Religious conservatives and fundamentalists frequently argue that pornography -- and almost any sexually explicit material -- degrades and undermines civilization. Even some liberals and progressives argue that pornography is necessarily degrading to women and complicit in their oppression. Defenders of sexually explicit material usually make their case on the basis of free speech and expression, or sometimes argue that such material is helpful to married couples. Some go much further, though, and argue that the presence of pornography is liberating and is thus a sign of a healthy, free society.
In 2004, the Sunday Times of London discussed an essay by Salman Rushdie in which he argued that in a repressive society, the presence of pornography serves both to sexually stimulate and to politically stimulate -- pornography is thus an act of political as well as sexual rebellion. In The East is Blue, Rushdie takes the position that Muslims now consume large amounts of pornography, despite attempts by governments and clerics to stem the tide, because of the extreme segregation of the sexes.
Superficially, at least, there might not appear to be any connection between pornography and politics, but the connections probably go deeper than most people realize. Restrictions on sexually explicit material amount to restrictions on depictions of different ways people can structure sexual and personal relationships. It becomes competition -- and very appealing competition at that -- to the traditional structures and relationships required by those in power.
It's not a coincidence that early freethinkers and feminists in America were also closely associated with the "Free Love" movement. Adherents of this civil libertarian philosophy rejected marriage as a form of slavery for women and argued that everyone needed to find ways to liberate themselves from oppressive traditions and demands placed on personal relationships by both the Church and the State. Contrary to the teachings of Church and State, Free Love advocates claimed that sex does not exist merely for the sake of reproduction; instead, it is also about pleasure and experimentation -- the sorts of messages conveyed implicitly or explicitly by pornography.
Free Love advocates also adopted a strong stance against the power of the state. Denying the authority of the state to regulate private sexual relationships in the form of marriage was merely the first step; many Free Love advocates were strong supporters of early anarchist movements which rejected the oppressive power of governments entirely. Both Free Love and political anarchism relied heavily on the philosophical belief in self-ownership, ensuring that the two would become closely associated.
In his essay, Rushdie writes:
Pornography exists everywhere, of course, but when it comes into societies in which it's difficult for young men and women to get together and do what young men and women often like doing, it satisfies a more general need. While doing so, it sometimes becomes a kind of standard-bearer for freedom, even civilisation... It may be that more permissive societies have less need for porn, and certainly they don`t need to turn blue movies into icons of revolution or peace ... If the restrictions on ordinary social, romantic and sexual relations that [less permissive] societies impose were to wither away, the need for pornography would very likely diminish, too ... If Western pornography is a symptom of Western decadence, then Eastern pornography is a side-effect of Eastern repressions. Pornography is almost always an effect, or a dramatic symptom of some non-pornographic social malaise. It is almost never a cause.
Rushdie's argument doesn't necessitate that pornography would, in every society and every time period, be a force for political, social, and religious liberation. Rushdie's argument is merely that this will be the case in at least some contexts: when church and/or state are repressive and seek to control sex, sexuality, marriage, and personal relationships, then pornography becomes not just a sexual release, but also a political one. Consuming pornography is like consuming politically subversive material because it means taking in ideas about sex or personal relationships which are contrary to those being imposed by Church and State.