Pornography in the United States

Pornography in the United States of America has existed since the country's origins and has become more readily accessible in the 21st century. Advanced by technological development, it has gone from a hard to find "back alley" item to, beginning in 1969 with Blue Movie by Andy Warhol, the Golden Age of Porn and home video, being more available in the country and later, starting in the 1990s, readily accessible to nearly anyone with a computer or other device connected to the internet.

Attempts made to suppress it include: outright bans, prohibitions of its sale, censorship or rating schemes that restrict audience numbers, and claims that it is prostitution and thereby subject to regulations governing prostitution. Legal decisions affecting production and consumption of pornography include those relating to its definition, its relationship with prostitution, the definition of obscenity, rulings about personal possession of pornography, and its standing in relation to freedom of expression rights.

American advocates for pornography often cite the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech; however, under the Miller test established by Miller v. California, anything lacking "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value" is generally not protected. Pornography's critics and detractors have blamed it for a succession of societal and spiritual ills.

Although pornography dates back thousands of years, its existence in the U.S. can be traced to its 18th century origins and the influx of foreign trade and immigrants. By the end of the 18th century, France had become the leading country regarding the spread of porn pictures. Porn had become the subject of playing-cards, posters, post cards, and cabinet cards. Prior to this printers were previously limited to engravings, woodcuts, and line cuts for illustrations. As trade increased and more people immigrated from countries with less Puritanical and more relaxed attitudes toward human sexuality, the amount of available visual pornography increased.

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