Drake's Vocabulary - Comstockery
Posted by Drake at 4/3/2008 8:29 PM and is filed under uncategorized 
Censorship of literature and other forms of expression and
communication because of perceived immorality or obscenity.
-American Heritage Dictionary
This is one of those cases where the meaning preceded the word and a particular individual arose from the ranks of common men to give his name to overzealous virtue and to define American morality in a manner that still haunts us today.
Do you ever feel that America is hypocritical in its attitudes toward sex? That we as a nation are afraid and ashamed of our own bodies and appetites?
One of the men you should thank is a United States Postal Service "Special Agent" named Anthony Comstock, founder of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice in 1873. Mr. Comstock helped pass the first laws to regulate matter that could be sent through the US Mail -- obscene matter, lascivious pictures, and anything related to birth control.
In his day, Comstock had special powers granted him by the federal government to patrol post offices and confiscate anything he found objectionable and he seems to have found plenty to offend. His pursuit and eradication of birth control information very quickly set him against the growing women's movement and he persecuted Margaret Sanger and Victoria Woodhull among others. He hated Socialists too, which puts him right in line with the bluest noses of our modern world. Comstock bragged about driving at least a dozen people to suicide and was an idol to young J. Edgar Hoover.
Comstock Law -- forbidding the sending of lewd material through the mail -- is
still on the books. Its ban on sending contraceptives or contraceptive
information was repealed in 1936, but the law still forbids the spreading of
information about abortion. As recently as 1996, Republican Henry Hyde amended
the law to extend the ban on advertising abortion to the Internet. Comstock's legacy is alive and well at the FCC since Janet Jackson's nipple
threatened a nation.
Mr. Comstock is pictured above, stripped for action at your local post office.
Honor him.
J. Edgar Hoover would.
-American Heritage Dictionary
This is one of those cases where the meaning preceded the word and a particular individual arose from the ranks of common men to give his name to overzealous virtue and to define American morality in a manner that still haunts us today.
Do you ever feel that America is hypocritical in its attitudes toward sex? That we as a nation are afraid and ashamed of our own bodies and appetites?
One of the men you should thank is a United States Postal Service "Special Agent" named Anthony Comstock, founder of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice in 1873. Mr. Comstock helped pass the first laws to regulate matter that could be sent through the US Mail -- obscene matter, lascivious pictures, and anything related to birth control.
In his day, Comstock had special powers granted him by the federal government to patrol post offices and confiscate anything he found objectionable and he seems to have found plenty to offend. His pursuit and eradication of birth control information very quickly set him against the growing women's movement and he persecuted Margaret Sanger and Victoria Woodhull among others. He hated Socialists too, which puts him right in line with the bluest noses of our modern world. Comstock bragged about driving at least a dozen people to suicide and was an idol to young J. Edgar Hoover.
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So who coined the word? It was playwright, worldly
philosopher, and bon vivant George Bernard Shaw who said, "Comstockery is the world's standing joke at the expense of the Europe It confirms the deep-seated conviction of the civilization after all." In the manner of many vile creatures, Comstock lived a long time, practicing his unholy trade well into the 20th Century. The |
Mr. Comstock is pictured above, stripped for action at your local post office.
Honor him.
J. Edgar Hoover would.
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