What would Mary Whitehouse make of all this?

[womanformallyknownaswoman]

The more immersed in this stuff, the more her name comes to mind. I find I have a respect for her as an upholder of principles - OMG what is happening to me??? My memories at the time were of a small minded bigot, but now I am finding congruency with some basics - like sex, like morals, like concern about pedophilia and porn, like what about the women and children...

Here's a wiki reminder of MW:

Opposition to paedophilia and child pornography

The Paedophile Information Exchange had been asked to help the Albany Trust, which received public money, to produce a booklet on paedophilia, which was to have been published by the Trust. Whitehouse mentioned the connection in a speech, asserting that public funds were being used to subsidize paedophile groups, and the Trust withdrew its support for the production of the pamphlet in 1977. However, PIE itself did not receive public funding.

Her subsequent petition against paedophilia and child pornography was signed by 11⁄2 million people. Whitehouse urged the Conservative opposition to push for a bill on the subject, in the absence of interest from the Labour government. The private member's bill proposed by Conservative MP Cyril Townsend became the Protection of Children Act 1978

When I was a baby RadFem, an older woman told me;
''Stay vigilant, don't fall asleep. We have to fight the same battles over and over again''. I was disheartened at first, but she was right.

I think Mary Whitehouse was wise enough to know not to fall asleep.

''Stay vigilant, don't fall asleep. We have to fight the same battles over and over again''. I was disheartened at first, but she was right.

I think Mary Whitehouse was wise enough to know not to fall asleep.

It would seem so - wise words.

Sorry but I think this is really dangerous. I was a young feminist in the days of MW and the differences between us were very stark, particularly around women's reproductive rights.

This was meant to slightly tongue in cheek and I certainly will not fall out with anyone about MW! Life's too short…

She was staunchly Christian and a lot of her views came from that. So she's no radical feminist. However it's curious how I find allies increasingly in Christian circles on some issues.

Andrea Dworkin springs to mind - I haven't read her book Right Wing Women but I do know her basic premise is that women everywhere do what they do in order to survive.

"...The fate of every individual woman - no matter what her politics, character, values, qualities - is tied to the fate of all women whether she likes it or not. ... Subordinate to men, sexually colonized in a sexual system of dominance and submission, denied rights on the basis of sex, historically chattel, generally considered biologically inferior, confined to sex and reproduction: this is the general description of the social environment in which all women live."

Maybe MW had a lot of displaced anger as well - - again from Dworkin I think breaking down the monogamous heterosexuality IS a threat to her safety - referring to Right Wing Women

OP thanks for the post! MW was an interesting character and I well remember my inner conflict since I disagreed with her anti-abortion stance but found her anti-porn position eloquently argued. She was also relaxed and funny when you rarely saw women like that on TV.