Karen Finley Speaks ...

[viewpnt!echelon!henrik@uunet.UU.NET (Larry DeLuca)]

To the PMRC:

	And when I say pussy now, 
	you're always thinking of my smelly tuna
	and never my meow.

	And when I say prick
	you're never looking for the needle
	just the throbbing gristle.

	And when I'm down on my knees in prayer
	you always think I'm giving you old dog head.
	Sure, I like animals.

[From here down excerpts, as I don't have the complete original text in
 front of me.]

	And those Washington wives, 
	they wanna tell us that their farts don't smell.
	But they are silent but violent, yeah,
	silent but violent.
	They douche all day just to get rid of their smell.

	And the instruction sheets in the tampons.  Gone.
	And all hot dogs, sausages... Gone.
	
And now, on a more personal note:

Mr. Caldwell, your benign and benighted assumptions about the PMRC are, 
at best, ludicrous.  If you want to let someone shove their morality down
your throat until the Bill of Rights is just a distant memory and you
swallow because they are going to call it "voluntary", then it is.

I, for one, refuse to swallow.  For me it is not "voluntary".

The record labels themselves may not be enforced by law, but if you look
at the series of arrests and court cases that transpired in Florida due
to a bit of well-placed political pressure (people arrested for selling
Pornography to Minors), and the backlash it caused (people not carrying
stickered records - people like 2 Live Crew harrassed for performing their
music) I think that you might stop and re-think your world view.

Whether censorship is "voluntary" or not doesn't make it anything less than
what it is.  Censorship.  

Now, you might say that "Well, 2 Live Crew is offensive and they
discriminate against women."  Fine.  You might also say that "Karen
Finley uses coarse language I don't want my children hearing."  Quite
possibly true.  However, those are your decisions to make for you and
yours.  I don't like 2 Live Crew.  I find Karen Finley intensely 
intellectually stimulating and provocative.  Others may have 
different views.

You might take it one step further - "People who are discriminating 
against women shouldn't be allowed to voice their opinions."  "Nazis
shouldn't be allowed to have rallies - they discriminate against
Jews."  "The KKK shouldn't be allowed to march - it brings up too much
hatred and violence."

There's two fatal flaws with this approach:  

	A. To protect your own right to freedom, you have to protect 
	   others', whether you like what they stand for or not.
	   ("All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.").

	C. Oppression means galvanization - look at the record companies
	   fight this "sticker" thing.  They are mad!  You'll create
	   more opposition than if you merely let things run their course,
	   but not pay much attention.  Movements love martyrs - why create
	   any more (of either)?

The political and social pressure brought to bear on the music industry
through so-called "voluntary labelling" has caused it to be anything but.
While, in some incarnation, a labelling scheme of some sort might be useful,
this one certainly is not - it was brought about by people with a specific
political and moral agenda outside of the issue at hand, and as a means
for attempting to squelch beliefs and opinions they didn't hold.

					larry...