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Dr.
Pally, past President of FFE, teaches at New
York University and has written for The New York
Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington
Post,
Index on Censorship, Film Comment, Cineaste,
The Nation, Z Papers, and The SIECUS Report,
among
other publications. She has served on the Communications
and Media Committee of the American Civil Liberties
Union and is past Vice President of the Freedom
to Read Foundation. She has lectured on censorship
and the First Amendment, film, and on issues
in feminism at Harvard, Columbia, New York University,
the University of Chicago, New York Law School,
the Bar Association of the City of New York,
te
Cato Institute, the American Library Association,
the American Booksellers Association, the American
Film and Video Association, and the Women and
the Law Conference, among other universities
and professional
associations. Dr. Pally has appeared on the Phil
Donahue Show, Pozner and Donahue, CNN's Crier & Co.,
The Sally Jesse Raphael Show, among others, as
well as on national, local, and PBS radio across
the country.
The most frequent appeal of censorship
is its promise of safety its pledge that if
only we ban certain
books, magazines or movies, violence and sexual
and drug abuses will diminish and the world
will be a less troubled place. This idea is behind
those who believe sexism and rape can be reduced
by restricting
sexually explicit material. It is behind those
who believe violence can be stemmed by controlling
violent TV and movies.
Social planners and
grassroots activists need to ask if this idea
is right: will banning "bad" images
ban bad acts? Or is it a quick fix? Dr. Pally
suggests that, while media from high art
to popular entertainment
reflect and repeat the sexism, intolerance
and violence, banning them will not diminish
violence
or improve life. Censorship ignores the root
causes of problems and establishes dangerous
precedents
for suppressing new or unpopular ideas. Some
feminists wish to ban sexist material, other
groups oppose
feminist works. Neither will reduce rape,
drug abuse or immorality.
Topics:
- Pornography and violence: is there a
link?
- Hate speech: does banning help?
- Art censorship
and public funding for the arts
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