THE subject is pornography and Pervasive Presence. That last is a legal term meaning— it’s everywhere. Is it really everywhere? In February I picked up the current Esquire. The issue began with letters-to-the-editor. Readers gave their opinions of Esquire’s year-end issue marking the end of President Clinton’s administration. That issue had come in with a cover photo of Mr. Clinton, seated, smiling defiantly into the camera, hands resting on widely separated knees, the picture snapped at crotch level. Leer time.
The editors introduced a running feature called “Man at His Best.” Its theme—What shall we do? What shall we think about?—was given by the editors for serial weeks in the month of February. For Valentine’s Day (Week Two), “. . . we recom- mend the Valentine’s Day Sex Tour at the San Francisco Zoo. Learn that chimps make it with their sisters. Marvel that a male lion can copulate up to 50 times a day.” For Week Four, there is a dark observation: “Observe Ash Wednesday on February 28th, if that’s your thing.” Quickly followed by, “Also [i.e., something else to look for in February’s Week Four]: Nicole Kidman is expected to bare butt yet again in Miramax’s Birthday Girl.”
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