Cartoon Porn Faces Ban in India

There must be a certain amount of hypocrisy for India, that great civilization which brought us the Kama Sutra — the well-worn and dog-eared, often-illustrated guide to sex, would seek to censor “the cartoon escapades of a buxom, sexually liberated married woman”.  Wait, so as long as our cartoon porn practically predates the Iron Age it’s all good? This isn’t even the first time that censors in India have gone overboard, too.

From the article,

“Pornography is a thorny issue in India, but the private cubicles fitted in internet cafes show that, despite the prudish veneer, there is an appetite for x-rated material in this culturally conservative nation.

A survey conducted last year by India Today magazine found that three out of five men and one out of five women approved of pornography, which is illegal but widely available in India.

From softcore magazines to underground movie theatres offering adult entertainment for labourers and truck drivers in regional languages, there has always been an element of secrecy involved in procuring and consuming so-called “blue” goods in the country.

“Whether they accept it or not, most Indians are exposed to porn,” says Tushar Amin, editor of men’s magazine FHM India.

“To come out in the open and say that we watch this is something that takes balls, and we don’t have them as of now. But the fact is that everyone does it.”

While locally-made pornography — featuring both voluntary actors and those forced into the trade — has always found an audience, Savita Bhabhi was marketed as India’s first global porn star, with around 30 percent of web traffic coming from outside the country.

The coyly-scripted sexual scenes — where she romps with everyone from a servant boy to a bra salesman — have even been translated into French and Mandarin.

Sociologist Gita Chadha of Russell Square International College in Mumbai says the cartoon’s internationalisation has been a source of both pride and shame for Indians.”

Source: Yahoo News /AFP