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j ; I The Daily Tar HeelWednesday, April 25, 19907
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By CHRISTY CONROY
Staff Writer
! Timidly the young boy pushes a pack of gum, a can of
Coke and the latest issue of Playboy across the counter.
His face turns crimson under the piercing gaze of the
satesman looming over him. "You look about 13 to me,
young man," the salesman says. Shakily the boy replies,
'!I shave real close, sir."
j As most people knowou have to be 18 years old to
purchase adult magazines or rent adult videos. Often
alesrnenY sucrOas J. A. Molismou'les,' who works at Jeff's
ampu& eonTeaionery, which stocks adult magazines,
t)ave to deal with curious adolescents.
Although flashing neon signs shouting such slogans as
topless," "bottomless," and "girls, girls, girls," are not
Something commonly seen in Chapel Hill, this town still
jas its share of what could be considered pornographic
naterial. And many people feel the state is not effectively
egulating this market.
J If one is willing to search a little bit, a section of
Strictly "adult entertainment" can be found. An interested
person may be faced with the embarrassing task of asking
vhere the adult section is located. "Sometimes people
tvalk in, look around, and when I ask to help them, they
Just say "no, no thanks," and leave you know that's
fvhat they're looking for," said Walter McFall, owner of
Show and Tell Video Tapes.
Often adult entertainment is tucked away in a small,
well-disguised room around the corner or behind a
curtain. Sometimes, the curtain is a forbidding dark color,
and sometimes it deceptively matches the rest of the decor
so as not to arouse any unwanted attention or appear
overly conspicuous.
McFall stressed that carrying adult movies was a matter
of freedom of choice. .,. f .... .. . .
"We are a full service video'store, we carry it for the "
public that wants it. We don't advertlselfijif it is here."
Once the age barrier of 1 8 is brokeri, &nd the patron
finally slips behind that dark video store curtain, his or her
eyes are bombarded by hundreds of detailed images and
titles, the only advertisement for what waits inside the
boxes.
"Anyone in the adult room has a prior knowledge of
what is back there. If they are offended, then it is not for
them," McFall said.
Out of the local video store and down the street, in your
favorite magazine store, another version of "adult enter
tainment" exists. Adult magazines line store shelves,
sometimes side-by-side with Seventeen, GQ, or Cosmo
politan. More often, adult magazines such as Playboy,
Hustler, Velvet, Gent and Torso claim a shelf or two of
their own, either to the side or above and out of the
eyesight or reach of those too young to buy them.
Despite the discreet location of these magazines and
videos, they don't sit around collecting dust.
"The adult magazines sell fairly steadily, I'd say, as
good as anything else," Mousmoules said.
The stereotypical greasy, sleazy, hairy, polyester-wearing,
gold chain- and medallion-swinging adult entertain
ment connoisseur perpetuated by movies and television
doesn't apply in reality " -v, i uyj. j
All kinds of people are buyinjidj renting adult enter-'
"temmerit. "' sTSr&ifc. ."ifiy lr '.
"People of all ages buy it, from college age to people in
their 60s, girls too," Mousmoules said.
"Before, I'd say that 99 percent of the people who
rented them were males; now, it is more like 25 percent to
75 percent," McFall said.
Proof of age is always required when purchasing such
material. Show and Tell Video Tapes requires that
members' age go on their membership cards.
Opinions over exactly what is and is not pornographic
vary from person to person. What is available on the
shelves of local stores follows N.C. guidelines. The video
rented as a local sorority gag, or this month's Playboy, is
considered by many as harmless.
To many other people, adult entertainment falls under
the negative and harmful shadow of the image produced
by the word pornography. Women are often its victims,
while child pornography, though illegal, has not disap
peared. Myron Liptzin, associate director of Student Psycho
logical Services, said studies involving the viewing of the
kind of material available in local store led to callous
attitudes toward women and had negative repercussions
on female and familial relationships.
:- The issue of pornography i$ a very divisive one. It goes
beyond sexual explicitness and dives deep into, arguments
' over women s rights, cniia aouse and censorsnipvi
UNC Student Stores offer only Playboy. Rut Tufts,
general manager of Student Stores, said the decision was
based on internal guidelines of what is appropriate,
content and interest of readers.
Deciding what to sell is a delicate issue.
"People who deal in books should avoid slogans and
bandwagon ways of deciding issues," Tufts said.
Due to the issue of censorship versus exploitation and
all the thousands of differing opinions about how much is
too much, and if anything is too much, pornography is one
of the many ongoing arguments on which people may
never agree.
"The issue of pornography is a bed of coals, and as
long as people stir the ashes, there are going to be sparks,"
McFall said.
$y MARA LEE
taff Writer
"Angel Kelly is one of those porn stars who was born
ijo . You really can't imagine her doing anything
disc"
jThis quote is from a movie review in Live!, a porno
I ;raphic magazine. Sexually explicit material may consist
$f words as well as pictures, and the validity of reading
tjust for the articles" becomes a point of debate.
I Not all students agree on the definition of pornography,
j "I never really thought about it. I let society define it,"
iaid Sheldon Grigg, a junior chemistry major from Kings
Mountain. He does not, however, consider Playboy
pornography.
Similarly, Joe (not his real name) said pornography was
more than just nakedness. Blatantly sexual poses and
f:s on films. Playboy I wouldn't consider pornography
, ghat's just basically nakedness."
Carolyn Pou, a senior industrial relations major from
1 Charlotte, researched pornography for a class. She said
he definition they used was "anything that was sexually
i :xplicit; exploitation of women where they were degraded
r dehumanized." They found that Playgirl was used
nainly by homosexual men, she said.
George Stiles, a freshman political science major from
1 Charlotte, said, "It's kind of an individual thing."
j$lany students found certain types of pornography
noVe offensive than others. The five students sampled
igreed child pornography was distasteful, and most
eople found pictured sexual acts unacceptable as well.
"I don't think pictures of women are bad not that
;reat, but not necessarily bad but when it gets to
ictures of erotic acts, I find that offensive," Stiles said.
In contrast, Joe said, "I've never seen anything
iffensive. If I saw children, brutality, S & M, it wouldn't
nterest me." He does find sexual acts, including female
emale and group pictures, appealing, he said.
Ristin Cooks, a senior interdisciplinary studies major
rom Fayetteville, said, "I object to it being exploitative
objectifying (material) is a better word (than pornogra-
fchy).
"Snuff films (porn and slasher mix) have to be about
the worst things anybody's ever come up with," she said.
"My objection to pornography is not to sexual content
er se. I think that sex is great and that people's bodies are
;reat. I think being a person with a body and sexuality is
ersonal. And what is obscene to me is turning that type
f thing into something to be marketed.
"It's obscene to me that it's OK for me to take off my
: hirt in a magazine, but it's not OK for me to take off my
: hirt and walk down Franklin Street. There's something
vrong with my body if there's a person in it," Cooks said.
Pornography is more familiar to some students than
' thers. Everyone interviewed had seen explicit magazines,
though most males had only seen the most mainstream
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it's meant to appeal to the sort of people who read that. !
It's trying to appeal to that sort of mentality." J
, He responded to a short story about a woman who J
"lived for sex" from the same source. "The statement
itself is demeaning, but it's blatant fiction. I'm sure there!
are women out there like that but not in general." j
Cooks reacted differently. She said, "A lot of what thev
call simply advertising demeans women. Everything in
our society, in the media, is linked to sex. Bodies are '
linked to sex. And your success as a person is connected
to how your body looks this unattainable ideal." '
Reactions to vocal anti-pornography groups were also
mixed, about half and half. Stiles said, "In a way, they ar
extremists. The girls who did the ACC-Playboy thing ha
a right to do that. I don't think you can force your j
opinions on other people." J
Males overwhelmingly dominate the market for por- J
nography. Students tried to explain this fact in several
ways.
Playboy and Penthouse.
Joe, however, had owned Hustler and High Society and
seen four or five pornographic movies. His reaction to the
movies was less than enthusiastic.
"Basically, all porn movies are repetitions on the same
thing non-stop sex and no plot. That gets boring," he
said.
Opinions varied on the issue of pornography's demean
ing potential. Grigg said, "I think it's as equally demean
ing to men as to women."
Stiles said, "It's not something I get into, but I think it
should be protected under the First Amendment. These
groups get all worked up about it it wouldn't be around
if people didn't want it."
He said that pornography was not demeaning and
added, "I think women perceive that it does (demean
' them). No one's forcing the women to do it." But he did
find the Live! quote demeaning.
But Joe said, "I think if women want to do that (pose)
to make money, I don't think there's anything wrong with
that." He said about the Live! quote: "That's very stere
otypical. I don't think it's really meant to demean, I think
More men are willing to use and purchase pom. I I
can't see women going in and buying movies of men, anj
I don't know why. I guess men are just more sex driven,'
Stiles said. j
Pou said, "It's a huge industry. People do enjoy it, but 1
don't understand it. Maybe we just don't think the same
way."
"I think it's a cultural thing that men tend to be
stimulated visually more than women," Cooks said.
"More importantly, men have always had the economic
power in our culture. Products are produced so that men
will buy them."
Joe said, "Appearance is much more important to men
know it's very important to me. Male nakedness doesn'
appeal to women as much as female nakedness does to
males. I don't know why." '
Students supported restrictions on child pornography
but realized enforcement was difficult. "Zoning laws
don't seem to work," Pou said, but added people were tod
apathetic to effectively form grass roots opposition. If
such an organization were to form they'd "start with the
most harmful with children. Where women have
chains and things and they're totally not seen as a human
anymore, they re just this object. j
Cooks agreed, "I think there should be restrictions on J
violent acts and definitely on the act of producing child
pornography. I'm opposed to the North Carolina law on
pornography because I don't think you can legislate probl
1 W CI 1 . J 1 .
icms. . one puiuicu uui uiai sexisi auuuues pervade
society.
; 'The fact of the matter is that it's legal in North
Carolina for a man to rape his wife, and she has no
recourse. We need to talk to people, and educate people,
and change the society."
1