By John Sutherland John Sutherland is Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College, London. Public embarrassment and fear of exposure are blunt instruments, but nonetheless effective weapons against those with questionable beliefs or backgrounds who care about their public image.
Shame can often work where reason fails.
And so, as in the confessional, ugly things can crawl out in those dark private zones. The effect of this dark privacy is evident in the explosion of the pornography industry on the Internet. Discretion in billing is assured. What the Internet offers is guaranteed privacy of access to materials which many individuals would be embarrassed to be seen acquiring at their local walk-in adult bookstore. The attraction of the Internet is that it obviates public stigma.