So Why Are All the Staff Blind?

An article in the May 7 issue of Maclean's discusses the University of Toronto's new "porn library," also known as the Sexual Representation Research Collection. Cue the smutty comments:

To be considered for entry, scholars must submit a formal request letter. "I don't think undergrads should be let loose in the collection," says Mariana Valverde, a criminology professor and member of the review committee. "This isn't the Archives of Ontario. A trained eye is required."

. . .

The holdings of the Sexual Representation Research Collection, a.k.a. the porn library, consist of more than 1,000 skin flicks (like Knights of Thunder and Dreaming about Dick), hundreds of well-read magazines -- from Wild West F------ to In Touch (the original version) -- along with a bookcase filled with dozens of examples of erotic fiction from the '40s and '50s, various sex-related texts, and hundreds of computer disks packed with images collected from the Internet. About 400 copies of Playboy are stacked in seven neat piles on the top shelf. Important research tools, apparently -- and not just for the articles.

. . .

administrators hope that as the Centre gains international exposure, people will begin donating material that's been tucked away in their attics and basements. Valverde thinks the library may benefit from people living in sexually repressed countries who want their collections used for research and kept "out of the hands of the local cops." This will also help diversify the collection, which is currently almost entirely white gay male porn.

Fuck.