‘Extreme pornography’ and the contested spaces of virtual citizenship
‘Extreme pornography’ and the contested spaces of virtual citizenship
This paper considers issues of sexual citizenship in light of new UK legislation that prosecutes the viewers of ‘extreme pornography’. Justified as an attempt to uphold public decency, government intervention seeks to prevent people seeing ‘extreme’ images not by limiting access to certain websites, but instead by intervening in the private consumption of these images. In this paper I draw on the discourses of those who have supported such intervention, and suggest that these arguments make a claim to space that defends the rights of some citizens over others. I examine the entwining of rights of expression, rights to identity and rights to safety. In conclusion, I argue that sexual citizenship is not just about the right to occupy actual physical places but also the right to inhabit the virtual—cyberspace. I hence argue that the internet plays a key role in transforming the sexual geographies of public and private
493-508
Wilkinson, Eleanor
b4e83f65-1c06-4c86-b70c-4cd307d2738a
22 July 2011
Wilkinson, Eleanor
b4e83f65-1c06-4c86-b70c-4cd307d2738a
Wilkinson, Eleanor
(2011)
‘Extreme pornography’ and the contested spaces of virtual citizenship.
Social & Cultural Geography, 12 (5), .
(doi:10.1080/14649365.2011.589535).
Abstract
This paper considers issues of sexual citizenship in light of new UK legislation that prosecutes the viewers of ‘extreme pornography’. Justified as an attempt to uphold public decency, government intervention seeks to prevent people seeing ‘extreme’ images not by limiting access to certain websites, but instead by intervening in the private consumption of these images. In this paper I draw on the discourses of those who have supported such intervention, and suggest that these arguments make a claim to space that defends the rights of some citizens over others. I examine the entwining of rights of expression, rights to identity and rights to safety. In conclusion, I argue that sexual citizenship is not just about the right to occupy actual physical places but also the right to inhabit the virtual—cyberspace. I hence argue that the internet plays a key role in transforming the sexual geographies of public and private
Text
Extreme_pornography_and_the_contested_sp.pdf
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Published date: 22 July 2011
Organisations:
Geography & Environment
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Local EPrints ID: 372503
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/372503
ISSN: 1464-9365
PURE UUID: 70e12d13-a677-46fd-b1a8-a62d9105e9f2
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Date deposited: 12 Dec 2014 14:26
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 18:38
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