What characterizes obscenity in speech?

Obscenity in speech is characterized primarily by its offensive nature and its violation of community standards of decency. The Supreme Court has established criteria to determine whether material can be classified as obscene, which includes whether the average person would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to prurient interests, whether it depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, and whether it lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

Thus, obscenity is not merely about being offensive; it specifically pertains to content that crosses societal boundaries of decency and moral acceptability. This distinguishes it from artistic expressions, which may still carry significant value even if they provoke discomfort or dissent. Furthermore, speech that is considered obscene is not protected under the First Amendment, contrasting with forms of speech that are widely accepted or that engage in artistic freedom, both of which retain constitutional protections.