Back to Selections from Issue #2 / HA! Home Page / The Lilith Collective / Selections from Issue #1 / Issue #3: The Work Issue / Essential Links

    How did one of the most comforting, sensual and transforming pleasures become property to be mediated by the MAN, religion, and pornography? This issue focuses on sexuality. Think of the contents as a discussion. The contributors tell their stories: the good, the bad and the ugly. In the process of putting together this issue, our 2nd, we heard thousands of other stories, confessions, insights, etc. about people's sexual experiences, philosophies, and lives which we unfortunately didn't have time, space or permission to print. So consider this a sample, a tantalizing tidbit, about everyone's favorite, fathomless subject.

    Unfortunately, mainstream thought would like to portray feminists as Anti-Sex, pro-censorship, and generally humorless prudes. Especially when you start talking about pornography, which seems to be the prime focus of 1st Amendment Rights discussions in the mainstream debate.

    Censorship is a huge problem in our society; we adamantly oppose it. When we went to print with the last issue penis images and the dick, in a pull-out quote, were censored by our printer. His excuse was that women who worked at the press would be offended. We also debated the presence of vaginal images, and a fashion photo of a woman being measured by several men. Those images were allowed to stay, while while penis images were censored. This begs certain questions: Why are images of penises so threatening? Why is it OK to have vaginas, but no penises? Could this possibly come from a fear that penises might appear small, funny, unimportant?

    Censorship in this country goes so far beyond the realm of pornography, bordering on a complete denial of anything real. Our media ignores, deletes and censors vital truths that we should be privy to as citizens. "News" as we know it is often a collection of hearsay, gossip, and stereotypical bullshit that distracts us all from what's real. Many news "vendors" get their press releases from PR firms that work for corporate and political interests. So, is disliking the whole fantasy of a sexual revolution prudish and censorial, or are we asking for something a little bit beyond that? Let us know what you think.

    So, we were censored last time; we really have a choice of finding another printer at that late date and had to succumb to penis censorship. We changed printers rather than content. Much thanks to Chapel Hill News Printing and John Flinchum for printing the publication. Viva la 1st Amendment.

    —Lisa

    Our Mission Statement: HA! is a women's zine published by the Lilith Collective. Our vision of HA! is to provide a venue for women's voices and self-expression, as well as a forum for feminist issues. We recognize the diversity of women and therefore the existence of multiple feminisms, based on the various experiences and struggles of women. The Collective seeks to empower women by creating and strengthening connections, providing information and a community to enrich women's lives.