The inauguration of the zine Rubric Cube in June 2003 lead to Gordon's first published work. The theme of the first issue was "Our Bodies", with the inspiration of post-structuralist feminist Helene Cixous: Censor the body and censor breath and speech at the same time. Write yourself. Your body must be heard.

Gordon examined the work of french filmmaker Catherine Breillat, writer/director of the film Romance that was denied a rating from the Australian Censorship Board for it's release in January 2000. The film was unique in that it combined an existential story of moral abandonment and sexual identity crisis with scenes of explict physical penetration. In his article Gordon covered such ground as the author's (Breillat) intention, theorist Michel Foucault, second wave feminist Laura Mulvey, the censorship board's report on the film, why the film was released in other countries such as Britain with similar moral ideals, why the film was released in video stores without concern (even Blockbuster Video who has a strict "no adult-video" policy) as well as arguing that explicit materials such as pornography are not harmful despite public opinion, citing the "porno wave" in Denmark during the 1970's.

"It was fun to write the article because it was something i was passionate about, plus the politics of the censorship board's decision was just ridiculous. It was also nice to write something that was intelligent but not academic, which meant i could abandon all the usual snobbery of academia and write a stimulating, informal and informative piece in a conversational style that any mature audience could enjoy."

Following the article's original publication it was syndicated in the creative arts resource The Program.

© 2002 R. W. Gordon. All rights reserved.