Female Chauvinist Pigs

  I really didn't have much to comment on this week so I went searching and found another book to mention instead.  It is Ariel Levy's Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture.  I was first taken by the title (obviously!) and was surprised to see a book written by a woman, not just blaming the problem on men, but also asking what are women doing about it?

  "But just because we are post doesn't automatically mean we are feminists. There is a widespread assumption that simply because my generation of women has the good fortune to live in a world touched by the feminist movement, that means everything we do is magically imbued with its agenda. It doesn't work that way. "Raunchy" and "liberated" are not synonyms. It is worth asking ourselves if this bawdy world of boobs and gams we have resurrected reflects how far we've come, or how far we have left to go." (Levy) 

  Levy brings an interesting point to the table in that just because the previous generations of women have fought for feministic rights does not mean that the latter generations will still keep them and their ideals true.  Many things have changed since then, but why is the idea of feminism so up in the air?  Have all that the prior generations of feminists fought for been lost on "powder puff" women whose main goal in life is to be as sexually appealing as humanly possible?  I sure hope not otherwise that leaves us in a dire state.

  This book is the first one in awhile that addresses the woman's role in keeping to these overly sexualized roles.  The question remaining is why since we've fought so hard, have we allowed regression?

The Ultimate Loss of Innocence

  Children are meant to live a happy, innocent childhood.  Unfortunately, there are sick, deprave individuals who willfully take their innoncence away.  They make the children participate in pornography, take naked photographs, or others.  Child pornography is despicable, and quite frankly anyone caught producing or viewing should be prosecuted to the absolute fullest extent legally possible.

  The children that are made to participate in these acts are forever scarred, and will never recover fully.  While the effects may not appear immediately they will come full force and will lead to lifetime of harm.  The children are ripped from their childhood and placed square into an adult, seedy underworld.  The children have no choice in the matter truly.  What child have you met that wasn't eager to please an adult at any cost?  The adults that have the child participate in these horrendous acts are preying on the innocent youth.  They are terrible creatures that hunt for innocence and attack needing children. 

  Children's stories are lined with imagined creatures and monsters.  Unfortunately in today's world we have to tell the children about a very real monster that exists right in your neighborhood or town. 

Kids Only Internet

  The internet has been at the forefront of the war on obscenity for quite some time (basically since it's inception).  While the internet makes it easier for the transmission of pornographic images, it serves many other purposes.  The internet isn't just for porn, right?!  By making attempts to rid the internet of adult sites will make the internet a child's world.  While children should, and certainly do have juvenile geared sites the internet can not be made for children only. 

    As mentioned previously, the limits and standards of decency or obscenity are too arbitrary.  Who decides what is indecent and what is not?  In most cases only a few decide for everyone what is considered obscene.  That is an awful lot of power given to a few which has an effect on many people.  When those people decide to arbitrarily place limits on freedoms then our rights are being trampled upon.  I understand that protecting children is of the utmost importance, but there are better ways to do so that will not impede our 1st amendment rights.                               

Pornified

  I happened to be searching for some new books and came across one that was perfect for this class.  It is called Pornified by author Pamela Paul.  In brief, she writes about how the technological advancements and a shift into an electronically driven era have allowed porn to become easily accessed.  She discusses the new porn culture and how it affects our daily lives.

  Paul uses research, narratives, and interviews which explains how men, women, and children are affected by the porn saturation on the internet.  She also discusses how children are being affected by early exposure to mature viewing and pornography.  Paul acknowledges that since the internet provides anonymity that porn use on the internet has been on the rise steadily. 

  Finally, Pornified shows why it's important for all Americans – those who look at pornography and those who do not – to understand how porn has changed the world we live in and how to understand it.

Different strokes for different folks…

  Obscenity differs across all walks of life, and means something different to everyone.  While the legal definition tries to lay a baseline definition down, it is not all encompassing.  The legal definition tries to set a sort of standard to measure what is obscene and what is not.  Trying to whittle the definition of obscenity down to something particular is quite a daunting task.

  If you look at this country in particular, the defintion of obscenity can differ based on whose in office and who is the leading majority.  For example, the FCC has suddenly decided to crack down on obscenity and ladies and gentleman be advised to watch out.  Who knows what will be labeled as obscene next!  While I don't understand how shows that depict situations that do happen in real life (teen sex) will be slapped with an obscenity label and given outrageous fines, but ahhh so says the moral majority. How is it that a call for assasination of a world leader that is against the moral majority is able to slide under the offensive filter? (A 700 Club host called for the assasination of a world leader in the name of the moral majority on air and was asked to apologize)  I suppose when one is a puppet of the morality police then certain actions can be given a blind eye to.  There is a very skewed census of obscenity when looking across the spectrum of opinion.  I personally don't find an exposed nipple offensive, while others don't find a call for someone's life offensive.  It's all in what beliefs you hold I suppose.

One angry girl…

  The Porn Myths website brings to light a few valid points on the reality distortion that porn can create in it's wake.  This site also has a few distorted views of it's own and that the author passes for fact.  The site claims that porn is a safety outlet for men otherwise they might be tempted into some violent sexual (or other) behavior.  This is very crass to assume that all men are vicious in their nature, and have an innate desire to harm.

  Porn does not cause violence in and of itself.  It may give ideas or show violence, but by watching it does not mean that the viewer will indefinitely become violent or destructive.  I am dismayed that this site makes a correlation to men being to able to suppress their violent tendencies through watching porn.  The statement is very presuming and assumes that all men are the same.  The site portrays men as unable to control themselves without porn, and have basically been demoted to creatures that cannot act of their own free will and desire. 

  The author should use a bit more common sense when making a highly provactive comment as such, and should not lump men all together.  While her scenario may be true of some men, it certainly does not apply to all.  This site is a bit reckless with the man bashing, and frankly if I was a man that does not fall into one of her painted scenarios as perpetual rapist and unrequited sex machine then I would be angry.  Reckless comments should not label an entire group.