Is it not possible that we are a repressed society because we do not have a liberal porn culture? There is ignorance about the body. It is a misconception that pornography makes women into objects; it is our own preconceived notions that do so. If we use this logic then the mother, the nurse are objects too because they are playing specific roles.

In The English Patient when the man and woman are soaking together in the bathtub, stroking each other, and she asks, "What do you hate most?" he replies, "To be owned".

Then he touches her shoulder blade and says, "This is mine." He touches that little hollow between her collarbones and says, "This I like, it is mine." She smiles and says, "I thought you said you hated ownership."

Self-gratification is not something to be dismissed. Fantasy is our vehicle but fantasy is a bourgeois concept that gains more sophistication with the social status of a person.

What we need to 'civilise' society is ‘cultural masturbation'. This was understood right from ancient times. At a temple of Aphrodite in Cyprus orgiastic rites were practised with much joy. "Voluptuous reading" came into its own in 18th century England with the first erotic periodical called The Covent Garden Magazine.

Can pornography be absolved of its role in debauchery? Yes, for as active participants we have to shoulder the responsibility. Why is it that when we grant some fine literature and art the status of erotica the rest are dismissed as porn? According to some much respected authorities Playboy is not porn; it is in fact ‘anti-sexual' with its emphasis on the "reduction of eroticism to sex".

Playboy and the playboy are mere toys without any feelings. The human becomes inconsequential. Good porn releases one from these clutches. It creates a soothing alternative where fears and preferences are not displayed.

Have any of us escaped the sense of shame where our bodies are concerned? The individual's natural existence is already socialised and reduced to a body. A man comes into the world with the burden of his phallic symbol and a woman "the psychology of the ovaries".

She lusts for motherhood and ignores her other needs. Why do women over 50 rush to the obstetrician for exotic motherhood devices? This is emotional pornography. Now, how would they react if they got to know that the unknown donor in fact had to use pornography to bottle his sperm? Would they dare to take a moral position?

‘Wise women' in 16th century Scotland who showed powers as healers, herbalists and surgeons began to be called witches because it was said that as women they were impressionable, credulous, and more carnal.

That the most prominent of sex symbols of our times, Marilyn Monroe, could be described by feminist Gloria Steinem as "probably having faked all her orgasms" reveals the discrepancy between looking for gender individuality and actual erotic behaviour. Pornography can provide real freedom, but not in a world where fame on its haunches is touted as an icon.

Most people find the regular methods of copulation boring. While civil liberties upholders fight for homosexuality on grounds of human rights, they are the first to dismiss pornography as a perversion. By that token masturbation and dildos are perverse. Going by nocturnal emissions our subconscious itself is pornographic.

There is no escaping it and there is no reason to. It is far better than parading widows naked or stripping tribal women prior to their auctioning. This is socio-political titillation which is exploitative, not the harmless pin-up which in fact helps in the seeking and finding of an identity. It can be the beginning of idealisation.

However potent the imagination, it would be a disservice to humanity if our only contribution were to be a private limited wet dream.

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A slightly longer version appeared as my column in an Indian magazine.