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Home My WebLink AboutTimes Advocate, 1984-11-28, Page 7Discovering how utterly rotten pornography can be Up until two or three weeks ago, my knowledge of por- nography was limited. I knew it was bad, but 1 didn't know how utterly rotten it was. Then, I was invited to view "Not a Love Story", a Na- tional Film Board production about pornography. To say that I was stunned at the obscenity and violence would be grossly understating my reaction. And though I would have preferred to go back home, stick my head in the sand and try to forget what I had seen, I knew that once one knows what's going on, one cannot return to ig- norance. So, I forced myself to go out and look for more material on the subject. The word pornography comes from the Greek words, "porn" meaning prostitute or female captive and "graphos" means writing about. The proponents of por- nography advertise it as erotic entertainment, but one who believes entertainment consists of photographs or video tapes showing anal, oral and genital rape, and the chaining and beating of women who do not obey their male masters is surely terri- bly sick. The truth of the matter is that it is not the need to pro, duce entertainment (or sex education as some claim) but the drive of greed and power that nurtures pornography. Canada's pornography in- dustry rakes in *500 million a year, part of the North American gross of $10 billion. It makes more money than the conventional film and record industries combined and has more outlets than there are MacDonald sold under the counter, described under such guises as "sophisticated adult enter- tainment", "eroticia", or "sexual representation" por- tray violence with women bound, gagged, chained, beaten, tortured and raped. There is also a trend in hard core pornography to It seems to me... by Gwyn Whilsmith restaurants. Even more shocking is that Kiddie Porn accounts for about $2 billion, and it's estimated 1.5 million North American children are forced to perform for films and magazines. The fastest-growing part of the industry is video casset- tes. Thousands of cassettes per hour can be cheaply reproduced to be viewed in the privacy of one's home. Because it is such a recent phenomenon, governments have not yet established any way of controlling the often sadistic and usually violent films. More than 90 newstand magazines, with many more systematically and inten- tionally attempt to condone incest, with titles of videos like "Lust for Little Girls", etc. Soft core pornography at- tempts, more subtly, to make pornography respectable and acceptable by using expen- sive, glossy photographs, and serious articles within its pages. It still objectifies and degrades women, regardless of its high quality paper, photography and writing. Statistics show that the pur- chasers of pornographic magazines and videotapes are "white, middle-class, middle-aged, married males". Section If* (subsection8) of Canada's Criminal Code defines obscenity as material that shows "the undue ex- ploitation of sex, or of sex and any one or more of the follow - Ing subjects, namely crime, horror, cruelty and violence." Stores are not allowed to sell magazines or videotapes in which Black or Jewish people are degraded and tortured. So, how is it society tolerates such abuse against women and children? There are those who will say that in a democracy peo- ple have the right to read and view material of their choice. Is the right of male gratifica- tion more important than the rights of women and children? Is the right of men to read and view what they wish more important than the right of women and children not be shown in situations where they are violently degraded? Others will argue if por- nography is outlawed, the in- dustry will just go underground. Well, I know laws against stealing don't prevent it, but we still don't decriminalize robbery. Pornography is full of lies. It lies about men in that it states they can only be violent, angry and full of hate. It promotes the lie that women get sexual pleasure from pain. NEW ALPHA P1 PLEDGES — Vice-president Lynda Freiter at the left and president Joan Morgan at the right welcome new pledges Janice Webber, Gail Rolph, Patty Sinnamon and Marlys Mayer to the Alpha Pi Sorority. CAMPBELL b,=homeland appliances Wishes everyone a Pialioftito And to help you celebrate, until December 24, as part of our Christmas Sale EVERYTHING IN THE STORE IS REDUCED IN PRICE! MOFFAT Microwaves Only meassea gi Buy that Special Someone a Special Gift Tow Itew-•l.r•d •Mltawr•. sten, MGC 813 PLUS 'FEATURES • 25 Minute Dial Timer. • Variable power control. • See-through oven door. • End of cycle bell. MDFFAT Dishwashers From only $435 Campbell MOB 1 130 "Free Delivery" Homeland Appliances 63 Main St., (Lower Level) Exeter. Phone 235-1501 Minister of Justice, John Crosby, has promised to look into the laws concerning pro- nography in the new year. If you, man or woman, are con- cerned about the horrific nature of pornography, I urge you to write to him. The Law can't do it all, nor can it change attitudes. Only we can do that, by starting to teach our children and wand - children to respect and honour their own bodies and those of the opposite sex; to see themselves and all others as created by God, good and beautiful, and not filthy and of no worth. Some of you readers may be under the impression that pornography is the same as those "girlie" magazines your teenage sons sneaked in- to the house, ten years ago. Believe me, those magazines are like nursery rhymes com- pared with many on store shelves, today. We must be vigilant because the advance of por- nography is insidious . Even some of our so called "good" magazines use adver- tisements that degrade women. It seems to me if our socie- ty doesn't rid itself of this beastly scourge, society, as we know it, will not long be here. Women see turning point More than 200 women gathered recently to recom- mend action for a turning point toward a better future for agriculture in Ontario. The women were part of the Turning Point Conference held November 16, 17, 18 at the Geneva Park Conference near Orillia. Parity pricing for farm pro- ducts; more effective representation to government on farm issues; improved public education on farm issues; the development of child care programs in rural areas; and the need regional level conferences of this type to deal with specific com- munity needs were the major issues discussed at the Conference. The three day residential conference included small group sessions and workshops; theme speakers; and an address by Hon. Den- nis, Timbrell, Minister of Agriculture and Food. In his Sunday luncheon speech Tim- brell addressed the issue of child care in rural Ontario. It is not generally realized that rural areas have a higher percentage of working mothers than urban areas. The Turning Point Con- ference was aimed at women who are leaders or potential leaders in the rural com- munities. The goal of Turning Points was to give rural women the skills necessary to establish and maintain self- help groups in their communities. Throughout the conference weekend, the rural women took part in workshops, small group sessions and informal meetings all intended to strengthen the network of rural organizations across Ontario. An immediate result of the Conference was a deci- sion by a large number of rural women's organizations to share information with other rural and farm organizations through ex- isting newsletters. The need for the Turning Point Conference was iden- tified by the Concerned Farm Women, a farm women's group in Grey -Bruce Coun- ties, who joined together with rural women's groups from across Ontario to present Tur- ning Point. Their efforts were supported by an impressive number of public and private sector organizations On location or Studio Bart DeVries PHOTOGRAPHY COMMIRCIAI PORTRAITS WIIMWGS GROUPS • PURI KITY Mo•ntin* and Iaminalint Telephone 235.1298 137 Thames Rd. East Exeter, Ont. falmommommommone Arrive in the Sun "Tanned" Tanning Sessions 86.00 or 10 for . Fac855ials00 makeup op plication, wox- ing. full line of COrm•tifu mes ts d Rumor; II Centre Mall Exeter y 235-0202 Times -Advocate, November 28, 1984 Page 7 Give GINgifor the ISO • •• •• • •- e• • • t\ i s -� •r i ! 10 •. Everyone who makes a purchase is invited to pick a balloon from our Christmas Money Tree Customers could win a prize of $2 to S50 cash One chance per customer 0 0 0 O o Don't wait until January for furniture Values RECLINER Al WHITING'S MAIN ST Wn,.no....Fu,n,p...0 Sole, a Se,r rr. • A..n•vn 6 ,n•r EXETER 235.1964 Ter 14••••1• ••1 NrnIM. owe 1