ABSTRACT
Technically the term “pornography” is derived from the Greek pornographos, literally, “the writing of prostitutes,” and it carries the suggestion of erotic imagery which results in sexual arousal. In short, pornography is a kind of psychological aphrodisiac. The mixed feeling that Samuel Pepys expressed about his “lewd” book helps explain why pornography has periodically come under attack, even by those who have enjoyed reading it. The United States has not been alone in attempting to reassess pornography, and the same ambiguities present in the United States are present elsewhere. Perhaps the concern which society today has over pornography is as much due to our own failure as a society to deal with sexuality as anything else. Christianity was a sex-repressive religion, by implication it was also obsessed with sex. The difficulty in distinguishing obscenity from pornography is that what is sexually repulsive to one individual might well be sexually suggestive to another.
