John Burnside, with some thoughts on pornography and the Internet
With elections approaching, there has been much talk about morality. By morality, I mean the peculiarly British fascination with sex, from Virginia Bottomley's attempts to prevent satellite stations broadcasting explicit sexual material, to a renewed interest in the views of Mary Whitehouse. In one sense a concern with the commodification of sex is A Good Thing - though I, for one, would worry if the power to decide what we may or may not view resided in the hands of a government minister or a self-appointed censor with her own, rather peculiar agenda.
Recently, because I am something of a sceptic, I tested the generally accepted view that explicit sexual material can easily be accessed via the Web. Unfortunately, the accepted view is true, and I soon found myself visiting a site which offered 'live girls' (sic), 'thousands' of explicit pictures, and a whole host of links to similar pages. It was an ugly experience and, on a single viewing, I would count myself amongst those who say something must be done, (though not, I would stress, on the side of the Whitehouse faction).
Many people will object that there is no proven link between pornography and sexual violence. If I remember correctly, the same claims were made about the question of incitement to racial hatred and actual violence against racial minorities. There may be grey areas but, as in the case of combat knives, we could find a working definition of what is harmful, if the political will was there.
The problem lies in the fact that, so often, the only people who care enough to exert pressure in this area are those who would deny sexuality, (except within a very narrow compass) altogether. Anyone who recalls the 'successes' of the Whitehouse brigade, when fine plays and interesting television programmes were banned or forced to close because of an aesthetically-challenged right-wing minority, will not wish to return to those days. On the other hand, we must recognise the role of pornography in sexual violence, and start working to eradicate it, on the Web and elsewhere, for everyone's sake.
Material on this page is copyright Ariadne/original authors. This article last updated/links checked on January 27th 1997