Pornography: A social menace?

By Johannes Nugroho

SURABAYA (JP): Recent outrage expressed by socioreligious groups over the allegedly pornographic pictures of certain Indonesian female celebrities has fueled a national debate on the issue.

Prominent figures, ranging from Minister of Education Juwono Sudarsono to literary giant W.S. Rendra, have expressed their "disgust" and "disapproval", while denizens of the cinematic-cum- sinetronic-cum-artistic world have displayed an ambivalent attitude. The latter's typical comments have been: "It is really their (the celebrities) right, and they must have realized what (a furor) it would cause."

Yet the pertinent questions in the controversy are what constitutes pornography and whether it is a social menace which needs to be stamped out of society.

Social commentators have agreed that it is difficult to define pornography because of differing prevalent values in urban and rural areas, not to mention those existing across our borders.

The standard argument against overt flouting of sexual themes and images in Indonesia has been the banal axiom that it is not in accordance with "eastern mores and values". To claim that pornography and "sexual promiscuity" are derivatives of westernization is arguably fallacious.

Historically, pornography in Indonesia, be it visual or literary, dates back, at least, to the 15th century. The Shiva temple of Sukuh on Mount Lawu in Central Java, built from 1437 to 1438, is presumably the oldest Indonesian pornographic specimen. The large relief carved on the pedestal supporting the temple's gateway depicts the male genitalia, known as the lingga, pressing against its female counterpart, otherwise known as the yoni. The temple also boasts a statue of a standing man holding his erect penis.

The imagery is comparable with the ancient Greeks' veneration of the sexual organs in their rituals, which included a stone model of the erect penis and a hollow stone to symbolize the fertile womb of the goddess Demeter. Occidental interest in sex was matched by their Oriental counterparts in the form of reliefs on temple walls in India, portraying coitus in the same way as at the Konarak Temple. The ancient Indian sex guide Kama Sutra has achieved worldwide fame, while the Arabic nations produced the Arabian Nights, sexual tales from Middle Eastern harems.

The supposed sexual prudery of the Javanese lies in stark contrast with its literature in which there are at least two works falling under the "pornographic" category. The book of Candraning Wanita, composed by a palace scribe during the reign of Sultan Hamengkubuwono VIII in Yogyakarta, details the "sexual nuances" of women and the "secrets of copulation", complete with hand-drawn illustrations. The Indonesian version of Romeo and Juliet, titled Pranacitra, also known as Rara Mendut, contains descriptions of sexual trysts.

The current anathema to pornography is reminiscent of the postindependence era, in which flourishing pornographic publications, such as Terang Bulan (Moonlight), with its infamous 1951 short story Hotel Siapa Mau (Hotel for the Wanton), were declared a public enemy.

The Old Order regime feared the increasing popularity of pornography would "corrupt and degenerate" the nation's youth. The "anti-cabul" (antipornography) crusade was instigated with the formation of the "Panitia Susila Pers" (the press morality committee). The committee subsequently was active in organizing public bonfires of literature considered "morally offensive" and numerous prosecuting members of the press for "offenses against morality".

If we were to recommence the anachronistic frenzied persecution of pornography, it would equate to a culling of the freedom of press. Despite the public's condemnation, there is no denying that foreign hardcore porn films and magazines are readily obtainable in most metropolitan areas in the country. This state of affairs has been tolerated for decades by the authorities. Meanwhile, even kissing scenes are censored on television, while, ironically, gory sadistic scenes in action films remain unscathed.

This "as-long-as you-don't-make-it-obvious" approach to pornography and the sex industry bears evidence to the country's hypocritical stance on sexual issues. Indonesia's paradoxical hypocrisy is most transparent in the social judgmental attitude toward the prostitution industry, which, legally speaking, is punishable by law. Indonesian prostitutes have become a bubbling cauldron and dumping ground for the country's sexual repressions and taboos.

In Western democracies, legislation concerning pornography has been continually updated over the years, thus providing a precise definition of what pornography constitutes.

In America, for example, "general publications" consumed by a public unspecified by age group are allowed to display seminudity, that is female breasts, but not the nipples, and male buttocks, but not the full-length penis.

On the other hand, magazines for adult consumption that are not X-rated, such as Playboy and Playgirl, can expose full nudity, including the erect penis and sexual activities that exclude penetration. The X-rated hard core magazines, however, of which circulation is limited to certain outlets that require proof of age show virtually "everything".

In Britain and Australia, laws governing pornography have been adopted along the same lines as the United States, with minor variations, such as a ban on the depiction of "a male in the state of excitement" in non-X-rated adult magazines. The Australian law on male nudity even specifies that in non-X-rated- adult magazines, such as the Australian Women's Forum, which features male nude centerfolds, the male penis depicted must not "surpass a 45 degree angle of inclination".

Television channels in Australia are also obligated to specify their program content. A typical TV guide in Australia would include classifications such as PG (Parental Guidance), which means nudity free, or M (Mature) -- formerly AO (Adults Only) -- which may have semi-nudity, full frontal nudity and sex scenes.

Meanwhile, in the recent National Literary Symposium, the celebrated Indonesian poet W.S. Rendra reiterated that he did not wish to see his "children and grandchildren live in an environment deficient of human qualities". He further likened sexual promiscuity, of which pornography is an integral part, to "degeneration of humanness", saying that he would like to "uphold moral values so that human beings will remain human beings, not animals".

In contrast, in 1970 the U.S. Presidential Commission on Indecency and Pornography, after two years of research, concluded that there were "no strong grounds" to claim that "exposure of erotic images" could lead to "sexual offenses or immorality". Today's America, while the largest producer of pornography in the world, statistically has no higher percentage of sexual offenses compared to other countries. On the question of dehumanization, it would be preposterous to attribute animalistic qualities to the world's most prosperous nation.

The bottom line is pornography has never in history become any nation's chief preoccupation. Indubitably, there is an almost ardent interest in pornography anywhere in the world, but to propose that it may bring about cataclysmic dehumanization is arguably melodramatic.

Denmark, which allows its citizens unlimited access to pornography, tackled the issue by totally decriminalizing the sex industry in the late 1960s. The first phase of the process in 1969 saw a tremendous leap in the sales of pornography, estimated at 30 million poundsterlings. Yet by the end of 1970, the figures plummeted to around 12 million, less that half of what it had been the previous year.

Indonesia may not have to go as far as Denmark's total decriminalization of the sex industry. Nevertheless, an update of the articles in the Panel Code concerning pornography is essential. The new House of Representatives (DPR) and the upcoming government could call for the formation of a special commission to investigate the issue.

It would be of paramount importance to include non- governmental organizations on the panel of such a commission, particularly human rights organizations. Most importantly, the commission should ideally refer to the United Nations conventions in its recommendations to the government.

The writer works at the International Language Program in Surabaya, East Java.