The photomontage of Brooke Shields

There seem to me two be two issues tied up here.

The first is whether Brooke Shields has a right to have a sexually explicit image taken of her when she was ten removed from public display. I would support her right to have the image restricted, but I believe that issue has to be determined in the US. American courts have already decided against her.

That leaves the second issue whether this photomontage should be banned from the Tate Modern. I think not. The image is already publicly available, and people should be able to make their own judgment about it, morally and artistically.

What to me is the most unacceptable is to have police arriving at art galleries and threatening the promoters of art exhibitions. The police should either get a court order against an art exhibit or keep out of it.

Women have a right to sexual fantasy

Women (and men) should be free to purchase sexually explicit material which reflects their fantasies. That of course includes material depicting erect penises, ejaculations, men being sexually humiliated or whatever.

No human being can control what images excite them and every free human has the right to explore their own sexuality. If law or commercial forces cause one sex to suffer discrimination, it is the responsibility of law makers to correct that.

Pornography is fantasy

Many people enjoy pornography because it affords them sexual enjoyment in a fantasy world. You don’t change people’s sexual desires by restricting access to pornography; you just make them less happy. The issue is not to censor, but to teach people to realise that porn (like kung-fu films and Mills and Boon) is fantasy and nothing more.

If it offends, then by all means put it on the top shelf, so long as those who want it can still reach.