Capetown- http://lifestyle.iafrica.com- As a handful of Christians protested outside Cape Town’s Sexpo, Miss Nude South Africa on Friday rejected claims that the event exploited women.
“We are all here by our own choice: no-one’s been forced to be here,” said a topless Bella Anderson at her stall in the expo.
“I mean, I love sitting here… I enjoy this. It’s not like I’m a prostitute or anything.
“I’m just enjoying the fact that I’m a woman first of all, and second of all I’m using my womanly side and my femininity… to have fun with people.
“It’s not like I’m sleeping with anyone or doing bad things.”
Anderson, who is conducting lap dancing workshops at Sexpo, said she hoped visitors to the event would leave more comfortable with who they were, rather than worrying about what other people said.
Outside the Cape Town Convention Centre, where Sexpo is being held, about 15 Christian conservatives held a placard protest and handed out pamphlets.
Spokesperson for the Christian Action Network Taryn Hodgson said Christians believed sex was a gift from God and should be expressed only within the confines of marriage.
‘Objectification and exploitation’
“We shouldn’t take something that’s private and personal and make it public,” she said.
She also said it was outrageous that an industry that promoted the “objectification and exploitation” of women should be given space at a premier tourist destination in the heart of the city.
Asked about the fact that male sexuality was also on display — including the Boerewors Brothers, billed as ‘the original tollie twisters’ — she said the objectification of men’s bodies as well as women’s had led to a culture of “seeing sex as God” rather than as a gift from God.
The protesters handed out a statement expressing concern that Sexpo would lure members of the public into experimenting with porn and attending strip clubs which were hubs for criminal activity including prostitution.
They also distributed copies of a Christian Action newsletter which condemned journalists for refusing to consider the possibility that Aids was “a judgment of God and a warning to promiscuous and adulterous individuals”.
Sexpo organiser Silas Howarth said in reaction to the protest that the event was a “health, sexuality and lifestyle” show.
“We are quite happy there are people in the democracy who are… exercising their freedom of speech, but we also believe they should respect the fact that we have a massive expo, with massive, massive following.”
He said attendances of some 100 000 over the past year in various centres showed most South Africans were comfortable with the event.
Sexpo did not objectify either women or men.
“Sexpo is not promoting random, lewd sex.
“At the end of the day all we’re doing is saying, this is what’s out there, this is what is happening in the adult industry, this is what it feels like to be comfortable with your sexuality and sensuality and to have fun.”
Sex was ultimately a “normal, healthy thing”, he said.
“When it’s between two consenting people — or more than two consenting people — at the end of the day, if people are willing, if they’re wanting to do it, if they’re doing it safely, where’s the harm in that?”