What other ways, outside the penalties of obscenity law, have government officials found to control erotic speech? And why do some of them continue to do so, in the face of ever more sexual explicitness all around us? Sexual expression — bawdy tales, songs, jokes, pictures, and sex information — were not generally objects of institutionalized concern. It was not until the 19th century, however, that this concern with possible corruption of the young — along with urbanization, increased literacy, and anti-vice movements — fused to create the political will for widespread suppression of sexual speech. The first federal obscenity law in the U. It did not define these terms.

Read the text below or download the pdf. Victorian societies were scandalised by the arrival of the telephone because women —who were chaperoned at all times— could potentially talk with suitors in private. The proliferation of sexual content on the internet and the considerable size of the pornography market online is a concern to lots of different groups.

Sex, censorship and media regulation in Japan: a historical overview. McLelland, M. McLelland and V.