The ancient image of buying porn usually involves packages wrapped in
brown paper being carried from seedy back-street outlets. But such
preconceptions could not be further from the truth in Edinburgh - where what
passes as the sex industry is very upfront.
The city’s sex shops are not hidden away from public view down darkened
alleys where customers glance around furtively before sneaking down. The
outlets ply their trade from busy main roads.
With politicians at Holyrood now considering calls to curb the sale of
pornographic material, the Evening News ventured into the city’s five
X-rated stores to examine what is on offer.
If you have an interest in videos or DVDs featuring pregnant women indulging
in group sex, fetish movies of naked midgets or graphic images of couples
doing most things imaginable to each other, there’s no need to look any
further.
But although sex shops can only operate in premises with blocked windows and
are open to adults over the age of 18, the pornography available on their
shelves has come under fresh attack this week from campaigners who allege it
is "incitement to sexual hatred".
The Scottish Women Against Pornography (Swap) nutter group lodged a petition
with MSPs suggesting such material was degrading and harmful to women - and
encourages and legitimates the abuse of women and children, both sexually
and emotionally. The organisation also claims that there are clear links
between pornography and sexual crimes and violence against women and
children.
Its submission has now led to Holyrood’s Equal Opportunities Committee
indicating that it soon intends to hold a full inquiry into the effects of
pornography, with the eventual possibility of banning explicit magazines,
videos and DVDs from being sold at licensed sex shops.
But is pornography really anything other than titillation meant for
consenting adults to watch in private?
City entrepreneur Vincent Delicato, who runs the Leather and Lace sex shops
in Drummond Street and Easter Road, argues that campaigners are not telling
the full story. He says: There are as many arguments for pornography as
there are against it and there are enough psychiatrists and experts who will
either say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ about it. They say that it is exploitative, but
they fail to acknowledge that the industry is all about consensual sex and
equal opportunities. In fact, porn is one of the few professions where
leading women are actually paid far more than the men."
The way that adult material is regulated and sold in licensed premises now
is far better than it was before, when everything was underground. The
police know what we sell and regularly check the shops to make sure it is
all legal. Everything that we sell in the Leather and Lace shops is
completely legal. There is still a lot of material that is not yet allowed
to be sold in this country and the Government takes a hard line on anything
that is exploitative or seen as intimidating."
But members of Swap maintain that even soft-core erotic films - such as the
ones that can be bought in shops such as Virgin Megastore’s adult DVD
section - are "maintaining sex as a basis for discrimination".
People keep talking about consent and choice and say: ‘Who are we to take
away people’s fun?’ This is not about what happens in people’s homes. In
order for this material to be produced, people have been harmed.
It is illegal now to trade racist insults because it incites race hatred and
we see pornography along the same lines - it incites hatred towards women
and children.
Mike Judge, of the Christian Institute, agrees. He says:
Sex shops are
not appropriate, they treat sex as a commodity which it is not. They are
pretty much aimed at men and treat women as sex objects.
Of course, many people might not realise what these licensed shops can sell
- it is really explicit material. These R-18 videos are hardcore porn yet
they are legally available. People may argue over what is pornographic -
it’s when it’s dealing with lust, and we all understand what that is,
irresponsible sexual activity. Unfortunately, Edinburgh has not as strong a
policy on sex shops compared to, say Glasgow, which has a policy of not
having licensed sex shops in the city.
We are not saying that everyone who uses a sex shop will commit a sex crime.
But perhaps you have someone who has a record of sex crimes, they will find
going to a sex shop appealing so they can gratify those urges - urges that
possibly led to their crimes."
But Lothian and Borders Police officials stress that having sex outlets
licensed by the local authority prevents the trade from being driven
underground. A spokeswoman for the force said: The fact they are licensed
means we know about them and can check up on them.
Delicato believes public opinion is on his side.
I think it shows just
how our attitudes to sex have changed when high-street stores like Boots are
thinking about going into the adult market and it is far better for sex toys
and videos to be legalised and regulated than banned altogether," he says.
It seems strange that David Attenborough can show images on prime-time TV of
animals doing what comes naturally to them, but there are always people who
don’t want to see the same with the human race.The Evening News
visited the Capital’s sex shops. This is what we found on display:
Erogenous Zone
The Bread Street outlet sells a range of pornographic videos, DVDs and
magazines from around the world for between £20 and £30. Most of the titles
only feature explicit scenes of male-female sex or lesbian sex. Also offers
videos featuring gay sex between men.
Leather and Lace
Locations in Drummond Street and Easter Road. Offers explicit videos and
DVDs for between £20 and £40 that feature scenes and images of straight,
lesbian and gay sex, as well as group sex. Both outlets also sell explicit
pornographic magazines and books that feature hardcore nudity and sex.
Private Lines
Elm Row, Leith Walk. Sells videos and DVDs for between £30 and £40, and has
a limited number of sex toys for sale. Most of the movies are male-female
and lesbian films featuring group sex, and there are a few more explicit
films. Some feature fetish sex and pregnant women having sex. One, called
Bridget the Midget, even has scenes featuring explicit sex acts with
dwarves.
Q-Store
Barony Street, the Q-Store caters mainly for gay men and offers videos, DVDs
and magazines featuring gay sex acts. The shop also offers films and
magazines containing images of straight male-female sex.
Also check out further reviews on the
Melon Farmers list of sex shops
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