Abstract

Northern Closure

The epidemic of censorship shows how "progressive" controls on expression are bound to backfire. Canadian Customs censorship has existed for years, but escalated when a Canadian Supreme Court decision last year adopted anti-pornography feminism. In R. v. Butler, the Court found Donald Butler, a Manitoba "adult" video storeowner, guilty of peddling obscenity. The Court resisted free-speech arguments by shifting from the old "community standards" test to a focus on what may promote "harm," particularly to women. The struggle over pornography is ultimately about democratizing the republic of sex. This can't be done, by outlawing the opposition, but laissez-faire falls short, too. As Toronto, Ontario pro-porn activist Becky Ross recently noted, "Because women's sexuality has historically been taboo, we have no public idea what it consists of."