I was interviewed by The Advocate today about a strip club operating in North West Tasmania.  It is near the Anglican Church, “Any comment, Bishop?’

I replied along the following lines: 

This type of activity debases our humanity wherever it occurs. The fact that it is occurring near community centres including schools, shops and a church adds to the destructive influence on our young. The commercialization and exploitation of human sexuality destroys relationships. It devalues both the women involved and the men, who are usually plied with alcohol, watching the artificial spectacle. We all need to learn how to build and nurture healthy relationships. Relationships are at the centre of who we are. Our social cohesion depends on healthy relationships. 

As if to prove that this is not just occurring on our island 

over 30 of Australia’s leading child experts have called for an unprecedented ban on the sale of adult magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse and other ”soft porn” material from newsagents, milk bars, convenience stores, supermarkets and petrol stations. . . .

Author Maggie Hamilton has interviewed more than 70 boys, parents and teachers for her book What’s Happening to our Boys?, a companion book to one she did about how girls are affected by sexualised imagery.

”What I found so upsetting about the boys I interviewed was the desensitisation around sex and violence … and it was kids right across the board,” she said.

Put soft porn out of view: experts for the full report including the names of the people who have signed the protest, including the author of  Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls (reviewed by Kate Boughton). See also  Hypersexualisation: dolls dollars dissent? and Wired for Intimacy (Review) by Will Briggs.