Feminists for Free Expression

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Feminists for Free Expression (FFE) was a U.S.-based feminist organization that worked to preserve the right of an individual to see, hear and produce materials of her own choice without the intervention of the state "for her own good".

FFE opposed banning pornography to "protect" women, arguing that censorship that is intended to solve problems like violence against women is both "cosmetic" and dangerous, and that censorship has traditionally been used to silence women and stifle feminist social change. FFE believed that freedom of expression is especially important for women's rights, and that a free and vigorous marketplace of ideas is the best guarantee of democratic self-government and a feminist future. FFE was distinguished by its consistent, uncompromising defense of freedom of expression as a feminist value, even when other feminist groups favored a more flexible, pragmatic approach toward legislation and policies that potentially infringed freedom of expression but were perceived as promoting some other aspect of their agenda, such as broader application of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Since its founding in 1992, FFE worked to combat censorship through legal, legislative, and educational means. One of FFE's primary projects was the filing of amicus briefs in cases concerning freedom of speech and censorship. FFE's British counterpart was Feminists Against Censorship (FAC), founded in 1989.

History

File:Marcia Pally press photo.jpg

Marcia Pally, founder of FFE

Feminists for Free Expression was founded in January 1992 by Marcia Pally, who served as the organization's first president. Pally had previously co-founded GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and served as one of its original board members and vice chair. FFE's founding members included Nadine Strossen, Joan Kennedy Taylor, Candida Royalle and Veronica Vera.

The original impetus for the founding of FFE was to oppose the proposed Pornography Victims Compensation Act of 1991 (Senate Bill S.1521). In its letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, FFE stated: "It is no goal of feminism to restrict individual choices or stamp out sexual imagery … It is the right and responsibility of each woman to read, view or produce the sexual material she chooses without the intervention of the state 'for her own good.' We believe genuine feminism encourages individuals to make these choices for themselves. This is the great benefit of being feminists in a free society." FFE was also of the view that the bill "would have allowed crime victims to sue for unlimited damages the producer, exhibitor, and retailer of any book, magazine, movie or music that victims claim triggered the crime that harmed them".

Although the Bill was supported by Feminists Fighting Pornography and 200 chapters of the National Organization for Women (NOW), NOW's co-founder Betty Friedan and the New York and California chapters of NOW joined with FFE in opposing the Bill. FFE's concerted opposition to the Bill led the Senate to drop it from its agenda.

Sex-Positive Feminism and Freedom of Expression

FFE was part of the Sex-positive feminism movement that formed in response to efforts by anti-pornography feminists, among them Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon, and organizations like Women Against Pornography and Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media, to define pornography as a civil-rights harm, advocated in favor of laws restricting pornography, and argued that pornography was harmful to women and was a causal factor of violence against women. This advocacy led to the passage of such laws as the Antipornography Civil Rights Ordinance (also known as the Dworkin-MacKinnon Antipornography Civil Rights Ordinance or Dworkin-MacKinnon Ordinance).

FFE opposed the ordinance, arguing that it would erode women's autonomy and privacy, would place censorship in the hands of male state officials, allowing them to control culture, and that such attempts at censorship were inherently incompatible with feminism because they sought to limit free speech.

In her book Sex & Sensibility, FFE founder Marcia Pally presented research and analysis in support of a freedom-of-speech and freedom-of-expression approach to censorship and anti-pornography legislation, arguing that "the principle behind freedom of expression is not that it automatically secures what one thinks is good and true, but that it is society's best chance at truth in the long run." Pally described the involvement of women in the anti-porn movement as "appalling". She was of the opinion that the approach of the anti-pornography movement implied that sex degrades women, a view she characterized as "traditional male sexism", adding: "I think these women have collapsed completely into the ideology of their oppressors".

Representative Activity

FFE worked to combat censorship through legal and educational means. Its activities included letter-writing campaigns to Congress, regulatory bodies, public institutionsand the media, holding educational seminars, opposition to legislation that threatened freedom of expression, such as the Pornography Victims Compensation Act of 1991, Antipornography Civil Rights Ordinances, and the Communications Decency Act of 1996, as well as filing amicus briefs in freedom-of-expression, censorship, and women's rights cases.

Selected Amicus Briefs

Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc.

In 1993, FFE filed an amicus brief in Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc. FFE was of the view that the "hostile-environment test" subverted equality and free speech in the workplace, and that it enshrined archaic stereotypes of women as delicate creatures who need special protection from words and images. In a unanimous decision, the Court clarified the definition of a "hostile" or "abusive" work environment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, holding that to be actionable as "abusive work environment" harassment, conduct need not "seriously affect [an employee's] psychological well-being" or lead the plaintiff to suffering injury, but rather that a determination about whether a work environment is hostile or abusive requires a consideration of all relevant circumstances.

Johnson v. County of Los Angeles Fire Department

In 1993, FFE filed an amicus brief in another "hostile environment" case, Johnson v. County of Los Angeles Fire Department. The case concerned a policy that prohibited sexually harassing conduct. In pursuance of that goal, the policy also prohibited the possession of "sexual material … in all work locations, including dormitories, rest rooms and lockers: … Sexually-oriented magazines, particularly those containing nude pictures, such as Playboy, Penthouse and Playgirl".

NOW filed an amicus brief supporting the fire department. As opposed to the position of NOW, FFE filed a brief in support of the plaintiff. In its amicus brief, FFE argued that the right to privacy also protects "intimate personal decisions such as the choice to read or view sexual material". FFE also pointed out that "just as women are finally making inroads into such male-exclusive venues as handling a skyscraper construction crane, a hostile corporate takeover attempt, and an Air Force fighter plane, we are being told we cannot handle dirty pictures, and certainly that we would never enjoy them".

In finding for the plaintiff, the US District Court for the Central District of California held: "Defendants' desire to eliminate sexual harassment in the fire stations is laudable. Defendants must, however, do so in a constitutionally permissible manner. Defendants may not ban the reading of Playboy simply because they disagree with the manner in which Playboy portrays women. If defendants choose to impose a content-based regulation on employees' speech, they must produce evidence that the speech contributes directly to a sexually harassing environment. In the present case, they have simply failed to show that plaintiff's quiet reading of Playboy contributes to such an environment."

Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union

In 1996, FFE joined an amicus brief in American Civil Liberties Union v. Reno challenging the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA), the first major attempt by the United States Congress to regulate pornographic material on the Internet. The CDA sought to ban "offensive" and "indecent" speech on the internet.

In 1997, FFE filed its own amicus brief in the government's appeal to the Supreme Court in Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, arguing that the CDA would have an onerous impact on women, who are "uniquely empowered by the Internet's 'genderless' environment and anonymity, especially when it comes to subjects such as sexual orientation, rape, domestic violence, safe sex, breast self examination, or incest − all of which could be banned under the CDA's ban on 'indecent' or 'offensive' speech". In a landmark decison, the Supreme Court held that the CDA was unconstitutional, and that "the interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship."

Video Software Dealers v. City of Oklahoma City

Also in 1997, FFE joined an amicus brief with members of the Media Coalition in Video Software Dealers v. City of Oklahoma City. The case concerned the removal of the film The Tin Drum from public libraries, rental stores and from the home of a private individual.

Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition

In 2002, FFE joined an amicus brief in support of the Free Speech Coalition in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, in which the Supreme Court struck down two overbroad provisions of the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996.

See also

• Civil libertarianism
• Civil liberties
• Sex-positive feminism
• Sex-positive movement
• Feminist sex wars
• Opposition to pornography
• Feminist views on sexuality

External links

• FFE profile
• FFE's Twitter feed
• Derek Jones (ed.), Censorship: A World Encyclopedia (2001)
• Jonathon Green & Nicholas Karolides, Encyclopedia of Censorship, New Edition (2005)
• Jill Nagle (ed.), Whores and Other Feminists (1997)
• Wendy McElroy, XXX: A Woman's Right to Pornography (1995)
• Marcia Pally, Sense and Censorship: The Vanity of Bonfires (1991)
• Marcia Pally, Sex & Sensibility: Reflections on Forbidden Mirrors and the Will to Censor (1994)
• Nadine Strossen, A Feminist Critique of "The" Feminist Critique of Pornography, 79 Va. L. Rev. 1099 (1993)
• Wendy McElroy, A Feminist Defense of Pornography, Free Inquiry Magazine, vol. 17, no. 4 (Fall 1997)
• PBS Frontline reading list on pornography

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