The Mouth and Oral Sex
Artist: Paul Ableman
Year: 1970
Date of Action: March 1971
Region:
Location: Great Britain
Subject: Explicit Sexuality, Nudity, Sexual/Gender Orientation
Medium: Commercial Advertising, Literature
Confronting Bodies: England
Description of Artwork: Paul Ableman published an erotic book titled The Sensuous Mouth in the United states in 1970. Ableman has had his books banned before but was also an award winning writer of erotic fiction.
The Incident: The rights to the book were later purchased by Christopher Kypreos, owner of the Running Man Press in Great Britain. He decided the best way to market this literature was to sell it as a magazine. He sent out brochures advertising the upcoming magazine to 100,000 citizens in Great Britain. Some of these citizens thought these advertisements were too racy and Kypreos received 17 formal complaints. He was charged with sending an obscene article through the mail and possession of an obscene article for publication.
Results of Incident: Kypreos was found not guilty of publishing an obscene article, but the advertisements he sent out were found indecent under the 1953 Postal Act. He was fined £250 plus £100 costs. The piece was then successfully published as a book in 1972.
Source:
Green, Jonathon. The Encyclopedia of Censorship. New York, NY: Facts on File, 1990. Print.
