Arts Daily / “Obscene Gestures: Censorship, Morality, and Equality”
“Obscene Gestures: Censorship, Morality, and Equality”

Patrick Lawrence, USC Lancaster Associate Professor of English
“Obscene Gestures” explores the contradictions of censorship controversies surrounding literary and artistic works from Richard Wright’s “Native Son” and Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” to works by Robert Mapplethorpe, 2 Live Crew, and others. Dr. Lawrence dives into notorious obscenity debates, revealing how these controversies impacted culture in ways that reflected racial, gender, and sexual stereotypes.