Autobiography

against authority had begun and continued for
the next 30 years. What a terrible waste of
public money it became, and what a waste of
time for the police and the courts.
Like I said before, it all came down to personal
opinion. Because there were no clear
definitions at the time, Cosmopolitan magazine
through to hardcore pornography could be
called erotica by one person and pornography
by another. They are only words, and it was
Lord Longford, after years of constant
campaigning, who changed the terminology
from erotica to pornography.
At one time, there was a generally understood
definition in the industry and the media. For
example, Jane, the scantily clad beauty in the
Daily Mirror cartoon strip, was considered
erotica, not pornography. But it all became
very cloudy and difficult to interpret as you
went from Jane to Health and Efficiency and
other magazines, which showed breasts and
the occasional nipple but no pubic hair. There
was nothing on sale with anything more
explicit than that until magazines like Playboy
and Penthouse became available. Then along
came Lord Longford who embraced the entire
spectrum from live sex shows in Amsterdam to
the harmless and popular Tit Bits, and
categorised them all as pornography.
During his year-long investigation into the sex
industry he visited a live sex show in Hamburg,
and when asked what he thought of it he
answered wittily, ‘I have seen enough for
science and more than enough for pleasure.’
134