Mary Whitehouse - a reappraisal

Here's a link to the radio programme: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0015411

Her successes include the 1978 Protection of Children Act, which criminalised for the first time the making of indecent images of children, the 1981 Indecent Displays (Control) Act which controlled sex shops and the displays of pornographic material in newsagents, and the 1984 Video Recordings Act, to regulate the explosion in the sale of extreme content (so-called "video nasties") in the new Wild West of home VCRs.

That's quite an impressive record.

I think she was just enough before my time - I was only vaguely aware of her as being a figure of fun.

Interesting to consider - thanks for the link, OP.

That was a good listen. My takeaways are that she got some things right (and was very wrong in others) and it's taken decades for the mainstream to start re-adopting some of her "dinosaur views" and that she believed that certain boundaries should be fixed rather than being forever shifted onwards as society became more progressive.

I don't think her critics in the programme came off particularly well. Dismissive, smug, and not above being creative with the facts.

documentary by Samira Ahmed about her on R4 now

*In 1974 she wrote: "The young today are more pressurised and exploited than ever before. I'm fighting for their right not to be exploited."

Mary also warned against technology becoming out of control, while addressing a computer industry technology conference in Rome in November 1975.

"May I first share my fear that technology is overstepping itself," she said in her speech. "It does seem, to the lay mind, that the power of computer technology can reach a point where man is incapable of arresting the forces which he has released."*

She wasn't right about everything but it's hard to disagree with this!

Am I correct in thinking that she was influential around the watershed

Yes, that was largely her influence. Before then some pretty inappropriate stuff was on at times kids would see it.

I've never really understood the ridicule (she's before my time) because her basic premise (that kids should not be exposed to adult material during 'family' viewing) seems pretty reasonable.

I wonder what the MW experience comedians think now?

I too was very critical in the 90’s and joined in with the bullying/ taunting/ ridicule. However, I was ridiculous enough to think the ladette culture was ‘ freedom’ and lad mags were ‘empowering’ eughhhh….. shudder…

Am I correct in thinking that she was influential around the watershed ( is that still a thing? Live abroad now and don’t watch terrestrial UK tv in the usual way) .. and totally agree that her concerns around pornography and it’s effects on people were spot on.

The tv portrayal of her by Julie Walters was interesting particularly as it was made by the BBC.

The taunting and baying at those who express concern around sexualisation, pornography etc has increased and I do wonder of the permissiveness around the abuse Mary Whitehouse and her group endured set the scene for what people who voice concerns now face. I believe she would get lots of poisonous letters ( Twitter of her time) and I would guess that no one was brought to justice over the threats etc… not a lot changes, it seems

Her views, as pp said, around homosexuality were just plain wrong and I believe towards the end of her life she made some fairly strong objections to innocuous items which were picked up by the press leading to further vicious parody. But yes, I think she was ahead of her time with her concerns.

I wholeheartedly agree with you, @KimikosNightmare. Everything she feared would come to pass has. I feel ashamed that I laughed at her in the 1980s along with all the other alternative comedy loving lefty teens.

By the 1990s, she was just a joke. And the 1990s was a bloody nightmare for women and the gains made since the women's liberation movement. Lad mags, lad culture, cool girls/lad girls, semi-pornographic (and actually just plain pornographic) music videos on mainstream TV that were supposedly empowering for female singers and body positivity, and of course the internet and social media age. Couple that with X Files based paranoia/conspiracy culture that empowered Incel types, and the Buffy/Scully based culture that girls are both as physically strong as males but also responsible for solving the world's ills and propping up broken men and their delusions.