Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan is a short work by dystopian

Dystopia

A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...

 English author J.G. Ballard, first published as a pamphlet

Pamphlet

A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...

 by the Unicorn Bookshop, Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, in 1968.

It is written in the style of a scientific paper and catalogues an apocryphal series of bizarre experiments intended to measure the psychosexual

Psychosexual disorder

Psychosexual disorder is a term which may simply refer to a sexual problem that is psychological, rather than physiological, in origin.Psychosexual disorder was a term used in Freudian psychology....

 appeal of Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

, who was then the Governor of California

Governor of California

The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...

 and candidate for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination.

History

Ballard himself was inspired by the then-new phenomenon of "media politicians" and in his preface to the 1990 edition of The Atrocity Exhibition

The Atrocity Exhibition

The Atrocity Exhibition is an experimental collection of "condensed novels" by British writer J. G. Ballard.Originally published in 1970 by Jonathan Cape. A revised large format paperback edition, with annotations by the author and illustrations by Phoebe Gloeckner, was issued by RE/Search in 1990...

, explained:
A bookseller who sold the pamphlet was charged with obscenity

Obscenity

An obscenity is any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time, is a profanity, or is otherwise taboo, indecent, abhorrent, or disgusting, or is especially inauspicious...

. In 1970, the pamphlet was added as an appendix to Doubleday's first American edition of The Atrocity Exhibition, which was destroyed prior to release.

At the 1980 Republican Convention in Detroit a copy of Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan, furnished with the seal of the Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, was distributed by ex-Situationists to the RNC delegates. According to Ballard, it was accepted for what it resembled: a psychological position paper on the candidate's subliminal appeal, commissioned by a think-tank.

Quotes

• "Slow-motion film of Reagan's speeches produced a marked erotic effect in an audience of spastic children"
• "Faces were seen as either circumcised (JFK, Khrushchev) or uncircumcised (LBJ, Adenauer). In assembly-kit tests Reagan’s face was uniformly perceived as a penile erection. Patients were encouraged to devise the optimum sex-death of Ronald Reagan."

See also

• Crash, a Ballard novel which focuses on similar themes