Basic HTML Version
a case against
PORNOGRAPHY
B
ri ta in, the United States, Eu–
rope and Australia are wal–
lowing in pornography on a
scale never before equalled in their
history. As one writer pul it, there
has been in Weslern society "an es–
calation in what you are permitted
lo see in the ordinary norma l way of
things unparalleled in history."
Gradu a lly over th e las t few
decades pornogr aphy distributors
have sensed and taken full advan–
tage of the commercial potential of
mercha ndising the female body -
and now also the mat e body. As a
result pornography today is a multi–
million dollar business. An outshoot
of tbe " 19-sexties," the pornography
boom has moved from the back
streets to the respectable bookstalls,
from the "voyeur" film clubs to the
local movie thealers.
The import and export trade in
pornography in Europe and Britain
was estimated two yea rs ago to be
more tha n $ 100 million per year.
That figure is probably meaningless
because it aU depends what you caU
porn. But even if the definition of
smut is limited to the ultra-obscene
" hard" porn , the turnover is proba–
bly at least twice that today.
A recent cover count a t a London
street vendor's stand revealed 95%
of the display to be porno-journal–
ism with a 15-yard expa nse of raw
ftesh depicted in a n incredible as–
sortment of poses. Credit must
surely be due for the ingenuily of
The
PLAIN TRUTH Aprii -May 1976
by
Gordon
Muir
Editor's comment: We were
pleased to note that " The
Case Against Pornography"
was recently selected by the
London Evening Echo
to be
reprinted as an excellent ex–
ample of the anti-pornography
position. Dr. Muir, now resid–
ing in England, is a regular
contributor to
The Plain Truth.
providing sorne kind of variety
in
tbe circumstances.
In Britain much of the pornogra–
phy used to be imported from the
U.S. and Denmark. Now more is
home produced - which might be
cheery news for British economists.
The Mora l Revolution
in Westero Society
Today it seems our moral values
are changing more r apidly than at
any other time in man's history. De–
scribing our moral revolution, histo–
rian and columnist Max Lerner
sa id : "We are in a late sensate
period. The emphasis in our society
today is on the senses and the re–
tease of the sensual. All the old
codes have been broken down."
lf you a re old-fashioned enough
to like family films, you probably
gave up going to the movies long
ago. In Britain in 1974 a record 266
"X" certificate films were passed for
viewing - more than a ll the other
categories put together.
In the U.S.A. the blue-movies
business is reported to have reached
the ultimate
in
sadistic pornogra–
phy. F ilms believed to originate in
Latín America show depraved acts
of sexua l debauchery which end
in
the horrifying scene of the bewil–
dered girls actual ly being stabbed
a nd murdered by their partners.
The Roots of Permissiveness
To what can we ascribe lhe flood
of pornography, smut, filth - call it
what you will depending on your
point of view - that has swept over
the sluice gates ofconvention?
Undoubtedly the permissive sev–
enties a re experiencing the full
brunt of reaction to repressive Vic–
torian prudery. As our Editor-in–
Chief previously pointed out, "the
commonly accepted Victorian atti–
tude was ' keep our children in–
nocent and pure through ignorance
until marriage - and then instinct
will tell them what to do. ' "
Sex was viewed as indecent, de–
grading, shameful and sinful - even
in rnarriage, except for procreation.
The dissemina ti on of knowledge
about sex was forcibly withheld
from the public. Parents ta ught their
children nothing, they knew noth–
ing, and besides, it would have been
too embarrassing.
lf we trace this prudishness back
into history, we find it is rooted
in
15