The Victoria School

Child Pornography in Cartoons

Mauricio Castillo

Candidate Code: dhk210 School Code: 002373

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Word Count: 515

The Opinion Pages

Op-Ed Columnist

Child Pornography in Cartoons

By Mauricio Castillo Published: February 28, 2011.

How would you feel if suddenly, one of the most basic rights a citizen could expect in a free, democratic country was taken away from you? Suddenly, something as simple and taken for granted as the right to draw or express whatever you want on a piece of paper was heavily limited and restricted? This is exactly what some organizations such as UNICEF are trying to do even as you are reading this column. The word lolicon is used to describe a type of art that depicts cartoons of sexually attractive underage children, sometimes in provocative poses, with scarce clothing or none at all; sometimes involved in sexual activities. In countries such as Japan, this form of art is enormously popular as it forms a genre of its own in the manga and anime culture1. Throughout the years, but with increasing spotlight over the first decade of the XXI century because of the internet boom, the controversy revolving
1

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lolicon

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around the moral implications of this type of cartoons has reached a very dangerous impasse. In a topic that leaves little to no room for a middle ground, there are only two general postures. The first posture claims that lolicon is another type of child pornography that should be the target of censorship. The second posture claims that lolicon is just another form of art and freedom of speech that should not be banned or restricted because no harm is being done to actual children through the use of these types of cartoons. UNICEFs branch in Japan keeps pressure on the government for it to enact laws that heavily restrict or ban these types of cartoons. In 2008, the situation got to a point where the government decided to study the issue for three years and decide in 2011 if it was necessary to regulate lolicon.2 In the United States, President Bush signed the PROTECT act in 2008. One of the effects of the law Prohibits drawings, sculptures, and pictures of such drawings and sculptures depicting minors in actions or situations that meet the Miller test3 of being obscene, OR are engaged in sex acts that are deemed to meet the same obscene condition.4 The law has such poor redaction, though, that it makes it extremely difficult to enforce and allows the presence of numerous legal vacuums, allowing Lolicon images to be protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution. Only time will tell if this law will come into full effect through amendments. Needless to say, the ban of lolicon would entail a severe degradation of our civil rights. No longer would you be able to express whatever you want on a piece of paper because while you are doing so, youd have to remember that if you dare make a likeness of a naked human figure then you can be accused of possession of child pornography and go to jail. I sometimes wonder what would come next if lolicon were to be banned. I fear claims of stickman drawings being viewed as obscene because people forget to draw pants on them.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-10-12/unicef-japan-continues-push-againstvirtual-child-porn 3 http://courses.cs.vt.edu/cs3604/lib/Censorship/3-prong-test.html 4 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-1738

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Bibliography
UNICEF Japan Continues Push against Virtual Child Porn. (2008, October 12). Retrieved November 20, 2010, from Anime News Network: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-10-12/unicef-japan-continuespush-against-virtual-child-porn Lolicon. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2010, from Urban Dictionary: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lolicon PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2010, from Govtrack: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-1738 Three Prong Obsenity Test. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2010, from Virginia Tech: http://courses.cs.vt.edu/cs3604/lib/Censorship/3-prong-test.html