Pornography

Censorship Turlog the last decade in Southern Ireand, moy literary classics have been banned as indecent or obscenc material, The Cansorship Of Publications Board has exposed the real. imlications of censorship, in its thoroughly arbhitTary banging of literature. The board, established in 1929 and mede up of five people, decides on the basis of their am individual moral views, what ia. suiteble reading mat=erial for everyone else.

The Cenorship Of Publications Act gives an almogt "carte blanche" to the board to review anrthing which may be considered "dndecent oc obscene" Or advactatea"pretaion af conception iy unnatural methods", Acting on the complaint of any ong individual, the bdurd reviews all gterial within this framework.

TPORMIGRAPHY AND SEXUAL REPRESSION Allied to the problem of the complete= ly undenotratic nature of censorship is the whole issue of pormgraphy. How catl we troly say, in a seotalle Petiissive society, what is amd is Tee ~ormeraplile7 These who are opp aged to the present censorship board cant avoid this question. There is a Mixture of view on the issue. “Some react against the open portrayal. of the physical expressions of human eae gee nome Pre Coles Pir We mist be careful ta distinguish betwee: these reactions, for the difference clearly indicates what our attitude should bez the problen posed for revalutiongries is to he able to illustrate clearly the real nature of pornagrapoyy hiiteti sexuality is essentially an ex pression of ourselves, a participation we experience and share, "Poroog— Faphy" is based on the inability of the threat of « proletarian uprising; the Gerian wittlen at the conference ficked this date.

Ite success exceded all expectations. Germany and Austrig in particular were alive with meetings, «vel in the small tows and villages, In Austria the largest demonstration exteeded 30,000, In I923 Internationa] Women's Day was transferred to the Sth.of March. Vonen! Day in Europe and: Jimerica -had ataging rasulte. It turned out to be an excellent method of agitation am oogst hugs numbers of women turning tovards political ddeae for the fLret tite, Wittien's Day bhes-secved jot ao— other function, it has atrengthened the interational selidartty of women thrviichout the world.

WOMEN ANT THR RUSSIAN REVOLUTIOK Of futdanental dmportaice: isthe impetus it gave bo. the heroic wotien of Petrocrad who mardhed on February 23 I8iT donanding "beesd for our children" ated rehe peturn of aur-husbands fram the trenches", The women, she were wark— aps, @ome the wives of soaldicrs, raised the torch of proletarian revolution amd aet the world on fire, The February Revolution marks its beginnings from this - as Trotsky deacrited it: Mocs a Mass of womeo, bot all af them workers, flocked to the Municipal numa beings to participate in- their Own secatalbity ad reduces the role of humiitr to that of an aixtience. It ig the aliemation of human belies frou their own gesuality that big hus iness fingncially exploits. This becomes fost GQhylow: in the case of wonen, whose seauality is repressed opgt acutely in class society, by denydng them the right ta control their own toddes. In opat "pornographic! Gaterial, it ds the portrayal of wom Bh af ME Objects, a5 the recipients of mile pleasure, which largely fills Confusion: om. this issue is inevitable and. it kas come to the surface inthe widely Giverging reactions to the recent explosive growth of censorship, <n a. churcidominated state where re ious comtral of education is almost abeolute; where the media have historically been inculcated with the ralues of Catholicism; where the politics of Church and State are intertwined; the result has been the entredhnent of a sexually repreagive saciety, Set against a background of a country divided,oxploited and oppressed br British imperigliom the atremsth and historical role of the Catholic Churck fite inte perspective. Shifting detweon the double ole of pelitical ally of ioperialisn and moral policemen af the Catholic masses, the Church in Ireland remeins ¢ pwerful political force. Today that relationship is coming under a. lot of pressure from the realitios of the ecommic and social crisis. On the one hand, the continuing instability in the North coupled with the threatened "population" explosion, set against 4 Tuma demanding bread. Tt was Like dom amine milk frim ao he-goat, Red banners appeared dn different parts of the sify, and inscriptions on them showed the workers wanted Eread, But arither autOcracy Of war. Women's lav pessed. slitcessfully with enthusiasm aod «ithout -victing. But wit it concealed within itself na one even guessed iy nightfall... (History Of The Auseian Revolution}.

CELEARATIONS IN IRELAND Tnterhationsl Women's Tay in drelaod Provides us with an opportunity to c0Me together, learn about aor appression, ati all forms of experience Ww Share in's country divided. and ditinated by Inperialist power, We should Hot miss the opportuoltr. ta resist our appresaich in g united fight.

(N.B, In IST? the calendar used in ‘Russia was @ifferent to the ops used in the rest of the world so that FakFulary 23 there wae March § everywhere else | backeround ot growing unrmployment has foreed some sections of the bourgeoisie in the direction of “Libtralising the Southero statey aa the ether hand the hurseaning women's moveiient in its deoamis for contraception and divorce, has givon cupresaion to the dneréasing awareKas alitng witen of the oppression they surfer, Sections of the ruling claaa know well, | ge-do the Gathelic hierarchy, thet in tites af great economic and social ope heareal, the authoritarian influences of Church atid State come under erest strain as sections of the worting clogs begin to geek solutions te their problem, The response of the Bourgeaisie to this possibility has been to begin to use the weapon of censorship. Therefore we are able to see the implications af the banning of the Family Planning booklet, Fear Of Flying, Spare Rib, and Gay News, all of which deal with human sexuslity and some of which question the Cramewirk of the family: and women's rele in society, Sections of the bourgecigie and petty bourgeoisie firmly and obvicusly believe that these questions mist oot he posed st a time when all the basic structures within society are reeling ides the strains ef economic and” sotdal Preagures.

FIGHTING Hack Those included io the censorship mot rae from peéple inyolyed in voluatary contracePeien services to sect— dens of the winents movement, whic have responded ta the latest attacks with vigour. Irishwomen. United has called for a fight ogainst the. recent banning. of Spare Rib and an-end to the censorship laws. Suppert bas com from the Fattily Planning Services, the Trish Gay Rights Movement, the Hnien af Students in Traland and several colleges throuehout Mublin.

The true ature of censorship, witleh ds used to hit gl] seetians which threaten either dnplicitly or explicitly the stab= bility of bourgecia society, is an impell‘ine dedication af themeed to involye the btrogdest possible range of Larors, if we art ta be free from the inflyence Of undemocratic moral polleemen. The receot seminar on ceosorship held by the Irish Comned] ef the Kational iion af Jourdalists (MN) shows ‘the growing caocern of many Gedia workers about the widespread use of political censdrskhip, particularly oo TY and Radia. The fact that the MOL hes taken wp this issue: is a atep forward but an its ow dis ebviougly net enough. The epeal of the L929 Act ‘and the abolition af censorship in Ireland will take the combined effort of all those sections, dn the woreo's mevwornt, the media workers, Funile Plannise Slinges ail Gay Rights novyetent, backed up toy the strength of the labour mornient. FIGHT Fun:

Rosolutions threngh student wlan . trade undiens. etc. branches for affil= datian to the anti-canacreahip campaleo and/or finsnclal support.

Get your organisation to hold ametings, Pickets, etc. in support ofthe campaign. Send statemeot® to the prea.

Call on Tits, countlllors etc. to sign a statement of protest.

SABAA HARPER

wganization. |... does not somritube a bass