Forum on porn
Sir: John Mortimer's 'Postscript' or tailpiece on erotica (24 November) betrays curious logic. Of course Forum is poor as 'pornography' since it is not intended as such. Certainly any barrister specialising in the trade ought to be able to tell the difference between radical helping agencies such as Forum and knockabout nonsense like Whitehouse.
But even more interesting is his thesis that pornography doesn't exist except when surrounded by a hostile, puritan environment. How true! As Mr Booker might say, pornography is really a projection of those minds which can only accept sexuality, especially their own, when accompanied by pleasure-denying, therefore anxiety-reducing, tabu. Does John Mortimer really find sex boring unless 'forbidden' — in which case I suggest he doesn't write about it.
Phillip Hodson, Editor, Forum, 2 Bramber Road, London W14
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