Satirical commentary on soft‑core pornography and 1960s activist gathering

Here, then, for better or worse, are my contributions to American culture that did manage to catch on, or at least may be on their way. 1. In 1958, pornography was gradually becoming legal, but at that stage of the game, the Supreme Court was unwilling to allow 1st Amendment protection of “hard-core” porn—as opposed, | assumed, to the term | invented, “soft-core porn,” which was obviously more respectable, though it seemed kind of sneaky, pretending to be squeaky clean. So | decided to satirize the concept with a new feature in 7he Realist: “Soft-Core Porn of the Month.” For example, phallic symbolism in newspapers and magazines was a key ingredient of soft-core porn. Sample: A close-up of a stickshift in a 1965 Volkswagen ad was accompanied by the question, “Does the stickshift scare your wife?” Soft-core porn now refers to limited sexuality, as seen in network TV dramas and hotel-room movies that feature jiggling breasts and buttocks but no genitalia. The way to recognize soft-core porn is that it gives men a soft-on. 2. On the afternoon of December 31, 1967, several activist friends were gathered at Abbie and Anita Hoffman's Lower East Side apartment, smoking Columbian marijuana and planning a counter-convention for the Democratic Party’ s event the following summer in Chicago. Our fantasy HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015420