Website labeling proposal

I believe mandatory web labeling is great idea and should be implemented immediately.  Children accidentally stumbling across pornographic material on the internet is a huge problem and can have serious lasting effects.  This mandatory labeling in correlation with filters would really attack the problem at hand.  It would prevent millions of children from viewing graphic and disturbing images when using the internet unattended.  Now, a small portion of the article allowed for comments from a critic of the proposal stating it's an imposition to Americans freedom of expression.  I believe that was a very childish and narrow minded statement to make.  Children simply shouldn't have open access to adult material, bottom line.  Any other form of adult media is restricted from adolescent viewing and the internet should be no different.  That's why they place rating systems on movies and music.  The labeling proposal is by no means banning pornography from the internet, but just simply restricting those who shouldnt be viewing. 

Wrap up of the semester…

Although I have a few more entries to complete, I thought I would take this time to wrap up my thoughts about the course in general and share the knowledge I have acquired.  Prior to this course, I was always aware of the fact that porn is a massive industry with millions of fans.  However until this course I was completely naive to what an immense effect it has on society whether it be negative or positive.  Even learning that porn had a huge part in the creation of the web was a complete surprise to me.  It's opened up my eyes to just a portion of what really goes on in the world.  Who in their right mind would ever think there is a specialized form of porn on the internet that depicts images of someone blowing smoke out of their nose, and for some thats a real turn-on.  It's opened up my eyes to the fact many young people especially young women are allowing themselves to be objectified.  And, even if you're not in the business and you're merely a viewer the effects can place a huge hinderance upon your relationships.  However porn isnt always negative.  When viewed in moderation I believe it can act as tool to better your sexual relationship.  In conclusion, from this course I've learned porn is an evergrowing business which continues to infiltrate the mainstream everyday.  It continues to cater to a wide array of markets with niches becomming more specified all the time.  I believe this course would be beneficial to anyone in today's society.  Porn is such a prevelant issue, this course teaches you the proper way to deal with porn related issues and how to enjoy pornography without crossing the line. 

Response to “The quiet whisper of gay sexuality”

I just finished reading Michael Lucas' document about gay sexuality.  However I am responding to a portion of the document titled "The quiet whisper of gay sexuality.  Lucas begins talking about how many gay organizations try to distance themselves from gay pornography.  Furthermore he began to talk about a GLAAD event where his picture was featured at first and then quickly taken down.  He was upset by this action taken upon GLAAD.  Now I dont know much about the organization GLAAD, but the little I do know is that they seem to be a family oriented organization which strives to portray gay people in the best possible light.  Now just as any other mainstream, family oriented organization wouldn't have a porn star as their representation why would GLAAD be any different.  Just because he's gay doesnt mean he will portray the gay community in a positive light.  The fact remains he is involved in a business which many companies and organizations want nothing to do with and for good reason.  Whats to be offended by that?

Disgusted

After watching lecture 30 about child pornography I was absolutely infuriated.  During the lecture professor began talking about people and activists who actually support child porn.  He also spoke about legal charges and how harshly child porn producers and consumers should be punished.  In my opinion they are equals and both should be punished to the greatest extent of the law.  Producers are distributing this product because there is a demand for it.  If there were no demand the product would simply not sell.  The people viewing it are just as sick as the people producing it.  If they are viewing this type of porn whos to say they arent engaging in the same behavior.  Obviously they are interested in this very sick from of sex. Furthermore, there are reasons for age stipulations in America.  You cannot drive a vehicle before the age of 16, cannot vote before 18 nor drink alchohol before 21.  Laws are instituted for a reason.  A child simply does not have the mental capacity or understanding to make an adult decision to engage in sex, especially pre-teens.  These producers are catching these children during their formative years and are more suseptible to peer pressure and groupthink.  It is easy to cohearse children to do this when presented in a positive fashion even though its detrimental to their mental and physical well being.  These children are simply too young to understand what they are agreeing to.  And thats even if these children are agreeing to the act.  The professor also spoke about some who are being tortured.  How in anyone's right mind is this okay to sexually abuse a defenseless child for sexual gratification.  There is no way a small child can defend themselves against an adult, bottom line.  In my opinion this form of porn should not be satisfying anyone's sexual desires and should completely be rid of.  Anyone who does engage in it whether it be producing or consuming should be punished to the highest extent.

Porn is not going anywhere, nor are sexual predators on the internet. And the world is certainly a different place it was even say 20 years ago. However instead of becomming hysterical about the changes we are experiencing we must combat the effects of porn because it is such a prevelant issue. It does seem overwhelming especially for any parents out there, but just as we educate our children in schools and the home about drugs and alcohol abuse, we need to do the same with internet porn and predators. I grew up with the DARE program in my schools to combat drug use and now with the changing times, the same type of programs need to be implemented in schools to combat the evergrowing porn and internet problem. Children having access to pornographic materials on the internet is almost inevidable. It’s not an easy subject to talk about by any means. But, being too ashamed or embarassed to talk about the situation is obviously doing more damage to children than good. After listening to the NPR story about the boy in California who was performing sexually on the internet for money I was absolutely disgusted. It makes me wonder why is no one, especially parents attacking the situation at hand. Simply relying on filters to create a barrier between the internet and pornographic material is not an answer. Educating children at young age will prepare them to mentally deal with the pyschological effects that porn on the internet can potentially cause. There is a far greater chance children will be able to deal with these matters in a more mature manner if educated on the topic. As opposed to simply reremanding them for their behavior. No one single method can completely keep children away from this matter, however with filters and proper education we are certainly giving children a greater advantage than others in the past.

Parenting….parenting….PARENTING

Bottom line there is no way to completely wipe out pornographic material from society.  It exists on the internet and it's not going anywhere anytime soon.  The internet is an amazing technology and provides an abundance of vital information for everyone.  However just as the political figures in the congressional hearing state, its also home to thousands upon thousands of innapropriate porn websites.  But what I really fail to understand is why good parenting is not seen as an immense combat to children viewing porn.  Everyone keeps talking about filtering.  Yes it will greatly decrease the access to pornographic material, but there are always loop holes and ways around filtering.  In todays society people are much too busy and wrapped up in themselves to care about what the next person is doing.  You cant rely on your neighbors lending a helping hand when it comes to parenting.  But I will say something for sure.  I was raised in a single parent home where my mother was constantly on the go.  However my mom did for me what many parents seem to overlook and thats instill morals and values.  Even when my mother wasn't around I had the fear of God instilled in me, therefore I knew right from wrong, bottom line.  There is no possible way to be around your children 24 hours a day.  However if you constantly beat into your childrens head right from wrong they will eventually understand.  Filters are not absolute, and therefore are not an answer to the problem.  Do they help to aid the problem?? YES.  Along with good parenting, filters would be an immense help.  But instead of pointing the finger of blame to everyone else, lets first start at the root of the problem. 

The world flooded with porn

    I just finished reading "The internets impact on sex and society".  Now I partially agree with what it is saying.  Yes as time goes on and years pass by, the internet is being flooded with more and more sexuality worldwide.  However do we perceive this flood of sexuality differently than other parts of the world?  I would be inclined to say yes.  And I believe the way we perceive this topic has a lot to do with how we react to it.  As it stands right now the level of sexuality on the internet is NOT going to decrease any time soon.  Let's face the fact that its not going anywhere.  However in America we are constantly being bombarded with the fact that sexuality is dirty, bad and to stear clear of it.  Its like telling a person not to push the big red button over and over again.  After a while of someone telling you this, your desire to push it to see what happens is through the roof.  The same theory applies to this topic.  After so long of being told sex is bad you are going to find outlets to satisy your curiousity.     I also think it has to do a lot with how children are raised.  Sexuality is taught as something bad, and a lot of the time parents are too embarassed to talk to their children about the topic.  This in turn makes us more drawn to it.  Now I was raised in a home where it wasn't shameful to ask questions when they arose regardless of the topic.  My mother always taught me right from wrong, but I always had an awareness of what was going on in the world.  I'm not saying very small children should engage in explicit sexual conversations with their parents, but in a day and age where sexuality is such a prevelant issue in so many facets of life its necessary to talk about these topics at a younger age.  I feel as though being so uptight about the topic and pushing it under the rug its not going to remedy the situation at all.  Its just perpetuating the desire to become involved.  And of course the internet is available to anyone 24 hours a day, so it is the perfect outlet to satify your curiousity.  The internet is not soley to blame.  It's the way we are taught to perceive what we find on the internet.

The law

Okay so were talking about obscenity.  And a lot of definitions have been thrown out in the lecture to try and pinpoint what it is exactly.  Just as the professor stated among many other laws obscenity is one that can sometimes be very fuzzy.  However he did say that obscenity can be defined as anything illegal.  That got me thinking back to a few weeks ago when we were dealing with the topic of niches or specialized forms of porn.  One of the niches discussed was violence in porn or even rape scenes in porn films.  Now last time I checked rape was illegal in America.  So why is it okay to distribute porn films that depict such images.  This is what I really dont understand about the obscenity law.  Things that seem clearly unacceptable to me are allowed in society.  However a mere picture can be banned and stamped as obscene.  What makes one form of unacceptable media more obscene than the next?  Now I know these laws are sometimes state or area based, however rape is illegal throughout the country.  The law just seems a bit skewed to me.  But there are just some things in the world that are cut and dry bottom line.

Obscenity and commercialization….let me know what you think?

The topic of discussion this week is of course obscenity.  Now, in my research I've found there are a myriad of definitions for this word.  However the following definition is from Wikipedia and I found it to be most relevant to what I am going to be talking about.  The term is most often used in a legal context to describe expressions (words, images, actions) that offend the prevalent sexual morality of the time (Wikipedia).  Now, with that said I must say I am a huge fan of fashion.  And, I am also aware of the fact that many fashion ad's, commercials and billboards can contain very sexual images, because of course sex sells.  However I was viewing fashion images online today and came across this particular advertisement for Diesel which I posted along with my blog.  I was completely disgusted and offended by what I saw.  It's frightening to me how excellerated sexuality has become in the media and especially print ads.  Even 5 years ago you would not have seen an ad this graphic and certainly not when any of us were growing up.  It's bothersome because I believe the more ads like this that infiltrate into the mainstream the more desensitized people will become.  This in turn will allow people even more so to engage in sexual acts which leave them susceptable to disease.  It's also poisoning innocent minds and corrupting their thoughts on sexuality.  There is absolutely nothing artistic about this ad nor does it make me want to purchase their products.  In fact it does quite the opposite.  Just as many other forms of commercialization have taken sexuality to the extreme so has print, and frankly I find this obscene.

Response to Porn enhances relationships

Porn is not a catapult to eccentric behavior in the bedroom, but simply a tool aiding in sexual gratification.  After reading all of the stories under this myth, I found the women speaking their mind to be very unreasonable.  They seem to be blowing the topic out of proportion.  I feel as though these particular cases were extremely out of the norm.  The men in these stories could very well already have a tendency to exhibit excessive behavior and porn was their particular outlet of choice.  These women are limiting themselves sexually and prohibiting their men's sexual exploration.  Furthermore, these women quite possibly could have lowered sex drives or other sexual issues at hand and find it easier to place the blame upon porn instead of dealing with the real issue.  From stories I've heard and read, many times porn is used as a tool to strengthen the sexual bond between two people.  Now, let's be honest for married couples who have been together for years upon years, sex may very well become a routine to them.  For those couples who crave more creativity in their relationship could use porn as a self help guide.