Dual Standard
But it goes much deeper. Man, it
seems, subscribes to a dual standard
of public and private morality. Publicly,
there are few among us who
would resist the opportunity to rail
"smut" or "the producers of filth."
Privately, we are wiling to condone
almost any sexual conduct we
can get away with short or rape. As
for pornography, most of us have
better things to ponder than what
kind of pictures our neighbors are
looking at. Through our electoral
process, the Congress represents the
mean of the mean of American life.
As such, it gravitates toward
support of our greatest national
myths. These include those inherited
from Western Religious ethics
— the strongest of which is sexual
suppression. And Congressman
need seldom doubt the support of
public opinion while their cars are
filled only with statements of public
morality. Thus, it was no sure
prise when the Senate rejected finding
so at odds with their image of
American and themselves.
What about the American public,
the distribution around the
mean? Available evidence indicates
widespread sexual activity. Since
World War II, it's been one continuous
baby boom. The rate of population
growth has just recently been
curbed, thanks, not to the Senate
but to the effective distribution of
contraceptive information. From
this, we must perforce conclude
that vast numbers of people are
getting first-hand, sexually explicit
experience, which we all know is
much better than second-hand
pornography.
