Qu'est-ce que la pornographie extrême ?

What is extreme pornography ? In the UK, parliamentary debate scheduled for the spring should throw some light on the matter. Or maybe it will just cast shadows over the meaning of freedom of expression and a private life. The Home Office's aim is to make it illegal to possess extreme pornographic material, in a way to strengthen the 1959 Obscene Publications Act which already made it illegal to make and sell extreme pornography.

The project follows in the steps of similar initiatives in the US begun in 2005.

Great Britain is a land of contrasts. Until 1990 in public schools and 1998 in private schools, corporal punishment with a cane or a tawse was legal, leading to the poor treatment of minors. On the other hand, in 1990, 16 gay men were charged, found guilty and imprisoned for up to four and a half years – for consensual wounds inflicted during SM play (See the Spanner Trust site for more details).

At the end of 2002 a very well know gay leather bar was closed down after a police raid. In both cases, the accused were people well past the age of consent.

Now the British government wants to create new extreme porn laws along the lines of the existing child porn laws. With a particular focus on bestiality and all scenes representing illegal acts such as voluntary beatings and wounds. If a law is passed, it would threaten body mod fans, lovers of a rosy cheeked bottom and roleplayers alike.

As well as commercial pornography, private recordings will be targeted.

But the UK's BDSM community is ready to do battle. Backlash first asked people to contact their MPs during the public consultation process which finished in December 2005. The group is also lobbying parliament and is organising a Whiparound concert on March 4th (Conway Hall Main Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1, 8–10h30) to raise money to pay for the campaign.

To this date, no western government has put such restrictive laws in place but in the USA, George Bush Jnr's moral crusade has implemented a new law which puts heavy restrictions on the owners of porngraphic websites and led to the creation of a new anti-porn unit of the FBI.

Expect the worst because the new unit's first assignments were to attack sites like Red Rose Stories, which published not photos, but text. In this light reproducing a classic like the History of O could lead to the seizure of IT equipment or even a prison sentence for the webmaster.

And what about France ? Here, article 227–24 of the penal code says "the act of making, transporting, distributing any material which is violent, pornographic or which could threaten human dignity (whatever the format) or to make money out of such material is punishable by a three year sentence and a fine of 75,000 eur if the material could be viewed by a minor."

There is no penalty if a child is unlikely to view the material. That said, in 2002 the ultra reactionary and homophobic French deputy Christine Boutin tabled a motion to make it illegal to transmit pornography on the TV. French censorship is also active as can be seen by the debacle over the classification of Virginie Despentes' Baise Moi.

The question isn't what is and isn't extreme. The real question is how to differentiate between exploitative pornography (often the most commercial porn sold in corner kiosks) and more intelligent projects where the actors are treated to humanity (and condoms). There are indeed debates to be had about the working conditions in the porn industry whether hard or soft, which are about clear consent (not dictated by financial pressures). As for possession that's just between a woman and her cassette rack.