Porn on Demand - Internet makes it easy to view pornography without shame - Brief Article

National Review, May 31, 1999 by Rob Long

The only real curb to unfettered free expression is the look on the face of the person you're expressing yourself to. But on the Internet, there is no face looking back. You can say anything, ask for anything, watch anything.

When I was a boy and expressed a healthy interest in topless bars, my mother would fix me with a steely gaze and offer, if I wanted, to have my father take me to one of those places when I was a little older. "Look around," she would say, "look at the rest of the customers, and then ask yourself, 'Are these the kind of people I want to spend time with?'" A good question, I guess, but now there are no customers. There is only you and your mouse.

Mr. Long is a Hollywood writer and contributing editor to NR.