Porn Blog – Kids Making Kiddie Porn

Alright, this blog I found didn't have much as far as personal comments on porn but it had a link and it sent me to a great advice column question. The column is from an
Anchorage, Alaska online artsy fartsy website. The question brings up a lot of issues I've never really thought of before.

"I was in a relationship in high school with a girl from the time we were 14 until we were 16. During that time we made a lot of sex tapes together. Sometimes I'd hold the camera, sometimes she would, sometimes it was on a tripod. We both enjoyed watching these videos together. We've remained friends, and she kept some of the tapes and I kept some, only for our private viewing.

We are in our late 20s now, and she recently asked if I could burn copies of our tapes onto DVDs on my computer. We were both minors when we made these tapes, and we were both willing, so am I breaking the law by making copies for her? Or by possessing copies of my underage self screwing my underage girlfriend?

- Concerned About Movies

Dan Savage, the man responding gives a good background of information to make his point. He discusses how the abundance of personal mediums such as digital cameras, camera phones and web cams has made it possible for young sexually naive people to create their own porn easily. He provides an exaggeration to make his point. "Nowadays, a pair of 14-year-olds with a digital camera, a laptop, and a dream can make an epic bukakke/ATM/femdom/ws/ff digital video between lunch and lacrosse practice."

When we have discussed child porn recently I was wondering what would happen to a 15 year old boy who happens to enjoy porn with girls his age. You can't blame the kid for being turned on by a 15 year old girl. He's horny and she's his age. There will be arousal. I almost feel he shouldn't be in trouble. But then I remember that at 15 looking at porn is illegal, period.

But in this column we're faced with porn that these people made for themselves.  According to Savage, most horny teens who make porn for themselves feel it is harmless, kinky fun. But the FBI doesn't see it that way at all. “What it comes down to is this,” said Laura Eimiller, spokesperson for the
Los Angeles office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, “the production of child porn – and a child is defined as any person under the age of 18 – is illegal. The age of the individual filming it is irrelevant. Whether it was consensual is irrelevant. It is still child porn.”

I agree that child porn is child porn no matter who makes it. However, there is an argument to be made here. The reason child porn is illegal is because it is viewed to be damaging to a child's innocence and morality. It's a threat to their character and is abusive. But in this case, the children did this to themselves. How can you treat the same as a pedophile who raped and taped a 12 year old? That's ludicrous. They made the decision to "abuse" themselves. In this case I would have to say that as long as these tapes don't get out to the general public then no one should be prosecuted. If they do leak, only those who trade and possess the videos should be prosecuted. Not the 2 kids who produced them.

Question for Mr. Lucas

Your writing called "On Gay Porn" is very well written and it expresses some great ideas and truisms of our society. My question is, how does media such as the movies and tv effect society's view of gay men sexuality? and also, what role does gay pornography have in education of young men who are discovering their own sexuality?

Lucas – Confirming My Belief

Earlier this semester I had posted about homosexuals and the importance of the internet in perpetuating their community. I had stated that many people who are unsure of their sexuality find internet homosexual communities that create an outlet of expression and discovery. Through these outlets, homosexuals are able to experience interaction with others, while still deciding if this is right for them.

After reading Lucas's article about gay porn, I find that I agree with him on many points. The stigma of being gay in our society is damaging to the gay communities. Often portrayed in unrealistic and illogical stereotypes, homosexuals are faced with adversity continually in our society. Even the most liberal of outlets in our nation, the media, is sketchy to portray gays in a sexual manner. Instead, they are viewed as people with something wrong.

As they are faced with this stigma, gay porn and on-line communities are growing increasingly important in the gay society. Lucas says as women are oppressed by acting in pornography, gay men are "oppressed by the heterosexual status quo." I feel this is an accurate depiction of the situation. The only sexual liberation gay men have is to act or engage in real, passionate gay porn. Until society can remove the "ball and chain" of homosexual stereotypes, outlets for sexual expression of gay men will be limited. It's for this reason that on-line communities and the work of men like Michael Lucas is so widely celebrated by gay society.

Mr. Senator – Please Pull Your Pants Up

While watching the Congressional hearing video I began to wonder about some of the Congressmen and their porn usage. At one point one of the Senators stated that every morning his e-mail which he checks in a federal office building, is full of 25 spam e-mails. 5 of which are for porn. This was part of his argument for the elimination of porn but I think he was just saying what others wanted him to say. I think he looks at porn and he does it on the job. Here's why…

First of all, most spam e-mails people receive they did something to get it. Somewhere at some point in time, that e-mail address was entered on a website for something and eventually wound up on the list of some third party. From them, you get spam. So, at some point in time this Senator entered his e-mail and is not susceptible to spam.

I also know, from personal experience, that porn e-mails won't come unless you have entered an e-mail address on a porn site. Once you do this, you open the flood gates. When I was in high school I did this and my e-mail account became unusable because I'd get so many e-mails. Since then, I have never done it again and I am pretty sure since high school I've seen less than 5 porn e-mails in my box.

My last point to make is that these porn e-mails don't just show up randomly. Here at UB we have a great spam blocker and I very,very, very rarely get a spam e-mail. Now this Senator is accessing his e-mail in a federal office building. FEDERAL. Don't you think they would have top of the line spam protection and all that jazz? They should be on the cutting edge of spam blocking, but yet this Senator still gets porn e-mails and spam more than I do?

I know this is my conspiracy theory but to me there is no other explanation than this guy is watching porn in his office, while working and that's the cause of his problem.

CDA – Monitor, Not Regulate

Our nation’s political leaders in the past ten years have been making attempts, as well as debating these attempts, towards regulating pornography on the internet. The goal of regulation, as stated by both sides of argument, is to protect the children of our society from corruption and destruction of moral good. Arguments for regulation derive from ideas that porn on the internet exists in a glutton of filth and repulsive images that expose children too young to understand, to a world of pervasive sexuality and dangerous sexual predators. In debating regulation, US Senators in 1995 attempted to amend the Telecommunications Competition and Deregulation Act, which regulates obscene, indecent and harassing telephone calls and mail. The amendment would expand these laws to computer communications, mainly the internet. This was proposed as the Coats-Exon amendment.

The Coats-Exon amendment presented a strong case. I agree with many of the arguments that they had made in rationalizing the extent of the law. Most compelling is the fact that they were not merely creating new law rather expanding the mediums in which the laws covered. It had already been established that the Telecommunications Competition and Deregulation Act was constitutional and also effective in reducing and punishing obscene and indecent phone calls. The Coats-Exon act would merely expand these regulations to computing communications and allow for prosecution of those who use computers to commit the equivalence of an obscene phone call and retard distribution of sexually explicit materials to minors. By “cleaning up” the internet legislation will give way to an information revolution, with opportunities for Americans to better society.

There is no doubt in my mind that this amendment would be highly successful in achieving the goals of the legislation. People who distribute unwanted obscene and indecent material should have to pay a price. Just as much as I hate telemarketers I hate ads and unwanted emails of porn and other bothersome stuff. Also, minors would be protected on a much higher level from solicitations and exposure to inappropriate material. Distributors of pornography on the internet would have to increase security measures ensuring that those who are accessing the material are of age. Sexually explicit material would only be accessible by adults who actively seek it out. Prosecutions would be a scare tactic for this type of behavior leading to an eventual decline in children gaining access to obscene, unwanted materials.

There is a huge risk in applying this legislation, however, and the result could be the loss of the greatest technological information tool created. The extent to which this amendment would regulate would over step logical boundaries. In argument for this view is Mr. Leahy a Senator from Vermont. I agree with many of his arguments that this legislation would regulate but at the same time destroy the internet as it is. He feels government regulation has screwed up technologies in the past by not letting them run their natural course. Leahy argues that the Coats-Exon amendment would classify an explicit e-mail to someone’s lover the same as an image of child porn. I see this as overestimating that which is obscene and/or indecent and it restricts use of the internet for adults, who are participating in 100% legal activity.

In regulating porn on the internet, it is important legislation stay objective. Remember that the goal we wish to achieve is protection of our children from pervasive and sexually explicit material and peoples. It is not our intent to eliminate or scare people into eliminating free expression of legal ideas in the online communities. Legislation, I feel, should focus on mediating who can view sexually explicit material rather than eliminating it. By working with parents, porn distributors and internet access providers, legislation can be created that would allow for less restrictive means of policing access to this type of material. I know that better age verification and parental supervision software can be produced. By using this software, parents and internet companies will be able to efficiently monitor users and account for their age.

The Coats-Exon amendment to the Telecommunications Act was a good proposal for 1995 but would not be practical today. Interactive computing communication is on a different level from phones and mail. Sexually explicit materials online should be monitored rather than eliminated or regulated. The cooperation of parents, service providers and porn distributors is one of the few practical and least restrictive protections we can offer for our children.

Arguement For Obscenity

For most of this class we have had discussion about obscenity and freedom of speech and what exactly the latter constitutes. Basically, this issue is the underlying concern of pornography and the sex industry as a whole. What is obscene and how free is free speech? Is there porn that should be illegal? In considering these issues I must point out that I feel obscenity is a tool for regulating free speech.

It has taken me a full semester of lectures and reading but I can finally say I have my own definition of obscenity. Contrary to most of my views, I take a conservative view of obscenity. First of all, if anything were to be deemed obscene, it shall not be protected by free speech. This, I attribute to the fact that our civil liberties are instituted to serve important social functions. Free speech, according to Dr. Tom O’Connor, functions in four ways. “These social functions point out that the First Amendment is about protecting the public good rather than individual freedom.”¹

(1) Educational function (to advance knowledge and potential for self-fulfillment)
(2) Safety Valve function (to speak openly without fear of government reprisal)
(3) Truth-seeking function (to determine truth thru debate and adversity)
(4) Social obligation function (to learn what is important to say)

I feel that if neither of these functions is served, the material has no real value to society and could be deemed obscene. To regulate obscenity full scale is an almost impossible task. Because imaginations are ever changing and new things are printed daily it would be impossible to make a list of all that is obscene and follow it. Rather, it is important to judge by general standards and on a case by case method.

By no means am I qualified to make regulations on the level I am speaking, however, I have made an attempt at creating guidelines for judgment of possible obscene pornography.

For starters, complaints have to be filed against a certain image, movie or other pornographic material. These must be officially filed complaints to a legal authority. If, within a 30 day period, a substantial amount of complaints have been filed then a State investigation will take place. In this investigation the social value will be considered in accordance with time, place and manner restrictions of free speech. For example, where was this image and who had access to it? If a panel of state officials feel the material doesn’t serve as a social function and could have effect on the values of those exposed, then this is a violation of obscenity.

I know I have many loopholes in my idea but it allows for a case by case review. By this, I’m trying to imply that a material might be deemed obscene in one location but not in another. For example, if fliers for a strip club had two naked women on them and were being posted in a church or community center then I feel this would be an obscenity violation*. Had those fliers been posted in a men’s residence hall bathroom, there is a fairly large chance those exposed would not find it to be obscene.

My bottom line is that free speech should not protect those who produce obscene materials. The answer for what is obscene will probably never be answered, at least not to the point where it can fully be regulated. A general set of standards must be agreed upon that will allow for case by case review and judgment. I feel it’s our government’s duty to preserve moral and societal good, and by holding the rope on some civil liberties they are able to do so.

¹ http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/410/410lect08.htm

*As a side note, the punishment for obscenity violations should be nothing more than a small fine and complete stoppage of printing of materials.

Myspace.com Starting New Safety Campaign

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/04/11/myspace.safety.ap/index.html
This is an article I found on CNN.com about Myspace.com and its attempt to promote safety for minors on their website. According to this article, 22% of registered users are under 18 years of age. From 6 million registered users, this equals out to be over 1 millions minors who are targets of sexual predators.

This new campaign and the article are a good follow up to a previous blog I have written Myspace.com Becoming Sexual Market Place

Here is the text of the article…

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — Along with ads for bottled water and iTunes, a new campaign has begun appearing on the online social networking hub MySpace.com.

“1 in 5 kids online is sexually solicited. Online predators know what they’re doing. Do you?” read the public service ads that began running Monday.

A division of News Corp., MySpace enables computer users to meet any of more than 60 million members. Users post searchable profiles that can include photos of themselves and such details as where they live and what music they like.

But the Web site’s features and popularity with teens have raised concerns with authorities nationwide. There have been scattered accounts of sexual predators targeting minors they met through the site.

The spots, which computer users can see on MySpace in the form of banner ads, were also slated to begin running on a host of News Corp. outlets, including other Fox Interactive Media Web sites, the 28 Fox Networks Group broadcast networks, Fox All Access radio and the New York Post.

They are part of a campaign launched two years ago by the Ad Council and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Meanwhile, MySpace announced Tuesday that it has hired a Microsoft Corp. executive to oversee safety, education, privacy and law enforcement affairs, effective May 1.

Hemanshu Nigam currently serves as a director responsible for driving Microsoft’s consumer security outreach and child safe computing strategies. He was previously a federal prosecutor who specialized in online child exploitation cases.

The new ad campaign warns parents and teens that sexual predators are increasingly using the veil of anonymity provided by online chat rooms, forums and social networking sites to target minors.

“One of the things we’re trying to persuade kids to do is not to give out personal details online, don’t advertise where they are and who they are,” said Ernie Allen, president of the Alexandria, Virginia-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “The person with whom they may be interacting may not be who they say they are.”

Some 22 percent of users are registered as under 18, according to MySpace.

The site forbids minors 13 and under from joining and provides special protections for those 14 and 15 — only those on their friends’ list can view their profiles.

The company uses a computer program that analyzes user profiles and flags members likely to be under 14. Hundreds of thousands of flagged profiles have been deleted, the company has said.

Still, children regularly lie about their age to get around those restrictions.

Last month, two men were arrested in what prosecutors said were the first federal sex charges involving MySpace. Two Connecticut girls involved in that case were 11 and 14, the FBI said.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Patriarchal Porn: Pro Morgan(comments welcome)

This blog has taken me a little while to get done because it took me a while to decide which side I really agree with. I would love to argue against Morgan and tear her apart; however, I will try my best to agree with her (against all my will).

In modern times most would believe in the mirage of a free and completely equal society. However, just as African Americans had once been oppressed into slavery, today, women are constantly reminded they are not viewed as equals. This reminder, according to Morgan, is rape and it’s being fuel by pornography in public places and in the bedroom. Rape is the tool in which men attempt to distinguish and maintain their power position in a culture founded upon patriarchal views.

Morgan argues that rape is more than the brutally forced intercourse that occurs in a dark alley or upon breaking and entering a woman’s home. Rape is any intercourse that is not initiated or desired by the woman. By accepting this definition, rape becomes a crime committed nightly in happily married households. Although this definition of rape is a bit farfetched, it does hold some truth.

The average American, I believe, views rape solely as the times when women are brutally forced to have sex by use of a gun or knife. They feel these men are the worst deviants of society who need to be locked away. But how does the average American feel about the 33 year old mother of two who worked all day, cleaned the house and made dinner and is just too tired to want to have sex? In the bedroom, her husband who hasn’t had any in three weeks wants to have sex, so he climbs on top until she allows him to. To most, this is perfectly acceptable. The culture of this country is dominated by patriarchal thought which would suggest the wife of a man is supposed to please him and adhere to his needs. But wasn’t she forced to have sex? Yes. Against her will and intentions? Yes. Didn’t she not initiate? Yes.

Most of America is in denial about rape often being subjective when discussing it. The tendency is to look at individuals and in many cases the rape will be rationalized. Morgan suggests a few different “excuses” often credited to rape. “Pity the Poor Rapist,” “Spontaneity Lie,” and basics such as, “She had it coming,” and “All Women Want to Be Raped.” These “excuses” for rape are example of how men maintain their power position over women in society, subjecting them to “know their role.”

So where does porn come into the equation? In a sense, the pornography business fulfills the male fantasy – power, domination and aggressive sex, much as rape does. In creating the multi-billion dollar porn industry, men are able to extort their power and dominance upon actresses while forcing them to do perform a sexual fantasy. Willing or not to perform, the actress is still subject to the director’s (a male, for the purpose of this essay) commands. Is she forced to have sex? Maybe. Is this against her will and intentions? Maybe. Did she initiate? Most likely, no.

What I’m trying to show here is that the actions of the porn industry subject women to an act of rape. Granted, some actresses choose the life for the great pay and chance to be a star. But inside the business there is not much choice to be had. Films are created with a purpose to fulfill the male fantasy, remember? Power, dominance and aggressive sex. Actresses will be told who to have sex with, how, where, when. They do not initiate with their own intentions and by our definition, this is rape.

The view of rape in America is very skewed and under examined. Women, as much as men, have human rights that must be adhered to. Any act of forcing sex in which a woman does not initiate or have intentions to have sex is rape. Daily, women are reminded of their struggles for equality in society by rape, the tool of man that distinguishes and maintains their power ranking and encompassing the ultimate male fantasy – power, domination and aggressive sex.

Pornification Now

There are many reasons to believe that porn is becoming more and more socially acceptable in modern times. The Paris Hilton Effect is how I shall refer to this. After her sex tape came out, her career not only skyrocketed, but now she was famous for something other than just being rich. The sex tape more often than not was not criticized but almost glorified. The Paris Hilton Effect shows us that America is starting to let sexuality become more mainstream.

Everywhere you look on TV and in music is sexuality being glorified. And there is nothing wrong with this. I feel it’s important for everyone to be comfortable with themselves and with expressing sexuality. In fact, without confidence in sexuality, procreation would be threatened as people would be “scared” about sex. The pornification of
America is inevitable as more people become turned on to sex and realize it’s importance in society.

Being sexual is flaunted all day long on TV such as MTV where most teens are introduced to the whole world of “being sexual.” As the younger generations embrace sexuality a shift will occur in time. In fact, a look at the Baby Boomer generation can shine some light on this view. During the 60′s and 70′s many people our ages took onto this idea of expressing sexuality. As a whole, this began the shift into socially accepting sex. They have kept these views as they grew older and now don’t view younger generations as being out of line with expressing sexuality. They don’t feel it is as taboo as it once was.

I know sometimes I’m surprised when my parents don’t take offense to some of the references made on TV or some other media that I’m using. It makes me realize either that they don’t know or just really don’t feel it’s bad.

The Paris Hilton Effect reveals to us that many Americans are becoming accepting of porn in a mainstream kind of way. Sexuality is being embraced by popular mediums and the younger generations. A shift of socially acceptable sexuality is occurring and will be continuing for many more years down the road.

And the winners are…(a little late)

This class is full of interesting and insightful ideas and I really enjoy reading many of the blogs from the class. I myself have been very busy the past moth or so and have not been able to keep up with my own blogging, however, when I get time to sit, read and write I find it to be a real worthwhile time as I learn so much. I would have to say that 3 of the better blogs I've read are, in no particular order….

Panama Red - Despite the name being one of my favorite bluegrass songs, the views Panama Red has on many of the topics is interesting.  Often pulling from outside sources and posting consistently. It also seems you have a real interest in the class and enjoy discussing with us. Keep up the good work!

Eric's Cyberporn Discussions – I have commented on Eric's blog before in a blog I wrote. Eric always has well written and thought out blogs. All you have to do is look at his latest blog, which contains great quotes and is written as an essay. You can clearly see he has very liberal views and loves his porn.

Hotchic – Easy read everytime. Seems like you're talking to me as I read your blogs. Good humor and makes sense of topics. Refers to readings in the book and offers valuable discussion to the class.

Keep up the good work everybody! This class has been real interesting, with both the topics discussed and it being my first online class. As the semester comes to an end soon, I hope we can all have some good discussion and end on a high note!