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Flynt's hustle
By Alex Brown http://www.examiner.com/news/default.jsp?story=n.barelylegal.0211w Sassy legal teens or child porn?That's the controversy created by porn czar Larry Flynt after his organization placed advertisements last week in the S.F. Weekly and the Bay Guardian for Hustler's new North Beach club. The photo, depicting two Canadian models described by an employee of their Los Angeles agency as "very young, but legal," has caused a stir in the community, with many questioning the intent of the image. In the full-length version of the advertisement, the adolescent-looking models appear naked. Only a slogan stating, "grand opening Feb. 20 and 21" covers their breasts, and the picture is cropped at the hips. "It's horrifying," said Jen Arens, a youth worker with the Salvation Army. "It's crossing a line and makes my job harder, and the lives of the kids I work with worse. "Even if those girls are of legal age, it doesn't matter. They're made to look 12 intentionally. A couple of times a week, I tell scared little girls who have been sexually abused that it's their body and no one other than them has the right to touch it. They might not see this picture, but any father, uncle or neighbor might. And that's how the abuse starts." Not everyone, however, shared Arens view. "It's in the eye of the beholder," said San Francisco resident Meg Dixit, 24. "It's not violent." And an employee of Allure Models Inc. -- the agency that manages the models, known as Judy Star and Diamond Forever -- said that the Nov. 2000 photo shoot for the advertisement and an early cover for Hustler magazine was tastefully done. "It was cute," said the employee, who requested his name be withheld. "They're not actively with us anymore. In this business girls fall off by the wayside pretty quickly. "So few in this business are good. Most are operating out of fear and desperation and will f--- everybody and their mother -- including us -- to get ahead. "I find it hard to mix whores with tasteful, but that shoot was nice. They're just young, but we screen them very carefully to ensure they're legal." The ad occupied a full page in the Weekly and a three-quarter page in the Guardian. Judy, the taller model on the right, is listed on Web site Onemodelplace.com as 18, while Diamond is said to be 23 (the site was last updated Feb. 25, 2001). Both have appeared on the cover of Hustler as well as porn videos including "Barely Legal #8" and "Buttman and Rocco Go To Montreal." Even if those are their true ages, it has done little to appease Dr. Diana Russell -- a professor at Mills College, Oakland, who has penned several books on pornography and the sexual abuse of women. "It endorses children being sexualized, which leads to children being sexually abused," Russell said. "The girls may be 18, which gets around the law, but by the way they appear makes them look younger. It appeals to pedophiles, which shows Flynt's attitude." The majority of people interviewed in a vox-pop in Union Square on Sunday tended to side with Russell. ""I'm a teacher and they look way too young," said San Jose resident Stacey Smith, 35. "That pushes things too far." Bill Secrease, meanwhile, said the picture exploited youth. "It tells other little girls 'Hey, I can do that, too,' " Secrease, 45, said. Aaron Satchwell, 28, labeled the advertisement "outrageous," while Karl Thomson, 29, described it as, "just plain terrible." "They look like babies -- that's too young," added Iris Butler, 32. Attempts to reach Judy and Diamond, as well as Hustler's art director were unsuccessful Friday, although a public relations spokeswoman said she understood both models were legal age. But that doesn't satisfy Arens. Appearing visibly upset when presented with the advertisement, she told of the time when her own 5-year-old son was convinced by an older boy to take his clothes off for a photo. "(The older boy) had seen these kind of pornographic images on a Web site and became addicted to it," she said, pushing away the S.F. Weekly copy. "These girls look literally 12 or 14. They appear as budding young virgins, and it scares the life out of me." Deliberate? E-mail Alex Brown at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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