Is pornography a threat to society?
Is pornography a threat to society?
What is pornography? Different people have different views on the
subject. What one country considers art might be banned in
another which views it as pornography. Religions, too, influence
the way people perceive things. The following article and several
others on Pages 2 and 4 discuss the topic.
JAKARTA (JP): Pornography. The term is derived from the Greek
words porne and graphos. Porne means prostitute and graphos
means writing. Literally, then, the word means writings about
prostitutes.
In its development, the word pornography has come to mean all
forms of visual material used to arouse sexual desire.
Therefore, we categorize Playboy or Penthouse magazines, or
books containing pictures of nude bodies, as pornographic because
of their provocative nature.
In many countries, including Indonesia, pornography is banned
because it is considered to have a dangerous power to corrupt
people's morals.
Love-making scenes or suggestive poses bluntly described in
classical literature or carved on temple walls are not considered
pornographic, although sometimes they can be as arousing as
material considered to be pornography.
A scene from a Balinese sung poem (Geguritan), Calon Arang --
which describes the wedding night of a girl called Ratnamanggali
and a man named Mpu Bahula -- includes these lines:
The girl scratches strongly, she kicks and cries, then she
pushes her man's chest. The man smiles sweetly, then he seduces
her, passionately kisses her. His hand holds Ratnamanggali's
waist while he tries to pull off Ratnamanggali's underwear. She
is weaker, and is pushed onto the bed by Mpu Bahula.
The scene described by the poem, which uses ancient Balinese
language, becomes even hotter in the lines which follow those
above. Yet it is not condemned as pornography.
The list of classical Indonesian literature which today might
be categorized as pornographic is long. The Serat Centhini, which
is regarded to be the encyclopedia of Javanese culture, contains
explicit descriptions of homosexual coitus.
The walls of the Sukuh temple in Central Java, built in the
15th century, have carved reliefs of male and female genitals.
There are also erotic reliefs at the famous Buddhist temple of
Borobudur in Central Java, which was built by King Syailendra in
the ninth century.
"At that time, such reliefs were accepted because people had
different values," says writer Umar Kayam.
The teachings of Islam, which came to Indonesia in the 17th
century, changed values. Like Christianity and other religions
originating in the Middle East, Islam has rigid doctrines, even
though old works of literature, such as the popular Arabian
Nights, also have erotic elements, according to Kayam.
Purpose
Educator Mochtar Buchori says people do not regard erotic
carved reliefs to be pornographic because these are found at
religious sites, such as temples.
"But, actually, we don't know what their purpose was," he
adds.
According to Buchori, who is also an observer of social
affairs, Indonesians have a tendency to be more lenient towards
temple carvings or classical literature because they think those
things belong to them. With other items, we assume that they are
pornographic because we associate them with the West, says
Buchori, adding that we are sometimes wrong about this.
Kayam says the idea that pornography came from the West is
mistaken. Pornography is a universal tendency of human beings, he
argues, and there is pornography and eroticism everywhere.
The Dutch colonial government, during its 350 years' rule in
Indonesia, sought to promote austere values, in accordance with
puritanical strands of Christianity.
"They even covered up the lowest level the Borobudur temple,
which exposes the people's sinful acts -- like gambling,
prodigality and prostitution -- because they considered it to be
pornographic," says Kayam. "But now, you can see a part of that
section, since our government has opened a small part of it."
Kayam thinks that, currently, Indonesians are a little bit
more relaxed about eroticism. The younger generation, in
particular, are more open about such matters as a result of the
process of globalization.
"What strikes me as strange is that liberalism is emerging
within the conservative thinking of the older generation in many
fields," he says. "But I believe that, in the future, liberal
thinkers will overcome the conservatives."
Kayam, who defines liberal thinkers as people who are broad-
minded, thinks people are not as rigid now as they were 10 or 20
years ago. He points to contemporary literary works and
cinematography, which, he says, reflect a general social trend.
In Surakarta, for example, erotic classical-style pictures are
on sale to the public. Contemporary erotic art work involving the
exploration of sexuality can also be found in Kamasan near
Klungkung in Bali, according to Kayam.
Buchori contends that pornography is dangerous only if it is
combined with an erosion of a society's moral norms.
"Pornography is only a small part. What is more dangerous is
the erosion of moral norms," he argues.
In societies in which moral norms continue to be upheld,
Buchori says, there are mechanisms which 'put a brake' on
pornography.
"The family and school can be the foundation for upright moral
norms," he adds. (sim/als)