Mr. Lucas and his fight against ‘bad porn’

     Wow! After checking out both Lucas Entertainment and the Lucas Blog archives, I was amazed not only at the company/business that is thriving, but also the incredible writing skills that Michael possesses.

     Since I don't know much about him personally, I would first ask him if he's ever had any formal training in his writing — I'm very interested in journalism, and would love to know whether he is just a naturally successful writer or if he had acquired some help along the way. Regardless, the blogging he's done is fantastic — definitely attention-grabbing, to say the least!

     Also – being that there are so many negative or at least inaccurate stereotypes of gay males in society, I would be interested a knowing his thoughts on a: what depictions he believes to actually be accurate, and b: what can be done to stop the continuation of such stereotypes.

Does this guy even know how to turn his computer ON??

     Okay, I know I somehow fell behind. The beautiful weather change temporarily made me forget I was still in school. I'm back though. And maybe a little cynical.

     I can barely get through this Congressional hearing clip right now because not only are these speakers reading directly from their little scripts but a bunch of them look too old to even know how to turn on a computer, let alone figure out what the problem is with the filtering programs implemented to save the children from the 'awful world of pornography.'

     Ugh. Now listen, I am completely against child pornography and the abuse of children in the making of such, and am almost equally against children being able to easily acquire pornographic materials. That being said, I really don't know exactly how eligible some of these people involved in drafting and presenting all of these great proposals to control children and pornography online really are. Our generation has been exposed to the Internet and what it entails and have experienced many effects it has on us for almost our entire lives. It takes the shock factor away. Do I want my 7-year old cousin to accidentally come across some graphic pornographic video clip because he accidentally clicked the wrong link on his Google search? Absolutely not. But is it going to kill him? Not a chance. Is his childhood doomed? No. Is there a huge difference here between this situation and a little kid accidentally walking in on mommy and daddy 'making love?' No again. It seems that most of the time, when children are able to access pornography online.. or in their own home.. it is accidental.

     Pop-ups and spam and everything else many speakers spoke about also irritated me a bit. How old is this clip anyway? I'm not sure exactly, but I'm sure it can't be all that old. Do people still really have problems with spam and spyware and pop-up ads? Someone get these people some Ad-Aware and Spybot. What e-mail servers are they using? I haven't had a problem with spam for quite some time now. The spam filters that AOL has implemented have worked wonders on my inbox. Same goes for my school account.

     I guess my last complaint is this: if one more person steps up to the microphone and starts their little speech with something along the lines of "Although the Internet is an amazing technological tool to obtain and distribute knowledge and information and blah blah blah.. it also is the strongest tool to distribute pornographic filth and garbage to the youth of our society blah blah BLAH." First of all, in addition to a public speaking class, these people need to get a new opening line. Ya'll said it. The Internet rules and it has changed our lives for the better forever. Yes. There is porn on it. There is porn in daddy's underwear drawer and a vibrator in mommy's closet too. And like the lady who spoke about the efforts AOL is making in keeping certain materials away from the children who shouldn't see it said — it's the parents responsibility to monitor what their children are being exposed to. Watch what they are doing online just as you would watch them in heavy traffic. Watch who they are e-mailing just as you would watch who they are talking to on the phone. And while there are no guarantees, it certainly improves the chances that children can enjoy the Internet for the RIGHT reasons.

Just a little tidbit before I get back down to biznassss…

     My roommate just ran into the kitchen to tell me this story, and I thought I'd just add it onto here real quick..

     Poor little Katie was simply trying to get some homework done when she was suddenly swamped with pornographic pop-ups. How did this happen, you ask? Katie has an assignment for her American Sign Language class where she has to sign a recognizable cartoon from her childhood. She couldn't really remember any that really stood out, so she decided to Google "children's cartoons." A few links down, she saw a link that claimed to contain information on Garfield, Charlie Brown, and other common cartoons. Upon clicking the link, Katie was amazed to find herself looking at her childhood cartoon characters completely naked and having wild and crazy sex!!

     I guess this is just a funny little tidbit to further the already strong argument that porn really can encompass anything — even the unexpected.. which Katie got a taste of when she tried X'ing out of the screen and was hit with fifty other pornographic pop-ups!

Decreasing rape statistics?

     Just a little quick note on the end of lecture 20 where the statistics were shown that in the period of time where extreme pornography became much more widely available, there was a 3X decrease in the number of rapes reported. Halavais mentioned the fact that, of course, this is only the number REPORTED, which skews the results slightly, but because of the huge decrease, the statistic is still significant.

     I think the statistic can be significant in that maybe the reason why the number of reported rapes decreased is because women's definition of rape may have changed because of pornography. When seeing all of these films that have women in such compromising positions, and especially the films where non-consentual sex turns into an enjoyable experience, women may have somewhat changed what they think is really rape or not. Which is a pretty scary thought, but may be true nonetheless. So just as pornography has allowed women to become more sexually liberated and open with their sexuality and feelings, it has also possibly changed their thoughts on what is rape or not.

Limited Effects.. I guess.

     I hate the fact that I am unable to be my usually opinionated-self when writing these blogs — the material and the controversies simply don't allow me to successfully take a stand on one side or the other! The topics we learn about in the lectures and the things I read on other student's blogs are so sensitive and multi-faceted.. PLUS the fact that a lot of people are so articulate in explaining all sides of the matters.. I see all sides and arguments and find myself stuck somewhere in the middle of it all. Sheesh.

     Luckily, the series of lectures on consequences allowed me to somewhat stand on one side. I have to say that I completely agree that the effects of pornography on behavior can be shown in more of a limited-effects type model. Clearly, almost anything one watches or comes in contact with can effect their thoughts and behaviors. When people start claiming that pornography or violent films or music or anything like that is the sole CAUSE of a behavior.. I get really irked. The rape porn film you just watched the other night did NOT cause you to go out and rape the girl down the street. It may have influenced you to an extent; it may have added fuel to your sickly disgusting fire.. but it did not cause you to physically take action. I understand there have been many studies done on both sides of the argument, and I am aware that convicted rapists have claimed they "did it all for the porn," but I still don't buy it. I probably never will.

     I was also interested in the studies and experiments done on the increased amount of violence towards women after watching a rape video. Isn't it obvious though? I know after I watch certain kinds of movies, when I leave the theatre, for a little while afterwards I feel like I could kick some a$$. I also know that after I watch, for example, a romantic movie, afterwards I feel all lovey-dovey and want to hug my boyfriend. The thing is.. I'm not going to leave the theatre and knock out the person in the car next to me just because I've seen a certain movie. And I'm not about to walk down the aisle with my boyfriend just because the wedding scene in some movie was just breathtaking. IF I happened to have pent up aggression towards one of my roommates for ruining my favorite boots and saw a violent-natured movie.. it may inspire or influence me to come home screaming at her though. And IF I happened to be considering marriage or something like that and saw a romantic movie, I may be more likely to head in that direction. It's not just porn — it's everything in life. Things you see and hear and do are going to IMPACT the actions you take. But they aren't going to completely change your ways of thinking.. they may just add to what was already there.

Opposites shmopposites.

     I don't understand how to apply the opposites concept to the porn myths assignment. I can't figure out how to come up with a non-boring thesis that I can support with evidence that I actually don't agree with. But I will give it my best shot, okay? Don't anybody go giving me an F here though….

     People who believe that the statements made on the porn myths website are actually myths are wrong in my eyes. These statements seem to hold much truth, don't you agree? Porn certainly enhances relationships; we all know that. It's healthy for a woman to lie alone in bed while her man checks out fantastical pornographic photos and movie clips on-line. Especially because "porn is just a fantasy, and nobody would try to apply it to real life." Right? Of course. Luckily, no women compare their bodies and boob sizes to those of the porn stars. And men are certainly not comparing their lengths to the inches of those in the movies. If this were the case, we would probably have some crazy self-esteem problems happening in our society in regard to our sexual confidence, which is something that is nonexistent, of course.

     Okay. I tried. I had to stop myself because I was sounding extremely sarcastic, and in reality, I don't necessarily agree with any of that. BUT, in the name of opposites week, I gave it a shot. Hopefully we won't have any more assignments like this though — I like writing and commenting about how I REALLY feel — it's much easier too!

A few good blogs..

     After digging a bit further than usual into the aggregator, I've found that there are really a lot of students doing an excellent blogging job for this class. Although there have been many "repeat" subject blogs.. mainly due to the nature of the course and lectures that sort of push us into certain subjects, there are a lot of blogs that have made some uniquely excellent arguments and points. There are others that are may not be as original in subject matter, but are so well-written with organized thoughts and correct spelling and grammar, that they can be considered equal in excellence.

     One blog that caught my eye and has done so in the past is katerr22's blog, titled Dance Like This. Not only does she has a good NUMBER of posts, but they are also significant in LENGTH. It looks as though she puts the time in to check her spelling, and I like the way she writes. Her posts have also prompted people to make some comments, which I believe is a good indicator of an excellent blog.

     Bethany's Cyberporn and Society Blog is another one worthy of being added to this MVB [Most Valued Blogger] list. I think maybe even more so than Katerr22's, Bethany has very interesting topics to speak of; she often looks outside of the course content to find stuff to write about.

     I think that iplaybass' blog is extremely entertaining. While I don't always agree with everything that is argued, I love reading it. The post titles alone are usually enough to start me reading. Even though the subject of porn should be enough to keep us students interested, sometimes, class is still class. Having something funny, interesting, and exciting to read certainly helps the situation.

     Way to go ya'll. I wish I had the time to write on ALL the blogs I think are great. And I wish we were allowed to write about some of the ones that are just a mess. Of course that would just be cruel and harsh. BUT — one of my biggest pet peeves is the lack of spell checking and NOW… wordpress has spellchecker right in the editor! HERE is a post on it. I hope everyone takes advantage of this wonderful tool!

Just a “quickie…”

     After flipping through a few more blogs before hitting the sack, I started thinking and figured I may as well just get my thoughts out quick before I fall asleep and they are lost forever.

     In regard to the topic brought up in NUMEROUS blogs dealing with whether or not porn causes violence and/or rape and its relation to video games and movies creating violent children, etc., etc… I can clearly see all the different sides of the arguments. I can understand why some believe that porn may actually cause someone to be violent or forceful with another human. I can even understand why people believe violent video games, movies, and music can cause a child to be more aggressive. I also can stand behind those who believe that these outside 'causes' actually have nothing to do with a person's actions and are basically used as a scapegoat.

     Regardless.. I found the studies shown in one of the lectures on the amount of sex on television and the amount of television watched correlated to the younger aged children engaging in sexual activities. Although I don't completely believe that seeing sex on television causes one to run off and get it on with the first person they find, I can make some sense of the results these studies found.

     I can personally say that I've never really seen something on television that 100% influenced and caused me to make a decision. When I started engaging in sexual activities, like most people, it was because I was [or at least THOUGHT] emotionally prepared and ready. I will, however, give in to the idea that things I saw on television helped to push me in the right 'emotionally-prepared' direction. Who remembers seeing the cast of 90201's relationship ups and downs, wishing and wondering about relationships, drama, and everything that went along with it? Or what about Dawson and Joey? Seeing other characters that we can relate to go through situations that we have yet to experience can, in fact, somewhat teach and prepare us for when we encounter it. And when we feel we are prepared for something, we usually take action.

     Hopefully some of that made a little sense. Being overtired, it very well may not. But if it does.. well.. that's just great!

Is it fair to single these people out?

     After reading this post about the "stomach wrenching" views on teachers being caught looking at child pornography, I was thinking — what makes these teachers any different from people in other professions? What is illegal is illegal, yes. And what is morally wrong, is clearly wrong. We are all very well aware of the negative, harmful, and moralistically compromising effects of the making, distributing, and viewing of child pornography, but the bottom line remains that it is still happening. It is being made, it is made available to everyone, and people watch it.

     I think it is almost unfair to single out teachers as being more wrong or to punish them more than others, simply because they are dealing with children on a daily basis. Father's who may engage in the occasional 'kiddie porn' viewing are also in contact with their children everyday. Why aren't we seeing articles written about these people? What about pediatricians? Or the photographer at the Wal-Mart photo center that takes the pictures of your cute little kids for the annual Christmas card?

     If pornography is something that is available and acceptable to certain extents in our society, who are we to point the fingers as to who is allowed to view it and who is not? What makes me or you any different from Mr. Smith, the 5th grade science teacher? The answer is NOTHING. The only time this should even come into question is when the 'innocent' [I say this loosely, simply because I think the child pornography industry is harmful to children everywhere, and would love to see some sort of solution to the problem, so therefore, any viewing at all isn't exactly 'innocent'.] viewing of 'kiddie porn' turns into the teacher actually molesting, harassing, or harming his or her students. Of course reading about the teacher who molested the poor 7-year old is heart wrenching. But so is the story of the plumber or the musician or the Joe-Shmoe from down the street that committed the same crime. Wrong is wrong no matter WHAT occupation you may have.

Sex slavery: fantasy? horrifying?

     *Note: I forgot to finish and post this draft from before Spring Break. I know most of it is a little dated since we watched the sex slavery special awhile back.. so I just wanted to give everyone a heads up as to why it's late in posting!*

     So many thoughts were brought up in my mind after watching the special on sex slavery. Obviously, my first thoughts were filled with the sympathy for the victims and amazement at the awful, horrifying realities of the sex slavery industry. Even the fact that there IS a sex slave INDUSTRY is just mind-boggling to me. Also saddening is knowing that so many people are aware of the situations happening to these poor victims, yet in many places, nothing can be done about it. It even showed the one lady selling one of her "slaves" and making deals in the middle of the street, with police nearby, either not aware or simply not taking action.

     What is so compelling about this whole aspect of the sex world is that many people fantasize about being a sex slave. Even articles in Cosmopolitan about how to 'spice up your sex life' include sex slavery concepts such as tying your partner up or speaking in "naughty" or even degrading ways to one another. In most cases, I'm sure if you ask these same couples who are taking turns being each other's sex slaves how they feel about the issues shown on the special we watched, they would be just as horrified and saddened as most of us were.

     So why are people using a concept that is torturing and harming so many innocent victims across the world as a pleasurable fantasy in the bedroom? Is it wrong? Should we feel guilty for doing so? It's easy to see the different angles.. and can somewhat be related to what we discussed earlier in the semester about child pornography or the appeal of rape-like videos. Why are people getting off on something that is so morally wrong? Because they aren't actually doing it. We know it's wrong, and for most of us, we could never even imagine taking part in harming another human through sexual slavery, rape, or child-involved pornography. But in watching others doing it, I guess people find pleasure in it. It's a hard idea to swallow, but I think for many, it's true.

     What becomes important here is the cold, hard truth that people ARE being harmed by real-life, non-fantastical sexual slavery situations. And while we can tie up our partners in the bedroom and do as we please with them, in the morning, we all need to be aware that somewhere, this is happening unwillingly to those who want nothing to do with slavery and we need to start taking action to help these poor victims. Below are a couple of links involved with helping and saving those victimized by the sex slave industry:

Free the Slaves
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women