CLINTON ST. QUARTERLY some concern over reduced property values. Nowhere did I see a sign addressing pornography’s brutality or abuse of women, although The Oregonian quoted one picketer as saying, “ This kind of thing is totally degrading to all human beings. We feel this represents child abuse, woman abuse and just plain human abuse.” Jean Gordon, NAC’s Inner Southeast coordinator and a spokesperson for the community-level protest of porn shops, is somewhat concerned about the tendency to moralize the issue but also believes “ it is increasingly evident that these groups do have a broad base of support, that they aren’t just a bunch of reactionaries.” Gordon herself approaches the issue with a feminist perspective and sees pornography as an example of how popular culture perpetuates a negative image of women. Guerilla Graffiti-ists While the neighborhood citizens have so far mounted the most organized campaigns against porn, their activities are by no means the only response. Feminist action has taken the form of “ small groups that surface and disappear,” says Lisa Siegel, formerly of Women’s Nightwatch, which has organized activities such as the “ Take Back the Night” march in Portland in 1979. Feminist groups have picketed the Lipman Wolfe store and the Galleria to protest sexist and abusive advertising and are responsible for the message “ Women’s blood is spilling . . . fight back!” painted on the downtown sidewalk where a woman was stabbed last summer. Several years ago a team of guerilla graffiti-ists was very active in Portland, making night forays to deface sexist billboards and porn shops about twice a month during their heyday. I was fortunate enough to track down and talk to one woman on the team. Susan (not her real name) said the attacks were loosely structured; about three people constituted a team. They dressed in dark clothing and drove around at 2 or 3 a.m., looking for objectionable billboards or porn shops. The pictures were variations on the same theme — women as victims, bound and gagged, suffering but enjoying it. Then they would paint or stencil messages like “ This exploits women,” or “ Stop rape,” and quickly disappear. “ Part of the reason we did it was the constant hype, the intrigue,” she admits, “ but mainly we wanted people to think about these institutions we live with which violate women’s integrity and project an ideal standard for beauty that causes a lot of conflict in women. Those billboards reached a lot of people and subtly influenced how they think and feel, but the companies, like Black Velvet, only care about tjieir sales. We felt we needed to make some positive statement to show that we wouldn’t just sit back and tolerate it.” Why did she stop? Well, for one thing, the hours were lousy!” she laughs. “ But if you hear about anyone doing it, let me know.” Strange Bedfellows This October, the National Lawyers Guild in Portland presented a slide show and discussion on developing strategies to deal effectively with pornography. The slides showed abusive images of women presented in the media, the most memorable being a Hustler cover photo of a sleek pair of high-heeled legs disappearing into a meat grinder, with a plate of hamburger at the other end. The show pointed out a trend toward stronger, more brutal or more exotic material in pornography, and the use of violent images in fashion advertising; brutality chic, as feminist Robin Morgan calls it. In the discussion that followed, civil disobedience was suggested as one way to combat anti-woman pornography. Ruth Gundle, a Portland feminist attorney, described one example of this tactic. A huge letterwriting campaign was mounted against the Rolling Stones Black and Blue album, but the record company refused to acknowledge these complaints. Finally, women began entering record stores with razor blades in their purses and slashing the offending album covers. This story shocked one man in the audience, who exclaimed, “ 1 think that’s despicable. Violence against women is one thing, but destroying private property is another.” A woman in the audience who correctly took him for a law student told him, “ I was in law school myself and 1 remember that one of the first principles drilled into law students’ heads is the sanctity of private property. I think you’ve been so impressed by this that you’re failing to consider the sanctity of women’s bodies.” Warner Brothers was more taken with these efforts and finally signed a precedent-setting consent agreement stating that they would refrain in the future from such abusive advertising. Pornography is a complex and emotional issue, and no one method of dealing with it is going to be effective or endorsed by all. It’s an issue that has created strange bedfellows, and it seems impossible that feminists can, or would want to, coalesce with fundamentalist religious groups, since their analyses of the problem are so strikingly dissimilar. In the long run, the most radical and effective strategy will be to educate people to struggle and change the unequal power relationships that exist between men and women. We can then hope that some day porn will “ wither away,” as Ellen Willis says, “ along with the state, heroin, and Coca- Cola.” — BELONG KBOO is a community radio station serving the Portland area, southwestern Washington, and the upper Willamette Valley. KBOO is supported directly by listener subscriptions, other community donations and grants. KBOO carries no advertising and has no institutional connections. You can support KBOO by becoming a subscriber. 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