Benedict Garrett, aka Johnny Anglais. www.johnnyanglais.com
Benedict Garrett was just an ordinary teacher – or so thought his students and colleagues, until his moonlighting activities were uncovered, quite literally, as it was discovered that he was also a stripper and “naked butler”, and had acted in porn films under the name Johnny Anglais. His website displays his uncovered physique in a variety of poses, including a fireman and “gentleman”, which means wearing very little except a bowler hat.
He was suspended from teaching, but the General Teaching Council has just announced that he will be allowed to continue in his role. So should the actions of teachers outside the classroom affect their roles within?
- Sex is too mysterious. In a piece on The Guardian’s Comment Is Free, the stripper himself asked whether our attitudes to porn were too prudish. “There is no evidence to prove pornography has either a negative or, for that matter, a positive effect on society,” he said. Millions of law abiding people watch porn every day. Whilst there are unsavoury parts to the industry – but what industry doesn’t have unsavoury parts? – porn is ultimately about people legally consenting to have sex. We shroud sex in mystery – we’re just not open enough about it, unlike our European neighbours. ” While a teacher working in the sex industry must be banned, teachers who publicly indulge in activities that are linked to thousands of deaths each and every year – such as smoking, drinking and overeating – are tolerated.” We need to put things in perspective.
- We don’t live in Pornland. Oh dear, Mr Garrett, said Jenny McCartney on The Daily Telegraph. He himself has said that being a teacher and a porn star at the same time is not “appropriate”. Whilst not particularly minding what Mr Anglais got up to in his spare time, McCartney said that his pupils might find it ridiculous, to say the least. One thing that can’t be said of the porn industry is that it’s “completely natural”. “In the real world, post-pubescent women are not generally as devoid of pubic hair as a Greek marble statue, clad in naughty nurse’s uniforms, or desirous of the most violent forms of sex with a number of men at once. In Pornland, this might be taken as the norm.” Sometimes people mix Pornland and reality up – look at the horrific crime of which four Russian students were convicted. They raped a Malaysian student, calling her a “machine for f*cking”, and then showed the footage to friends. Mr Garrett has talked about how he’s often led by what’s between his legs. “Perhaps it is time to re-engage his thinking parts.”
- It’s hardly The Dead Poets Society.“Please sir, put some clothes on,” said Sheenie Shaikh on Twitter, while Lucy Cavendish said “anyone listening to ‘Johnny Anglais’ on Radio 4? HILARIOUS! He sounds SO posh! Imagine if he was your child’s teacher…you’d LOVE him!”
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