I once appeared in Hustler magazine
February 18th 2008 01:05
I once appeared in Hustler magazine.
I was young and angry. I wore thigh-high black boots and fancied myself as a bit of a radical feminist who could, without much effort whisk anyone into a watery broth if they had the courage to challenge my perceptions which were clearly The Only Way of Looking At The World. It was a time of change in South Africa and the censorship of the Apartheid era was coming to an end. Free speech was the new buzz phrase and I was all for it, given the years of restricted access to information, the secrecy and the repression of a government that in its hubris, tried to control not only how we lived, but how we thought.
What was the first bit of ‘information’ we were finally allowed access to? I believe the official jargon is, ‘beaver shots.’ That’s right. When finally the doors of oppression were open, and the new post-Apartheid era was being ushered in, the pornographers stepped right up. Scope magazine, the wanking staple of the apartheid era with women in bikini bottoms, topless but for massive black stars over the nipples, was replaced with Hustler magazine and various other Adult Magazines with the full range of exposed female genitalia for all to purchase and enjoy. And each month, the magazine pushed the limits of what it would show. From vulva, to S & M, to money shots (the ejaculation shot) to heterosexual sex, to lesbian sex, to orgies… you name it.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m all for sex. I am not, much to the disappointment of the pornographers which have this bizarre stereotype of all feminists as fat, ugly lesbians who just need a good root, erotophobic. I’m not even pro-censorship, even of some of this material which teeters on the border of downright humiliating not to mention physically impossible. Even in a society that has some of the highest statistics of violence against women, I championed the idea that we should not censor, but talk about pornography, just like we need to educate people about the harmful effects of smoking or drink driving. Of course anyone who knows anything about the relationship between pornography and sexual violence will (rightly) point out that there is no proved causal connection between pornography and rape, for example. Though there are feminists that have tried valiantly to prove this connection, there will, I suspect, never be a clear causal chain between the two because there are so many factors in our complex social and cultural environments that could contribute to rape, pornography may (or may not) be just one of them.
But since I was counselling raped and battered women at the time, I just didn’t feel right about this great claim to free speech being embodied by our exposure to how many ways and in how many orifices a woman can be penetrated.
So, on behalf of six women’s organizations that work in the field of violence against women, I joined a case in the constitutional court to argue that some types of pornography contribute to a climate in which women’s equality and dignity is eroded. I never suggested we should censor pornography (other than that depicting children), but I did suggest we might want to educate the public about the conditions many women face when they end up in the pornography industry. Despite what most of us think, most women do this out of desperation. You don’t, for instance, find women who are financially independent, posing for Hustler as a hobby, say.
Well, the very next month, there I was – in Hustler magazine, as The Asshole of the Month. My face was there, in a donkey’s bum, with an entire article devoted to what a feminazi I was, and how all I needed was a good root because I obviously didn’t like sex, and wasn’t that just the case with all feminists? If that wasn’t bad enough, those on the moral right wanted nothing more than to join hands with me, and claim me as their own. Ugghh – the same clan that believes women shouldn’t be allowed to choose to terminate pregnancies, or shouldn’t have sex outside marriage and that homosexuality is a crime against God. Jeez… I was just trying to make a nuanced point about gender equality. None of them got it.
I have since mellowed a lot in my views. I think as I get older, I appreciate more and more how little I know for certain and how difficult it is to understand things fully, to be measured in one’s responses and tolerant of things we may find challenge our deepest values.
But one thing has never changed – when I send out my cv, I always include under ‘Awards’, ‘Asshole of the Month, Hustler magazine.’ It is, despite various prestigious scholarships and prizes I’ve accumulated over my lifetime, probably still, my greatest achievement.
www.joannefedler.com
I was young and angry. I wore thigh-high black boots and fancied myself as a bit of a radical feminist who could, without much effort whisk anyone into a watery broth if they had the courage to challenge my perceptions which were clearly The Only Way of Looking At The World. It was a time of change in South Africa and the censorship of the Apartheid era was coming to an end. Free speech was the new buzz phrase and I was all for it, given the years of restricted access to information, the secrecy and the repression of a government that in its hubris, tried to control not only how we lived, but how we thought.
What was the first bit of ‘information’ we were finally allowed access to? I believe the official jargon is, ‘beaver shots.’ That’s right. When finally the doors of oppression were open, and the new post-Apartheid era was being ushered in, the pornographers stepped right up. Scope magazine, the wanking staple of the apartheid era with women in bikini bottoms, topless but for massive black stars over the nipples, was replaced with Hustler magazine and various other Adult Magazines with the full range of exposed female genitalia for all to purchase and enjoy. And each month, the magazine pushed the limits of what it would show. From vulva, to S & M, to money shots (the ejaculation shot) to heterosexual sex, to lesbian sex, to orgies… you name it.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m all for sex. I am not, much to the disappointment of the pornographers which have this bizarre stereotype of all feminists as fat, ugly lesbians who just need a good root, erotophobic. I’m not even pro-censorship, even of some of this material which teeters on the border of downright humiliating not to mention physically impossible. Even in a society that has some of the highest statistics of violence against women, I championed the idea that we should not censor, but talk about pornography, just like we need to educate people about the harmful effects of smoking or drink driving. Of course anyone who knows anything about the relationship between pornography and sexual violence will (rightly) point out that there is no proved causal connection between pornography and rape, for example. Though there are feminists that have tried valiantly to prove this connection, there will, I suspect, never be a clear causal chain between the two because there are so many factors in our complex social and cultural environments that could contribute to rape, pornography may (or may not) be just one of them.
But since I was counselling raped and battered women at the time, I just didn’t feel right about this great claim to free speech being embodied by our exposure to how many ways and in how many orifices a woman can be penetrated.
So, on behalf of six women’s organizations that work in the field of violence against women, I joined a case in the constitutional court to argue that some types of pornography contribute to a climate in which women’s equality and dignity is eroded. I never suggested we should censor pornography (other than that depicting children), but I did suggest we might want to educate the public about the conditions many women face when they end up in the pornography industry. Despite what most of us think, most women do this out of desperation. You don’t, for instance, find women who are financially independent, posing for Hustler as a hobby, say.
Well, the very next month, there I was – in Hustler magazine, as The Asshole of the Month. My face was there, in a donkey’s bum, with an entire article devoted to what a feminazi I was, and how all I needed was a good root because I obviously didn’t like sex, and wasn’t that just the case with all feminists? If that wasn’t bad enough, those on the moral right wanted nothing more than to join hands with me, and claim me as their own. Ugghh – the same clan that believes women shouldn’t be allowed to choose to terminate pregnancies, or shouldn’t have sex outside marriage and that homosexuality is a crime against God. Jeez… I was just trying to make a nuanced point about gender equality. None of them got it.
I have since mellowed a lot in my views. I think as I get older, I appreciate more and more how little I know for certain and how difficult it is to understand things fully, to be measured in one’s responses and tolerant of things we may find challenge our deepest values.
But one thing has never changed – when I send out my cv, I always include under ‘Awards’, ‘Asshole of the Month, Hustler magazine.’ It is, despite various prestigious scholarships and prizes I’ve accumulated over my lifetime, probably still, my greatest achievement.
www.joannefedler.com
| 87 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Fantastic CV material...
Comment by JP Shaw
Sassy Ink Author
Parent Writer
Great post!
Comment by Joanne Fedler
Secret Writers Business
and thanks JP, it helped me develop a thick skin for whatever is written about me in the media, seriously, you CANNOT take yourself too seriously when you've seen your face in a donkey's bum hole
Jo
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Great ass, great tale.
Michaelie
Comment by Miswanderlust
Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy
HAHAHAHA Great post!
Mis
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Daily Inspirations
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
Thanks for sharing that with us...