than 18. The latest decision increases the likelihood that the issue may be resolved by the Supreme Court since the 1st, 4th, and 11th Circuits have upheld the statute. [CN #80 Winter 2000 - 01]

Participants at a home school convention in Sacramento, California recently were so embarrassed by nudity that they clothed a sculpture-a replica of the famous bronze statue of the Greek god Poseidon, with the consent of city officials. Offended residents protested by stripping the statue and blindfolding it with its own newly-acquired necktie. [CN #79 Fall 2000]

Michigan artist Jef Borgeau, whose exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts was cut short by the Director after three days (Censorship News 76), was charged with "obscenity" for displaying a version of the exhibit at a Pontiac gallery as part of a symposium on censorship, taste and morality. Police ticketed Bourgeau and threatened him with arrest after an individual took offense at images by artists like Balthus, Sally Mann, Rembrandt, Mapplethorpe, and Picasso. The charges were later dismissed, ostensibly because Bourgeau covered the gallery windows. Bourgeau cited the chilling effect on artists. "It's critically important to have the right of free expression without the fear of prosecution." Borgeau and the ACLU, which defended him, are considering suing the city for violating his civil rights. [CN #78 Summer 2000]

Bad "nudes" from the Court: In a puzzling and troubling decision, the Supreme Court ruled, six to three, that an Erie, Pennsylvania ordinance to require nude dancers to wear pasties and G-strings does not violate the First Amendment because the requirement may reduce "secondary effects" like crime. The implausible rationale by Sandra Day O'Connor, provoked dissent from Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens and David H. Souter, who, in reversing an earlier viewpoint, concluded that "the city must show evidence of the seriousness of the threatened harm," and "the efficacy of the chosen remedy." [CN #77 Spring 2000]

» December 1999 - Woman Photographs Daughter in Bath, Faces Prosecution Cynthia Stewart, The mother of an 8-year-old girl is facing prosecution for "child pornography," along with an investigation into charges of child abuse, because she took pictures of her daughter nude in the bath.

» Michiganders Say No To Internet Filters Spring 2000
A ballot issue in Holland, Michigan to require the public library to filter all computers or lose city funding was roundly defeated. The initiative was financed by the American Family Association and the Family Research Council which hoped to spark a national movement to censor library and school computers to prevent minors from accessing materials that are "obscene, sexually explicit, or harmful," whatever that may mean. Libraries in nearby Birmingham, Hudsonville and Midland have also been under attack. Filtering bills are pending in many places, including Pennsylvania and Florida. [CN #77 Spring 2000]

On December 17th, 1999, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit invalidated portions of the Child Pornography Prevention Act on First Amendment grounds. Two other Courts of Appeals have upheld the constitutionality of the statute in the context of criminal appeals. [CN 76 Winter 1999 - 2000]

» Censorship Unveiled Winter 1999-2000 When artist Lynn Zachreson displayed her paintings of nude figures at an annual community art show, the director objected.

Students who want to read Rolling Stone magazine in a high school library in Wales, Wisconsin, must prove they are 18 or have parental permission. The superintendent overruled a committee's recommendation, after a school board member called it "pornographic." [CN #73 Spring 1999]

In Louisiana, the St. Tammany Parish Police Jury ordered the local library to restrict access to R and NC-17 rated videos by minors under 17. NCAC wrote that this approach is likely unconstitutional, as well as unwise, and urged a return to the library's prior policy, allowing parents to restrict their own children's access to material they consider inappropriate. [CN #73 Spring 1999]

One of the artistic wonders of the world, Michaelangelo's David, according to some, is not fit for children to see. To prevent his daughter from glimpsing a model of the nude statue from the school bus, a Connecticut parent had the Shelton school district reroute the bus stop. [CN #73 Spring 1999]

» Court Bars Internet Filters in Loudoun County Library Winter 1998-1999
Public libraries in Loudoun County, Virginia, may not block sexually explicit material on the Internet, ruled a federal district judge in a decision that is expected to influence library policies elsewhere.

New York City's new zoning law, which relegates sex-related businesses to the boondocks, has been upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals and the city is now padlocking stores. Many businesses are attempting to comply by reducing adult entertainment stock to less than 40%, but what standard is used to decide what comprises a "sex shop" remains unclear. [CN #71 Fall 1998]

Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania is exhibiting work from Sex is Art, which had been cancelled in Annsville. The college's Image Wars exhibit also includes NCAC's new censorship exhibit. Joan Bertin keynoted the college's three-month colloquium on the humanities. [CN #69 Summer 1998]

Artist Kim Waale was asked to remove part of her sculpture from the New York State Museum's Biennial Exhibit because they were considered too sexual for "family" viewing. She and three other artists withdrew from the show in protest. [CN #70 Summer 1998]

In Auburn University, a student sculpture by artist Jenny Root, Mother/Father, was moved from the main exhibit to a less public space after some administrators called it "inappropriate" for children because of its depiction of nude bodies. [CN #70 Summer 1998]

Volker Schlöndorff's The Tin Drum, a film containing a couple sexually suggestive scenes involving a minor, but with a larger artistic and cultural message, is censored in Oklahoma City.

» Tin Drum Censors Have Tunnel Vision NEWSDAY
August 5, 1997
by Joan E. Bertin
Article criticizing the film's censors' quick judgment of obscenity

» National Groups Condemn Oklahoma City Censorship Article describing the incident and a press release about censorship in Oklahoma City
July 16, 1997 » More on Oklahoma City's censorship crusade Oh!klahoma City's Censorship Battle
Fall 1997

Oklahoma City police violated the constitution when they confiscated copies of the award-winning film, The Tin Drum, from a home, libraries, and video stores without a search warrant or adjudicated court order, ruled a federal district court. In April the court will consider whether the film violates state pornography laws. [CN #69 Summer 1998]

The Tin Drum does not meet Oklahoma's standard of child pornography, ruled a federal judge who had ruled earlier that seizure of videocasettes by the police was unconstitutional. NCAC worked with Oklahomans for Free Expression and other First Amendment groups to publicize the controversy. [CN #72 Winter 1998-99]

» Supreme Court Upholds "Decency" Standard for the NEA Summer 1998
The Supreme Court upheld the "decency" standard for federal grants to the arts, which requires the NEA to take into account "general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public" when making grants.

A federal appeals court postponed enforcement of a zoning law that would move sex shops, bookstores and topless clubs to the boondocks of New York City, pending a federal review of the law's constitutionality. State courts have already rejected the constitutional claim. [CN #69 Summer 1998]

Military "Honor and Decency": The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the Defense Department can bar military post exchanges from selling magazines, recordings and videos that "lasciviously" depict nudity. The decision overturns a Federal District Court decision which held that the law violates the Constitution's free speech protections. Court of Appeals Judge Cabranes wrote for the 2-1 majority that the policy was a reasonable way for the government to uphold the military's "values of honor, professionalism and discipline." The ruling is expected to be appealed. [CN #66 Winter 1997]

» A Kiss is Just a Kiss Winter 1997 Four sculptures by Auguste Rodin, each of which is nude or semi-nude, were pulled from a traveling exhibition of Rodin's work.

» Barnes and Noble Indicted in Tennessee Winter 1997
Tennessee prosecutors have charged Barnes & Noble with violating state obscenity law by displaying The Last Day of Summer and Radiant Identities by Sturges and The Age of Innocence by David Hamilton in its Brentwood store.

» Firefighters in Pennsylvania Put Out Art Show Fall 1997
After Commissioner Alan Yingst decided, without viewing the art, that "community standards of decency" would be violated by a show entitled Sex Is Art, the show was canceled.

» Jock Sturges Photos Vandalized in Bookstores Fall 1997
A new collection of photographs by Jock Sturges has become a magnet for protestors who have descended on Barnes and Noble and Borders Bookstores in at least 20 sites around the country, demanding the book's removal for its photos of nude children.

» The Philly Flasher Succumbs to Censors in Tennessee Fall 1997
The Philly Flasher, a painting with a visual depiction of frontal male nudity by Emerson Zabower, was removed from the walls of an art exhibit in Johnson City, TN, in August. A few of the viewers found it so offensive they demanded its removal.

» Washington State's Newsstand Wins $1.3 Million Judgment Summer 1997
The owner and manager of Bellingham, Washington's Newsstand, who had been charged with obscenity for selling a 'zine called Answer Me!, were awarded $1.3 million for prior restraint and for retaliatory prosecution.

Bad News From Levittown: In Levittown, New York Robert Lipsyte's novel, One Fat Summer, was removed from the required reading list in a developmental reading class after one complaint about a sexual passage. The superintendent denied that his action constitutes censorship as he overruled the unanimous recommendation of his faculty review committee to retain it. He called the book "inappropriate" although it had been successfully taught for almost 10 years. In urging the school board to restore the book, NCAC pointed out that "...faculty members must be very puzzled as to what constitutes appropriate reading material when a unilateral decision is imposed that conflicts with their professional judgments about how to motivate reading and understanding in their students -- which is, after all, the basic mission of education." [CN #66 Summer 1997]

Pinups OK In The PX: "Citizens don't jettison their constitutional rights simply by enlisting in the armed forces," ruled a federal district court judge as he jettisoned the Military Honor and Decency Act of 1996 which barred military bases from selling or renting materials that "lasciviously" depict nudity. NCAC had categorized the Act as "deeply indecent" because it dishonored our precious First Amendment freedoms. [CN #66 Summer 1997]

» Supreme Court Strikes Down Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 as Overbroad and Unconstitutional The National Coalition Against Censorship praised today's 6-3 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition that struck down the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 as overbroad and unconstitutional. The statute that was struck down by the ruling prohibited "any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer-generated image or picture" that "is or appears to be, of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct."

President Clinton signed the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996, which bans the production and sale of sexually explicit material depicting people who "appear to be" children. The new law vastly expands the previous standard that defines child pornography and imposes large penalties for sexually explicit expression that implies that a minor is involved. The amendment was modified to respond to some objections of the Media Coalition that many classical works of art would be banned. Its constitutionality is in serious doubt. [CN #64 Winter 1996]

The Military Honor and Decency Act was signed into law, barring military post exchanges from selling magazines, recordings and videos that "lasciviously" depict nudity. NCAC wrote to members of the conference committee concerned saying, "Our country does not need these 'decency' campaigns -- by anyone, certainly not by government. We do not want the government to tell us how to read or write or think about our lives, including our sex lives. To many of us, it would be deeply indecent to so dishonor our precious First Amendment freedoms." [CN #64 Winter 1996]

An obscenity trial of the Pink Pyramid Bookstore in Cincinnati for renting a video of Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò, is scheduled for early August. NCAC together with the ACLU filed a brief signed by 60 prominent film critics, artists, and museums -- including Martin Scorsese, Alec Baldwin, and the Museum of Modern Art -- unsuccessfully arguing that an obscenity prosecution is unconstitutional because of Salò's artistic, literary and political value (CN 55, 56). [CN # 62 Summer 1996]

» 'Zine Cartoonist Mike Diana Loses Appeal Summer 1996
Two obscenity convictions of comic 'zine creator Mike Diana were upheld, declaring that Diana's homemade comic books, Boiled Angel 7 and Boiled Angel Ate, were designed to appeal to prurient sexual interests.

Nudity, Male Version
After learning that a scheduled art show featured paintings of nude men, the board of the Barnwell County Museum in South Carolina voted to lock the gallery, and asked painter Robert Sherer to remove his work. "The show is not appropriate for the town," according to museum board chairwoman Ann Haygood. "They're not outrageous," said the artist, referring to the paintings. "These are academic studio paintings of models in a pose. You've seen these a thousand times, but usually they're of women. It's actually pretty boring." [CN #60 December 1995]

Nudity, Co-ed Version
In Ruidoso, New Mexico, an artist who was sculpting a large naked man and woman in a driveway outside her studio is facing charges of displaying sexually explicit material to minors. "I'm going to fight this because I'm not fond of censorship," said Candyee Garrett, the sculptor. "I can't believe that people get this riled up about art. I'm really speechless." [CN #60 December 1995]

Female Nudity, Not in Our Community After the Raleigh (North Carolina) City Council decided to "preview" some art works that had been booked for exhibit in a city-owned building, the gallery yielded to pressure and booted the artist and her erotic works from the show. The gallery committee had wrestled for several weeks with how best to present the exhibit, which includes images of female nudes interspersed with handwritten text describing an apparent sexual fantasy. The committee had decided to cover internal windows and restrict access to keep children from wandering in. But that proved inadequate after two civic leaders complained to the Raleigh mayor that the exhibit was "pornographic." The artist, Elin O'Hara Slavick, is on the University of North Carolina faculty. [CN #60 December 1995]

» BLEEP: Censoring Hollywood? Summer 2005
By Marjorie Heins
These remarks are taken from a speech about the bowdlerization of movies and whether software that permits the mutilation of movies is permissible under our copyright law.

» Congress Acts on "Indecency"
Spring 2005
The House of Representatives garnered broad bipartisan support for a bill to raise the top fines for broadcast ìindecencyî from $32,000 to $500,000. The fines could apply to commentators, talk show hosts, musicians and filmmakers if images they produce or words they speak on the air are judged ìindecent.î Broadcasters would be subject to the same penalties, making those with low budgets especially vulnerable. A proposal to allow the FCC to impose ìindecencyî sanctions on cable and satellite is also pending. Fear of fines has led broadcasters to refuse to air anything potentially controversial including the highly acclaimed World War II film, Saving Private Ryan. Representative Bernard Sanders (Vermont) cited this chill on creativity as a reason to oppose the legislation. Others who spoke in opposition include Janice Schakowsky (Illinois), Henry Waxman and Diane Watson (California), John Conyers (Michigan) and Maurice Hinchey (New York).

» The Uses of "Indecency" Summer 2004
by Svetlana Mintcheva
The contradictory boundaries of acceptability in our cultural-corporate context highlight the interdependence between censorship and titillation. Bare breasts have officially joined the seven dirty words-the more they are banned and bleeped, the more they titillate.

» Indecency, Again Spring 2004
by Joan E. Bertin
The reality of the inconsistent and unpredictable label of "indecency."

» What To Do About the Children's Internet Protection Act Fall 2003
The Supreme Court ruled that Congress may require libraries receiving federal funds to filter the Internet, in the interest of protecting minors from sex online.

» Big Brother Meets Catch-22 by Joan E. Bertin
Summer 2003
CIPA should be subtitled "Big Brother Meets Catch-22." Library patrons are "protected" from unknown material that an unidentified reviewer has blocked based on undisclosed criteria. How will a l ibrary patron even know to ask to have the filter disabled when they don't know what is missing?

» Letter from National Organizations Opposing Interference of the Kansas State Legislature in Academic Affairs April 18, 2003
A letter protesting an amendment to the 2003/04 Kansas State budget that would eliminate funding for the School of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas, as well as for any academic unit that purchases "obscene" videos for educational purposes.
See also: »National Organizations Oppose Interference of the Kansas State Legislature in Academic Affairs

» The Strange Case of Sarah Jones by Marjorie Heins
Spring 2003
Sarah Jones' song Your Revolution was banned from airplay by the FCC for its sexual content, a decision that was later reversed under pressure from a lawsuit filed by Jones.

» Banned Books Event Attracts Readers and Writers
Fall 2002
Author Sari Locker joined NCAC at its booth in New York City at New York Is Book Country on September 29, signing her recent book, Sari Says: The Real Dirt on Everything from Sex to Schools.

» Ashcroft Loses Spring 2002
The Supreme Court invalidated key provisions of the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 when it re-affirmed the "vital distinction between words and deeds, between ideas and acts" and held that the statute's ban on any visual depiction that "is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct" is unconstitutionally overbroad.

» Letter to University of Minnesota President Mark Udoff About Judith Levine's Book, Harmful to Minors April 11, 2002
The University of Minnesota decided to establish an external review committee to evaluate publishing criteria and processes at the university's press in response to the forthcoming publication of Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex by Judith Levine.

The Government vs. Erotica: the Seige of Adam and Eve by Philip D. Harvey, Prometheus Books. The true story of a small mail-order company legally selling contraceptives, films and sex toys, invaded and shut down by 37 armed law enforcement agents. Harvey's account of his eight-year battle with the Justice Department has been nominated for the Eli M. Oboler Award by the American Library Association as the best recent book devoted to intellectual freedom. [CN #83 Fall 2001]

» NCAC Letter Submitted to the Albany Times Union About The Vagina Monologues Ad September 6, 2001
The Times Union has decided not to run advertisements about an upcoming production of "The Vagina Monologues," because of reservations about printing a word describing a feature of female physiology.

» Full of Grace and Truth Summer 2001
by Svetlana Mintcheva
From the Senate Office Buildings to exhibition spaces on both coasts, nudes are becoming taboo. The same reasons are given: children might see, adults might feel "sexually harassed," and, in short, representations of naked human bodies are obscene and pornographic.

» Decency Revisited: New York's Mayor Is At It Again Spring 2001
The continuation of Giuliani's campaign for decency in New York. Spurred by the Sensation exhibit and now Renee Cox's Yo Mama's Last Supper, both at the Brooklyn Museum, Giuliani instituted a "decency" commission to police such matters.

» Academic Freedom Bites the Dust Spring 2001
by Marjorie Heins
The Supreme Court declined to review a sweeping decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that essentially denied state-employed professors any First Amendment right to academic freedom. The case of Urofsky v. Gilmore was a challenge to a Virginia law that barred state employees (with the exception of state police) from using state-owned or state-leased computers to access any "sexually explicit" Internet content without prior written approval from their "agency head."

» The Government v. Erotica: the Siege of Adam & Eve by Philip D. Harvey
April 2001
In 1986, a small mail order company was invaded armed law enforcement agents because it sold contraceptives, sex toys, and adult videos. Owner Phil Harvey's first-hand account of this David-and-Goliath battle goes to the heart of our national debate over First Amendment freedom of expression versus government attempts to limit the availability of erotic materials.

» National Coalition Against Censorship Slams Tennessee Arts Commission's "No Nudes" Policy March 21, 2001
The NCAC has asked the Tennessee Arts Commission, which is funded by both the State of Tennessee and the NEA, to reconsider its apparent policy of banning all artwork containing nude figures from the TAC Gallery located in Nashville. » NCAC Letter To The Tennessee Arts Commission Concerning Their "No Nudes" Policy March 21, 2001

» Censorship or Curatorial Discretion? March 21, 2001
A Seattle gallery chose to move artwork from the front to the back room of its space after the provocative nature of the photographs prevented patrons from moving throughout the entire gallery to view other artists' works. This incident questions where the line is between censorship and permissible curatorial discretion.

» Supreme Court Protects Speech on Cable TV Summer 2000
The Supreme Court struck down a federal law which made cable TV systems completely scramble their signals or restrict sexually-oriented programs to late-night hours to protect minors from exposure through "signal bleed."

» A Necessary Evil? by Joan E. Bertin Spring 2000
What can anyone possibly say about the importance of free expression to someone pursuing a religious mission against pornography, or someone who sees no meaningful distinction between physical abuse and an unwanted image on a screen?

» Kill the Messenger Summer 1999
The American Psychological Association published a scientific paper in one of its most respected journals. The article compiled and evaluated the results of many studies on the psychological effects of child sexual abuse ("CSA"). Responding to complaints from conservative constituents, a Congressional resolution condemned the study as "severely flawed."

» Children's Bodies: What Are We Afraid Of? Spring 1999
At an NCAC panel in New York, author and critic Judith Levine, artist and writer Barbara Pollack, and clinical psychologist and professor Leonore Tiefer explored some of the tensions and contradictions in adult responses to children's sexuality and the ways in which these responses are socially constructed.

» Teen Magazines Too Racy? Spring 1998
In Hauppauge, New York, a school superintendent banned three popular teen magazines from the middle school library after a parent complained because the magazines "go against what we believe is the truth about sex as Catholic Christians." Superintendent Paul Lochner denies that he caved in to pressure, calling the magazines "age inappropriate" for middle school students.

» NCAC Letter to SUNY Chancellor About Academic Freedom and Women's Studies Conference February 6, 1998

» NYC's Adult Zoning Law On Appeal Winter 1997
The challenge to New York City's new zoning law has now reached the Court of Appeals, New York's highest court (Hickerson v. NYC). The ordinance restricts access to adult entertainment establishments---bookstores, video stores, theaters and clubs devoted to sexually explicit but constitutionally protected fare. The legislation is troubling because it is broad enough to zone to remote locations not only a "peep show" but a smash show like Oh! Calcutta! or a gallery exhibit focusing on nudity in art. The law was upheld without a trial to test the city's claim that it is justified because of the "secondary effects," an alleged increase in crime and noise.

» Pornography Law Goes Too Far Los Angeles Times
October 17, 1997
By Joan E. Bertin
An article looking at challenges to the Child Pornography Prevention Act and opposition to the movie version of Vladimir Nabokov's book Lolita.

» NCAC Tells The Press Like It Is Winter 1996
NCAC wrote to The New York Times to point out a serious omission in an AP story of November 6 that noted Michigan Law dean Lee C. Bollinger had hired Catherine MacKinnon for its faculty and described her as one who "proposes laws making pornography a crime against women." The story failed to report the crucial fact that this proposal's unconstitutionality was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986.

» Library Displays Art It Had Banned Winter 1996
Artist Robyn Bellospirito's work, including three contested paintings, was displayed at the Manhasset, New York library in 1996. The exhibit had been cancelled in 1993 for violating the library's "no nudes" policy.

» Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Word? Winter 1996
by Susan N. Wilson
There seems to be a strange campaign afoot to remove the S-word from our lexicon. Its perpetrators seem to believe that if no one mentions "it," adolescents won't know or think about it and therefore, won't engage in it.

» Senate Hearings Fuel Sex Panic Summer 1996
A proposed bill sponsored by Orrin Hatch, the bill, the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1995, would criminalize sexual pictures of adults who look like minors; depictions of fictional minors; and "lascivious" depictions of breasts of female minors and buttocks of all minors.

» NCAC's Letter to the Dyersville IA Public Library About Sari Says The decision to remove the book Sari Says: The Real Dirt on Everything from Sex to School, by Sari Locker is a classic case of censorship. It seems clear that the removal of the book was based on objections to its content, which is impermissible under the First Amendment. » NCAC's letter to the Dyersville Commercial editor About Sari Says

» NCAC's Committee on Sex & Censorship
NCAC's Committee on Sex & Censorship brings a feminist perspective to censorship debates on issues relating to sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender roles. The Committee periodically sponsors public educational events, publications, advocacy, and a range of other activities. The Committee is spearheading a campaign opposing federally funded "abstinence-only-until-marriage" programs as a form of censorship of sexuality education.

Related:

» NCAC's Working Group on Women, Censorship & "Pornography" Home page of the Working Group with background information and mission statement.

» Censorship Hurts Women To be sexually free, women must be able to discover and legitimate their own sexualities through representing and seeing them represented in a vast variety of ways.

» What have Working Group members said about Women, Censorship, and "Pornography"?

» Members of NCAC's Working Group on Women, Censorship, & "Pornography"

» What Can You Do? Women, Censorship, and "Pornography"

» NCAC's Working Group on Women, Censorship & "Pornography" The Sex Panic: A Conference Report

» Amicus in COPA case: Is sexually explicit content harmful to children? » amicus