obscenity

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• 5/21/2023
  

  Texas Judge Revives Anthony Comstock's Crusade Against Reproductive Freedom

  by Bill Greer

  The career of Anthony Comstock shows what can happen when a highly committed moral crusader gains traction in the political system. His rehabilitation in the contemporary abortion war is cause for concern. 

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• SOURCE: The Hill
  3/3/2023
  

  At its 150th Anniversary, the Comstock Law is Relevant Again

  by Jonathan Friedman and Amy Werbel

  Anthony Comstock drew on elite connections to give himself near unilateral power to confiscate "obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, or immoral" materials —terms he was free to define on his own—and prosecute people for possessing them. Right-wing politicians seem to be inspired by the example. 

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  7/6/2022
  

  Conservatives Attacking Pornography Carry on History of Politicized Moral Panics

  by Kelsy Burke

  Calls by J.D. Vance and other conservative politicians for bans on pornography echo the tactics and the failures of America's first anti-obscenity crusader, Anthony Comstock. 

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• SOURCE: Slate
  11/7/2021
  

  Inside the 1980s Phenomenon of "Truly Tasteless Jokes" and What it Says about a Cultural Shift around Offensiveness

  The wildly successful series of paperbacks heralded a moment when the embrace of offensiveness as a political weapon was shifting from the left to the right (audio contains the contents of some Truly Tasteless Jokes). 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  2/10/2021
  

  Larry Flynt, Who Built a Porn Empire With Hustler, Dies at 78

  "Mr. Flynt’s interpretation was simpler. 'If the First Amendment will protect a scumbag like me,' he said, 'then it will protect all of you. Because I’m the worst'."

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• SOURCE: Variety
  12/9/2020
  

  Nicolas Cage Hosts ‘History of Swear Words’ Series on Netflix

  While generally disapproved in polite company, swear words are a powerful and entrenched aspect of language around the world. Nic Cage will host a series examining their historical origins and use. 

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  7/16/2020
  

  Zounds! What the Fork are Minced Oaths? And Why are We Still Fecking Using them Today?

  by Kirk Hazen

  Minced oaths have historically performed a very specific role: providing a weakened but socially acceptable form of an actual religious oath, swear or curse.