ipl-logo

Attorney General Edwin Sturman's Empire Of The Obscene

740 Words3 Pages

The third and final essay of the book is titled Empire of the obscene. Empire of the obscene traces the history of the pornography industry. The essay begins by convey the decision made by Attorney General Edwin Meese III’s commission on pornography. The commission outlined the harmful effects and called for strict enforcement of federal obscenity laws. The author then introduces the reader to Reuben Sturman. Sturman was a business man from Cleveland that formed an international media conglomerate that dealt in adult entertainment. Although it is legal today at one point in history pornography was strictly prohibited. According to Schlosser the American pornography industry was created in 1953, when Hugh Hefner created the first playboy. The …show more content…

The criminals were arrested and were traced back to Sturman. The book then begins to focus on the hunt for the escaped Sturman. The book next gives a short overview of anther business man in the contraceptive business. On February 9, 1993 U.S. marshals arrested Reuben Sturman in Anaheim, California. Also subpoenaed were Stephanie and Douglas Freidman, who had helped him escape. They revealed Sturman’s efforts to bribe a judge as well as tamper with the jury. On March 10, 1993, Sturman was indicted for extortion in Chicago. He was convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion by the jury. Next, the author talks evolution of the pornography industry in response to the invention of the internet. The author also details Sturman’s return to prison and his death while incarcerated. Afterwards, Schlosser describes how he meet with Sturman before his death. The essays focus is then next shifted towards the use of underground business practice used today in traditional businesses. The author then discussed how that the economy is best when it experiences with a system of checks and balances of their own. Furthermore, he addresses his own view addressed in the

Show More
Related
1225 Words | 5 Pages

There are two types of businessmen in this world, “Robber Barons” and “Captains of Industry”. “Robber Baron” is a idiom established during the United States Industrial Revolution of the 1800s. It is used to describe demeaning businessman that are wealthy industrialist, those who monopolize companies, and use unfair practices within their businesses. On the other hand “Captains of Industry” are positive businessman that contribute to the nation. For instance they provide jobs, increase productivity, expand the markets, and increase trade.

Read More
873 Words | 4 Pages

As industry began to grow in America, a select group of pioneers such as Andrew Carnegie became controversial. The controversy was that they were simply rich and took from the poor. People who participated in such acts were referred to as “Robber Barons”. It is often said that Andrew Carnegie was a “Robber Baron” but he was not because in his case, he was one of the first people to bring industry to such a large scale. Without people before him, he had no guidance and therefore it was much harder to conduct business because he was essentially creating his own path.

Read More
1725 Words | 7 Pages

In Mark Mathabane’s article, “If You Assign My Book, Don't Censor It”, Mathabane argues against schools assigning censored versions of his story “Kaffir Boy”. The author supports his argument by explaining how his life story doesn’t have the same emotional impact without the extremely controversial scene where young boys prostitute themselves. Matabane’s purpose is to inform potential parents or teachers of the significance and importance of the controversial scene, in order to keep students from reading censored versions of his story. Matabane presents his argument to appeal to educated Americans. Overall Mathabane effectively proves his argument that censoring a pivotal point of his story compromises its theme of freedom.

Read More
1012 Words | 5 Pages

In her article, “Censorship 101,” West crafts her text through numerous court case experience and skill in rhetorical devices as her background expertise is used to her advantage. Sonja West begins her argument with the use of exemplification in a previous court case. The scene is set in 1962, and West garments the introduction with excessive details and biased language as readers quickly root for the victory of the Tinker case and share the celebratory state of their

Read More
925 Words | 4 Pages

The Comstock Act and Griswold v. Connecticut The New York Times published two articles, “Breaking up the Trade in Obscene Literature-What has been Done Since March” and “7-to-2 Ruling Establishes Marriage Privileges-Stirs Debate,” each about one hundred years apart. The first article, published in 1872, is in reference to the Comstock Act and the second, published in 1965, discusses the Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut. By analyzing these articles, looking at the information presented and omitted by the author and looking at the connotations of the words used to describe people or events, the popular opinion of the times can be determined and compared to show a cultural shift over time.

Read More
1756 Words | 8 Pages

The concurrence of New York v. Ferber, establishes that it is possible for the depiction of porn or sexual acts to have a serious literary,

Read More
907 Words | 4 Pages

In a time when economics and advancements were the most crucial parts of life, there were entrepreneurs who took advantage of their wealth and status to manipulate the economy and the less fortunate citizens. It is a powerful question throughout history whether these influential yet dictatorial men were captains of industry who allowed the economy to advance and flourish or robber barons who benefitted off the work of the lower classes and the betrayal of democracy. It is not arguable, however, that the only correct answer to this question would be that these men flourished and exceeded through the exploitation of the labor of the lower class which leads to the conclusion that they were robber barons. These men such as Cornelius Vanderbilt

Read More
165 Words | 1 Pages

The significance of this topic was to explain the rise of Elvis Presley, the man who may have "potentially corrupted the youth", (Pg.3) with his "openly display of sexual desire in dance", (Pg.6) and the rebellion to go against the popular American conservative lifestyle. One of the many important things I learned from this presentation is that because of Elvis's sexual dancing he began to be majorly censored, which paved the way for censoring of anything adults found inappropriate. Another important thing was that after Elvis had performed on TV shows already but once his first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show shot him into the spotlight and after his first performance he became famous nationwide. The last important thing I learned

Read More
1889 Words | 8 Pages

Emily Decius Sociology 361 Term Paper November 16, 2017 Of the many serial killers that have terrorized the nation throughout history, there are a few that stand out from the rest, one being Theodore Bundy. He became much more famous than others, and his story is rather interesting but has been constantly changed and promoted by the media. In total, it is estimated that Bundy murdered anywhere between 36 to 100+ victims, and there are still many bodies that have not been found (Sullivan, 2009). Bundy had always seemed to be a somewhat normal person through his younger years, and it seemed to most people like he would be successful in life (Sullivan, 2009). He excelled in school, attended college, and at one point even enrolled in law school (Sullivan, 2009).

Read More
1855 Words | 8 Pages

In Ginsberg v. New York, 390 U.S. 629 (1968) the Court upheld a statute proscribing vendors from selling adult acceptable pornography to minors. While such material is legal and not obscene for adults, the Court reasoned that it would be obscene from a child’s viewpoint, Id., at 638. The statute upheld in Ginsberg banned selling to minors any sexual material that: “(i) predominately appeals to the prurient, shameful or morbid interests of minors, and (ii) is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for minors, and

Read More
1552 Words | 7 Pages

Nazaryan, Alexander. " Sexual Predator Cries Censorship over Jaycee Dugard Memoir." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2013.

Read More
1119 Words | 5 Pages

Rough Draft Essay #2 What do you think when you hear something has been banned or censored? Most of us think this “Oh that’s great” because it had content that wasn’t okay for people to see. Today in modern society books are banned/censored because people see them as not appropriate for people to see. The banning/censoring books isn’t the best idea because some books are banned just because they have content that is seen a “mature” or “illegal”.

Read More
2024 Words | 9 Pages

This essay will examine the case study of the convicted serial killer Gary Ridgway, who was eventually caught and convicted for the murders 48 women. Ridgway, went on a killing spree of women without getting caught for over two decades, he went on to become the Green River Killer (Reichert, 2004). The essay will explore and evaluate the characteristics including the attribution of Garry Ridgway’s horrific crimes. In the 1980s and 1990s Ridgway targeted prostitutes, runaway girls, hitchhikers and vulnerable women in the locality of where he lived in Washington State, USA (Reichert, 2004). It baffled the authorities as to how he was able to commit these crimes whilst working and living in the locality of his crimes however, he was not suspected

Read More
1128 Words | 5 Pages

The Bible is a book that is filled with knowledge and truth that many people follow today. Despite all of the applicable wisdom the Bible contains, it also brings about many questions that are left unanswered to this day. The book of Genesis is filled with such questions that can make one’s head hurt if thought about for too long. One of those questions that is constantly asked and answered differently is: Who is the God of Israel in the book of Genesis? What makes this question especially difficult to answer is the fact that there are two different names for God used in Genesis as well as the fact there is more than one source used to write Genesis. With that said, throughout the book of Genesis, the God of Israel is depicted as a just,

Read More
1440 Words | 6 Pages

Even though there was problem with distributing the content, it remained so popular to the point that it was formally introduced in 1951. Just two years later Hugh Hefner founded the Playboy Magazine. An important figure in porn history would be Lasse Braun. He was making short underground silent films such as Golden Butterfly.

Read More

More about Attorney General Edwin Sturman's Empire Of The Obscene

Related Topics

Open Document