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The 1970s was the last time being a MAP in America was fun
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2026 1:57 pm
by Adge
In colonial America, the regulation of obscenity was not thought to be any of the state's business until 1816 in Pennsylvania, and even then, it was only on a state level (Sharpless v. Pennsylvania). Then President Ulysses Grant passed the Comstock Act in 1873 that would be the first federal ban on obscenity until 1957 following the Roth v. United States Supreme Court ruling when obscenity was redefined so vaguely that it kickstarted a revolution in the smut industry. Until 1973, obscenity was not clearly defined and the type of content that flourished from this era was amazing, and a lot of it involved children. Until 1976 when Robin Lloyd of NBC published "For Money or Love: Boy Prostitutes in America" which caught the attention of feminist activist and owner of the Odyssey home drug rehabilitation program in New York, Judianne Densen-Gerber, who weaponized the publication to demand action from lawmakers w/ 60 Minutes and The New York Times running stories. Then in January/February 1978, the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation Act of 1977 was passed which banned commercial distribution. Noncommercial distribution wasn't banned until the Child Protection Act of 1984 passed by Ronald Reagan. Possession in 1990 (see Osborne v. Ohio).
I wish I was alive then. The era of free love.
Re: The 1970s was the last time being a MAP in America was fun
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2026 5:53 pm
by bnkywuv
Adge wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2026 1:57 pm
In colonial America, the regulation of obscenity was not thought to be any of the state's business until 1816 in Pennsylvania, and even then, it was only on a state level (Sharpless v. Pennsylvania). Then President Ulysses Grant passed the Comstock Act in 1873 that would be the first federal ban on obscenity until 1957 following the Roth v. United States Supreme Court ruling when obscenity was redefined so vaguely that it kickstarted a revolution in the smut industry. Until 1973, obscenity was not clearly defined and the type of content that flourished from this era was amazing, and a lot of it involved children. Until 1976 when Robin Lloyd of NBC published "For Money or Love: Boy Prostitutes in America" which caught the attention of feminist activist and owner of the Odyssey home drug rehabilitation program in New York, Judianne Densen-Gerber, who weaponized the publication to demand action from lawmakers w/ 60 Minutes and The New York Times running stories. Then in January/February 1978, the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation Act of 1977 was passed which banned commercial distribution. Noncommercial distribution wasn't banned until the Child Protection Act of 1984 passed by Ronald Reagan. Possession in 1990 (see Osborne v. Ohio).
I wish I was alive then. The era of free love.
I think the Hays code had a lot to do with this unfortunately. People who love to hate should have never been allowed in positions of authority and power. It's going to take a lot of effort to get the freedom back from those who control everything, including their own children. The Hays code prevented 'obscene' images from being in media, and probably helped to fuel the censorship and anti-sexuality thoughts of today.