Preventing the pressure of pornography
Preventing the pressure of pornography
By T. Sima Gunawan
JAKARTA (JP): Sex and pornography are two different things,
but pornography has everything to do with sex. Accordingly,
people's perception of pornography relates to their views on sex.
Many things which are acceptable overseas are banned here on
the grounds that they are pornographic. The government bans not
only blue movies and X-rated films, but also magazines like
Playboy and Penthouse, which are very popular in the other parts
of the world.
All movies are tightly censored before being shown at cinemas.
Indonesians won't witness Bruce Willis and Jane March have
graphic sex in Color of Night, or Sharon Stone pounce on Michael
Douglas in Basic Instinct. Nudity is not accepted and even
showing women's breasts can be categorized as pornographic in
Indonesia.
Executive board director of the Film Censorship Institute,
Soekanto, defines pornography as "what is against public ethics
in Indonesia."
"Things can be categorized pornographic if they can corrupt
people's morals," he said, quoting the government regulation on
film censorship.
The definition of pornography is interpreted by the 45 members
of the censorship institute, he explained.
"We censor sexual intercourse in films because it is not
acceptable here. Scenes exposing breasts are also cut because
this is against public ethics," he told The Jakarta Post.
"Kissing is okay. But the scene will be censored if it is
exploited. If it is close up or if it shows tongues, the scene
will be cut," he asserted.
Censoring must be done carefully because cutting certain
scenes may effect the story's flow.
"For example, if a husband becomes violent because his wife is
raped, we can't remove the whole rape scene. In this case, we
will allow the audience to get an idea of the scene, not by
showing the process of rape, but showing the condition before or
after the rape," he said.
Even though the government insists that all films be censored
before being shown or sold to the public, uncensored video
cassettes and Laser Discs are freely available. Pornographic
books and pictures, X-rated movies and obscene computer disks are
also easily found.
The enforcement of pornography regulations in the country is
weak. Raids are launched only once and awhile and few people are
tried.
Last November the police confiscated more than 3,000
suggestive calendars in Jakarta. The city police had earlier
seized thousands of pornographic books, X-rated video cassettes
and stickers emblazoned with naked woman. No one was reported to
have been arrested or prosecuted. In 1991, however, the Bandung
District Court sentenced two men to six months in jail for
selling pornographic books to high school students.
In 1993, the Medan District Court sentenced a film distributor
to eight months in prison for showing an uncensored foreign film
entitled My Love Story, which showed a woman's breasts. The judge
ruled that even though only the upper part of the woman's body
was shown, her breasts could sexually arouse the audience.
Data
Data on the number of people charged with pornography is not
available, but between 1980 and 1993, there were only 12
pornography cases handled by the Supreme Court.
Pornography-related cases are tried under article 282 of the
Criminal Code and carry a maximum penalty of two years and eight
months in jail. The law forbids anyone from displaying,
importing, exporting, offering, or keeping a picture or written
material that is "against the ethics".
The Criminal Code does not define "against the ethics", but
legal experts believe that the material should be categorized as
pornographic if it is sexually arousing.
Deputy Chief Justice for Criminal Affairs Adi Andojo
Soetjipto said it isn't easy deciding if something is
pornographic because sexual stimulation is subjective.
He stressed that not all pictures of naked people are
pornographic.
"If the pictures are educational, we can't call them
pornographic," he said.
Consequently, even though it is illegal to display
contraceptives, people who show them to educate people about
family planning or safe sex can not be prosecuted.
The government did however stop the publication of a sex
education book entitled Adik Baru in 1989. The guide, a
translation of a Swedish book called Peter, Ida and Minimum by
Grethe Fagerstrom and Gunilla Hanson, was outlawed because it
contained vivid sketches and descriptions about the reproduction
process. Government officials and Moslem leaders said it went
against local mores.
"The definition of pornography is obscure," lawyer Mohamad
Assegaf acknowledged.
What is considered pornographic in villages might not be
considered so in big cities. Public acceptance develops, Assegaf
said.
"I remember when I was still in high school, the government
strongly warned some magazines because they printed pictures of
women's thighs and parts of their breasts. But now, you can find
hotter pictures in the media," he said.
Public demand makes the government's fight futile.
"People like to read pornographic books or watch blue movies
because they are curious. But later, some become addicted to
them," Dr. Gerard Paat, a sexologist, told the Post.
He sees pornography as a gender issue. More men than women are
interested in pornography because the Indonesian culture gives
more privilege to men to explore their sexuality.
"Pornography places women as a sexual object. It emphasizes
machismo and degrades women," Paat said.
In some cases, pornography can motivate men to rape because
they want to show their sexual power, Paat assured.
He added that blue movies can mislead people, especially those
who are ignorant, because they portray the wrong perceptions,
such as the length of sexual intercourse or penis size. People
fixated by pornography may consider sex as the most important
thing in a marriage.
Despite the negative impact of pornography, Paat believes it
is fine for married couples to watch the occasional X-rated film,
as long as they have the right perception of sex.
"But a research in the United States shows that the more
people see pornographic films, the less they are faithful to
their spouse," he said, emphasizing the danger of pornography.