I cannot help feeling rather
LsurPrised at the indignation viAnced by Miss Elizabeth Gunn Mr E. Grant (Letters, January Mr Holbrook's condemnation °I What seems to him (and to ornanY others in this country) a '''r°Wing social evil. It leads me to think how difficult „It Must have been for certain 1-',‘eoPle in Germany to gain a hear allotWhen they first detected her social evil growing up them during the 'thirties. " f
ssed ears, too. were probably dis
ajas exaggeration. dhe idea that the instincts of sex eonrl aggression are very closely liuhected ry throws an interesting, c:"1"11,,kAt on certain aspects of the so the Permissive' society, and the 4,4"'e Played by sexual taboos in ttire.;eveluPatent of Western culdi_,1 don't think this idea can be At the same time it rati:Ia to me that Miss Gunn is on nou er shakY ground when she anyounces that "the fantasies of of ape girls are invariably fantasies for t. What evidence is there of a is? Presumably the findings is .,PaYchiatrist whose experience eabautased on the treatment of Sall I°PY disturbed People. kirining generalisations of this sineel not help matters, however e V held the beliefs that eng,aern
al
lasst 0 und a curious irony in the ,there sentence of her letter: If oein2 ,,e too many sexual crimes censure and con13r–;1. hutdd be extended not to the
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the nt to the moral climate, socie,Y.tues
, and culture of the at nurtures such perverli, olb,„„tUrely this is what David nis is trying to expose and tefleetrernarks deserve mature Mr Grant in his letter raises some interesting points but he surely realises that if the vast majority of people were sadists it is most unlikely that this would be considered a crime. The majority constitutes the norm! Let us hope we do not produce too many Bradys.
Of course no one is forced to see pornography; people can stay away from the cinema, switch off television and read only those novels which do not have as a central theme perversion, violence or social alienation. In the same way one could say that no one is forced to notice his environment or be influenced by it. But this is not a very realistic view. Everything in the environment is interconnected and it shapes us even though we may not always be fully aware of the process. David Holbrook is right to be concerned. He can take heart from the fact that he follows in a good tradition of those with the courage, and intelligence to challenge the prevailing orthodoxies of their day, and who were prepared to endure ridicule as well as abuse in their efforts to prevent the exploitation of the weak by the strong. Anne Radway 75 Whitton Road, Twickenham, Middlesex
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