The phrase "I know it when I see it" was famously used by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in 1964 in the case Jacobellis v. Ohio regarding the legal standard for identifying hard-core pornography. He acknowledged the difficulty of defining pornography precisely but stated that he could recognize it intuitively when he saw it. This phrase has become a well-known shorthand for the subjective and intuitive nature of recognizing pornographic or obscene material.
Regarding the definition of pornography itself, academic researchers and legal interpretations vary, but a common approach focuses on two main elements:
- Pornography is sexually explicit material featuring exposed genitals or sexual acts.
- It is intended to cause sexual arousal in the consumer.
Some definitions emphasize the intention to arouse, while others focus simply on explicitness. This material can be in various forms including pictures, videos, texts, and audio. Despite legal and cultural debates, the key point is that pornography is meant primarily for sexual arousal and is explicit in nature. Definitions also differ across cultures and disciplines—for example, some feminist scholars define pornography specifically as the graphic subordination of women in sexual contexts, which is more value-loaded and controversial.
In summary, "I know it when I see it" reflects the intuitive recognition of pornography rather than a strict formal definition, and pornography itself is generally understood as explicit sexual material intended to arouse the viewer or reader.
