My Last Blog…

          After reflecting on the past 15 weeks of this class I got a lot more out of it than I expected.  Going into the class I thought, naturally like everyone else, that this was going to be a blow off class with simple topics that would be discussed.  I did not necessarily feel that the work load was going to be light, but how hard could learning about porn and the internet be?  I was definitively proven wrong as I soon expected.

            One would never realize how intense this industry can be and how complicated the legal issues and laws are.  It is like any other industry where rules need to be followed and there is a definite structure to the industry.  I think that since it is not taken seriously and people do not take the time out to learn about the industry no one really knows how it works and that it is similar to any other business.  What I got out of this class was a better appreciation for the people that work in the production and distribution of pornography.  I learned about the roles that males and females have on screen and the basic foundation of pornography.  The few things that stand out in my mind are the immense legal issues, acts, and laws that pertain to pornography.  I did not realize how heavily involved our government was in this industry nor did I feel that child pornography was such a big problem or perceived problem in our society.  The other thing that stands out is the fact that without pornography the VCR would not be what it is today nor would the DVD exist as soon as it did.

            I know this class deals with cyberporn and its relation to society, but the only thing that I would have been interested in learning is the life of a porn star.  I know we touched base on actors and what kind of life they lead, but it would have been cool to actually learn and go into detail about a typical porn actor to see if the stereotypes are actually true or not. 

            Overall I felt this class was a success for it kept me interested and motivated to learn.  After signing up for this class I felt it was just an elective that had nothing to do with my major or education.  Half way through the course I realized that pornography is a huge part of our society and culture and that is what anthropology is all about: culture.  I may not use the information that I have learned from this class in my everyday life, but I will use to be more educated about our own society and to help others learn about our society.  We are so busy with our own lives, our own careers that we forget about the bigger picture.

This and That

       The lectures this week cover an array of topics, which makes it hard to pinpoint one and blog about it.  Therefore, I have a few things that I would like to comment on regarding the lectures this week.

            The first thing is that I found interesting was the Sonny Bono Term Extension Act.  I did not know that there was an act where the copyright of a person is extended 70 years after their death.  I suppose this makes sense for it keeps the name and more importantly the money in the family.  I know if my father was Sonny Bono I would want to reap the benefits of his career as well as be proud to still have him known for his songs.  I also did not realize that copyright was that vital to the adult industry.  I suppose it is like any other similar industry such as books, magazines, or movies.  Porn comes in all these forms so it is just as important.  The adult movie industry takes just as much pride into their work as anyone else as we all know they do not want to lose any money so copyright material is essential to keep a business or magazine going.

            The next thing that I would like to comment on is the fact that if I have the intentions of vacationing to Costa Rico to have sex with a prostitute I can be arrested when I reenter the United States.  I believe I have blogged about this before, but I honestly did not think this was possible.  When you are in another country I know you are representing the United States, but the laws are not the same.  I in no way believe prostitution is moral or right, but it almost seems like the government is invading our privacy by being able to arrest and control what we do in foreign countries.  If this is true, then is it illegal for an underage drinker to drink in Europe?  I know this may not be as extreme, but it is a similar situation.  I guess I just feel that one should be allowed to do as they please in a foreign country as long as it is legal in that particular country.  Of course there should be exceptions such as it still being illegal to sell women or children on a black sex market.  Prostitutes are almost a commonplace around the world and if a male wants to degrade himself and have to pay to have sex, then we should just let him disrespect himself.

            The final thing that I would like to comment on is the idea by Michael Froomkin on Regulatory Arbitrage.  If I were to come up with an example of this I would have to use the spices that were abundant in China and Asia back hundreds of years ago.  People in Europe did not have spices and especially salt. China was definitely more abundant with these products and were probably sold cheaply in the native land.  Once brought to Europe the costs probably increased at least five times the value for the simple fact that it was in high demand with low resources.  When I think about this concept it reminds me of our entire government and society.  This country is very money hungry and will do anything to obtain it.  By taking an abundant product and moving to a new location where it is not abundant and jacking up the prices is a basic characteristic of our country.  This may not be a defining example of this idea, but it is similar.  I know a few years back in Arizona there was some sort of oil shortage or spill.  Gas stations all over the place ran out of gasoline.  One gas station was still open and had cars lines up down the block to get their tanks filled.  The gas station was charging four dollars a gallon for gas!  Let us remember that a few years ago when gas was only a dollar and some change so four dollars was a lot.  Granted the gas was not taken from one area and relocated it is still something that was in high demand where the prices increased as a result. 

            Although this blog may not entirely have to do with cyberporn and society I just felt obligated to express my opinions of these various topics.  I hope people think about these ideas or topics from a different viewpoint, which I am always trying to take.

Sex Toys

          I decided to create a blog commenting on the final chapter in the text.  Chapter 12 by far is the most entertaining and comical reading of them all.  I was blown away at the different inventions concocted by the sex industry.  Not only could I not believe that these inventions were actually patented, but the fact that almost all of these new technological toys failed somewhere in the manufacturing or production process.  I know these high-tech toys are expensive to manufacture and require a lot of mind and man power, but who is honestly going to pay 400 dollars for a virtual sex machine?  Granted the majority of the consumers are wealthy and can spend their money like it is water, but if they have that much money why not spend it on a real human being?  Maybe this virtual sex machine is a safe bet for not contracting any STDs, but if I am going to go through all that trouble to please myself and spend all that money you better believe I would spend it on a real individual that can do more than three commands or speeds.

            It was stated in the reading that these inventions are definitely ahead of their time and boy were they right.  I would have never fathomed the idea of any of these supposed toys.  Whatever happened to simplicity?  I guess your significant other, dildo, or occasional hookup of some random girl from the bar is not good enough anymore.  I personally feel that these toys are being invented not because of demand, but because the sex industry is so persuasive, forceful, and money hungry.  They will do anything to obtain more money for once you start you cannot stop.  I do not necessarily feel these toys are bad, but the average person cannot afford half of these products although many people do go to extremes for pleasure and sex. 

            I actually enjoyed this reading for it ended this course on a comical note.  After all that talk about protecting the children and how pornography is producing rapists and pedophiles it was a great change to read something that was not as serious and pessimistic.

Porn Public Policy

             Protecting children is the main focus when it comes to laws and regulations in regards to the internet and child pornography.  After reading the dry material for Chapter 11 I came to a couple conclusions.  One of those would be that it almost seems as if this National Research Council is telling parents how to raise their children.  The other conclusion would be that this council has a bunch of really great ideas and has thought this through, but can they really overcome all the obstacles that the internet has to offer?

            This council gives tons of great advice to children and parents on how to become computer savvy to protect themselves from viewing and encountering pornography and child porn.  Such things would be to avoid chat rooms and message boards as well as to ignore instant messages of those whom you are not familiar with.  They also advise one not to give out any personal information to any one stranger on the internet.  What I feel is stepping over the parental boundary is when they are telling the parent what they should be doing to protect their children from the internet.  I know they are only giving them guidance, but this reading has the tone that if parents do not follow these meticulous instructions, then their children are doomed to be child porn victims.  Telling parents where the computer should be located or making promises with their children to tell the parent when they have encountered obscene material are great ways of avoiding pornography, but most parents are going to do as they please.  On a scale of one to ten of importance I bet the safety of one’s child in relation to child porn is a three or two.  Yes, child pornography is supposedly growing rapidly, but most people do not see the primary affects of this and feel it is not a problem.  No matter what any council or legislation tells parents what is the best option for avoiding child pornography they simply will not listen until it is too late for the simple fact of being stubborn.  How many smokers are told to quit because they will get cancer or how many teenagers are told not to drink and drive?  All these people say it will never happen to them and they never take the precautions until after it has happened and it is too late.  Everybody thinks “it will never happen to me,” and time and time again that proves to be wrong and we still have not learned from it.  So I do not feel that by telling parents how to raise their children in conjunction with the internet is going to help this situation unless actual laws are developed or something is physically done over the internet to stop the invasion of porn into our homes.

            Continuing on with the idea of parents not really taking any of these guidelines seriously I feel this council has some really great things to say, but they all have the words should, could, or would in front of them.  They have never really been put into play so we really do not know if they are going to work.  In the reading there was all this talk about public policy.  I remember taking Government in high school and having to write a public policy paper.  The readings about the public policy concerning the protection of children from child porn reminded me of when I had to write this paper.  Since I have written that paper on the public policy of Euthanasia nothing has progressed concerning the topic.  It takes years for these laws to be put into effect even in a single state let alone the entire country.  I know that they should be given credit for the effort, but just because they have an idea does not mean that magically in one day everything will be better.  And I am not saying that this is how the council feels.  I am just stating that by reading this one should not assume that everything is going to be solved because some council feels there can be an improvement and that changes can be made.

A Woman’s Secret Obsession

        Why is it always alright for men to do certain things, but it is shameful and degrading for women to do the exact same thing?  Whether it be getting a tattoo, being promiscuous, or watching porn it almost seems natural for a man to do all these things, but no so much for a woman.  After scrolling through the blogs I found one that discussed an article about how the presence of women watching porn has increased steadily, but seem hidden due to the fact that they are secretive about their enjoyments.

            When you see a tattoo on a young woman they are almost automatically perceived as a whore or slut.  There is even a name for the tattoo that a female gets on her lower back: the tramp stamp.  Even if these tattoos are not inked onto provocative parts of the body they are still somewhat less respected as a person.  If a man has a tattoo everyone thinks they are masculine and it is the focal point of a conversation usually serving as the ice breaker.  The same thing goes for sleeping around.  A man is depicted as a “player” or “the man” while a women is again thought of as a “skank” or slut.  If a man can sleep around it should just be as acceptable for a woman to do the same thing.  If one feels that a woman is disrespecting her body by sleeping around then I guess that goes the same for a man.  Whether society wants to admit it or not men and women are not social equals in the present day.  There are still fine lines, hidden fine lines, which separate the equality of men and women.  It may not be inequality in the laws, but in the social world there are differences.

            As for women and pornography I see absolutely nothing wrong with it.  It is almost comparable to masturbation and women.  We all know that women masturbate, but only about 1% (guessing) of them actually admit to it.  Men cannot be that much hornier than women are that women never masturbate.  Sexuality is natural in men and women and I do not believe that men have more sex drive then women.  Men and women do have different times for their sexual peaks, but that does not mean that women do not masturbate when they are not at their peak.  Of course men are the front runners for viewing the most porn, but some of that audience is attributed to women.  If women did not watch porn then there would be no male strip clubs or PlayGirl.  

            I am not going to reiterate what was said in the blog involving the statistics of women viewing porn.  What I wanted to state was that the reason for why women are not more open about these kinds of issues is the fear of societal rejection or discrimination.  I know if I was a woman I would not want everyone and their mother knowing that I sleep with every Tom, Joe, and Larry.  Since I am a guy, who cares who knows that I sleep around.  Most adults or elders just turn a blind eye to that fact when it comes to males.  They either just brush it off or laugh it off.  Females my age would no doubt be portrayed in a different light if they stated they were obsessed with porn just as much as males are.  They would be perceived as always horny, kinky, and eccentric.  Women should be able to watch whatever they want and participate in any activity they want without having to play hush hush.  Women should feel liberated to be able to watch pornography and should not hide it for it was not that long ago that they had many restrictions in our society.

Pornified Blogs

       It was extremely easy to find another blog about pornography that was not involved in this class.  I simply typed “porn blog” into Google and automatically many results appeared.  I just picked the first one I saw, which is a blog totally devoted to pornography dealing with bizarre links, collections of porn, and random idiocy.  Many of the blogs are very short and only have a few sentences either commenting on a picture of a porn star or stating that there are some new videos that are out with the links attached to the blogs.  There are also blogs about Hollywood gossip.  The most recent blog states that Tom Cruise wants to eat the placenta of his child when s/he is born.  Whether this is true or not it gives appeal to the blog as well as tells how serious the blogger is or what type of personality he has.

            The one short blog that grabbed my attention was the titled, DoJ didnt just subpeona Google.  I feel it relates to the topic of this weeks lecture dealing with protecting children on the internet.  The blog discusses that the Department of Justice subpoenaed Google as well as many other companies to receive information of what people and users were searching for.  Other companies that were searched were Earthlink, Time Warner, Bell South, and Verizon.  This is about all the blog says.  The blogger goes into a fake letter that George Orwell wrote stating how this is a big mistake and that it is a sad day in our history.  Basically the blogger’s feelings on this governmental action is that anyone who has searched these sites can now be traced by the government and could be in violation of the Child Online Protection Act.  I really do not believe that anyone would be in violation if one was simply searching for porn.  What would be an obvious violation would be if someone was searching for child pornography.  Whether the government is invading our privacy or not child pornography is illegal and violations should be administered regardless.  So basically, unless you have looked up child porn there is no reason to worry about the Department of Justice being able to view what you search on the net.  Although you may think that what you search is embarrassing it really does not matter.  The government does not personally know who you are nor are they going to laugh and make fun of you because you searched porn.  These precautions are more likely to target sexual predators as well as consumers, producers, and distributors of child pornography.

             After scrolling through much of this blog I see the blogger simply is an avid fan or pornography.  He has many blogs devoted to some porn actor named Carly Moore.  There are nude pictures of her as well as a blog devoted solely to Moore’s lesbian layout.  This blogger has everything good to say about pornography and nothing bad to say.  He thinks porn does not cause physical abuse nor does he feel that Scarlet Johanson should be the sexiest woman of 2006.  This man is all about the T & A.  This blog is very enlightening in the eyes of pornography as well as being very comical, optimistic, and playful.  What I feel it lacks is depth and intelligence.  Granted not all blogs were meant for educational purposes or to express your feelings and life situations, but this blog has nothing in it except naked women and comments on how pornography is the best thing ever created in history. 

            This blog is also part of WordPress, which I find ironic for most of our blogs are on this system.  I really cannot not see an entire blog dedicated to the discussion of pornography and either the pros or cons of it.  Unless pornography is part of your life such as being a porn star or has negatively affected you and you want to make others aware of the risks there is not much one can say.  One would have to be educated as we are in this class about the history, laws, and actions of pornography to really have a blog that says anything stimulating or mentionable.  Most blogs about porn are created by those who love porn and want to share their fantasies and favorite actors and videos with other porn watchers.  I feel it is a healthy way to share this hobby without forcing it upon someone.

Sexual Predators

          There is absolutely no excuse for an adult talking in a sexual manner to a child over the internet.  Adults should not even be talking to a child via internet at all unless there is a family relationship of some sort.  The lectures this week discussing the protection of children in relation to the internet and child pornography made it feel like the internet was a sex world full of predators, which may very well be true. 

            It was stated that some feel that the law enforcements are actually luring the lures to meet children or the cops posing as children.  I do not want to hear the excuse that someone was only trying to fulfill their fantasy and did not actually want to meet the child.  Those people have no business, to begin with, to be talking to children about sex.  If they were lured that easily, then if that cop who was posing as a child was an actual child I do not see how much different it could be.  The child may not have been as persuasive, but the sexual predator would have been likely to meet the child.  If these adults are that fantasized about having sex with children, then, as bad as it sounds, they should simply stick to searching for child porn on the net.  Even if it illegal it is better than sexually assaulting a child.  What they really should be doing is facing themselves and knowing they have a problem and seeking professional help.

            It was also stated in the lectures that not much is really affective when it comes protecting children from the internet.  I do agree with the fact that parents should be talking to each child about the dangers of the net and almost instilling a fear about the internet.  Children listen to their parents more than anyone else and if you start at a young age about the internet just as you start at a young age about manners and using the bathroom it will be no problem when they are in their pre-teen years.  One thing that I think would help, but is almost impossible to do is to monitor every child that is on the internet.  A software or program could be created where automatically if a child was a user of a computer, then that child would be limited to the sites they could visit.  This would give no question to what the child was doing on the net and would minimize chat room involvement. 

            Out of all the subjects in this course discussed I feel this is the most obscene.  It is more obscene than bestiality or hardcore pornography.  A child should never be put through that kind of physical or emotional pain that can leave lifelong scars.  Sexual predators should be locked away just as long as those Rockefeller Laws put away cocaine users and dealers.  This is something that should not be taken lightly, but it almost seems like it is since parents are doing very little to prevent this from happening.

Questions for Mr. Lucas

       Do you hold casting calls for potential actors or do they usually contact you?

       Do the actors get to call the shots, like women in straight porn, where they can tell the other actors what they are comfortable with or not?

                      What is the average salary of an actor?

Radical Opinion on Sex and Child Porn

        One of the main topics in this class has been the legal aspect of pornography in relation to the internet and more importantly child pornography.  Chapter ten is just another example and reminder of how child pornography is against the law and extremely vile, degrading, and disgusting.  Over the past month or so it has become apparent that most of the things said about child porn are the same.  Anyone who distributes, obtains, or produces child pornography will be persecuted and possibly fined and jailed.  The reading in the book on this topic discusses somewhat on how the age of consent has changed and elevated over through the history of this country, while the onset of puberty has decreased.  I believe that there should not be an age of consent or an age of legality such as 18 in most of the states.  Yes, there should be an age for voting and different issues that involve someone of a mature age, but sex and drinking should not have a standard.

            My argument may be weak, but it is just my personal opinion.  In European countries there is no age that restricts teenagers to drinking.  They can drink at what ever age they please.  While in high school I came across many foreign exchange students that all said the same thing.  They all stated that they do not drink alcohol that much because they were so used to it at an early age and got the rowdy drunkenness out of their system.  I believe college would have less alcoholic connotations if 21 was not the age that one could legally drink.  Although parties and alcohol and synonyms for college I feel it would decrease somewhat.  As for sex I believe one can have sex when they feel that are ready to have it.  If that means that a 16 year old wants to have sex with a 20 year old then so be it.  What is the difference if that 20 year old is 20 or 17?  The 16 year old is still going to have sex no matter what.  I feel there is too much obsession over numbers.  By all means if that 16 year old wants to have sex with a middle aged person then go ahead!  Where I feel the line should be drawn is the consent of sex.  If a person does not want to have sex and is pressured or persuaded, then that should be banned or illegal.  Although young teenagers are very gullible and persuasive and older more mature adults are more knowledgeable and probably could influence a teenager more than a peer I still see no threat. 

            A student that went to my high school had an affair with one of their teachers throughout middle school and high school.  During their senior year the secret leaked out and both the student and teacher’s lives were destroyed.  I know this brings in the issue of a teacher having sex with a student, but if you take that away there would probably still be the same social stigma and affect for the mere fact of their age difference.  There was consent of sexual behavior and activity between the two with nothing forced upon the student.  It was said that the teacher brainwashed the student for the student was very young, innocent, and ignorant to a normal relationship, but every person lives a different life.  I know I am one of the few if not the only that believes this way, but I guess I don’t think like everyone else does or at least how society and our government wants us to think.

            This has been somewhat related to the reading in the book and to child pornography, but getting back to the topic and how it is illegal I feel that the person producing the child porn should be the one to blame.  Child pornography is illegal and should not be produced for a child should not have to go through that physical and psychological abuse, but those who own the child porn were not the ones who actually told the children what to wear or how to pose.  It is said that those who watch porn are more likely to commit rape and those who watch child porn are more likely to molest children or become a pedophile, but I feel they are less of a risk to society than the actual producers of these crimes.  Anyone who is involved with child pornography basically receives the same punishment.  I feel that those who produce it and are involved with the production of child porn should be punished more harshly than those who own child pornography.  I am not saying that those who own it should not be punished or severely punished, I just feel that there should be different levels of punishment depending on one’s involvement.

            I know that this blog is very controversial and nobody may agree with me, but most of the time if you are thinking something someone else is too.  I in no way feel that child porn is moral or should be legal.  I should feel that in the past couple decades the involvement of the government has blown the issue out of proportion.  As for the legal age of drinking and having sex that is just my personal opinion and I stand by it.  So many people in our country hide their true feelings and opinions because they are afraid of what others will say.  Who cares what others think as long as you believe it that is all that matters

The Phenomenon Called MySpace

       I told all my friends as well as myself that I would never get involved in the phenomenon called MySpace.  So after about a year I finally gave in…a little.  I told my friends they could make me a profile and do whatever they wanted with it.  I do not know how to use it or what the big deal is with everyone using it, but I figured it would be interesting to find out.  Since you must have an account to search other people’s sites and interact with the site in general I figured I would just let my friends do the labor, which I guess is half the fun.

            After reading a blog concerning MySpace and how it is sometimes very sexually oriented it made me want to explore this fad even more.  Again, this is just another outlet for sex.  After only three days people were asking to be my friend and either saying I was attractive or wanted to know personal information about myself.  I do not feel it is unsafe for someone like me who has little time to be on the site or take it that seriously.  For those who are younger and spend more time at home and on the internet I could see this site as a potential threat.  When you’re a young teenager you do not know much about yourself or anybody else and it seems very cool to meet other people around the country.  With all that excitement it can be easy to trust strangers online even though they may not seem to be strangers after a while.  MySpace definitely has the potential to be a hook-up spot for different people to meet in real life and even engage in sex. 

            Just look at most of the members.  Many of the guys have no shirts on and many of the girls are wearing provocative clothing.  When I was at my friend’s house last night she was going through some of the sites of some people that she knew.  Three out of the four people she looked at lied about their age and stated they were at least three years older than they actually were.  Not only is this giving false information, but it could lead to having sex with a minor.  I know I am being extreme with that last statement, but in the back of our minds we all know that some percent of the people on MySpace have many or all intentions of simply meeting people for casual sex. 

            Like any other sites on the internet that deal with people connections there is always that safety hazard of actually meeting that person in public or private who seems attractive and normal on the internet, but is actually not what they perceived.  This is one of the sites that parents should be monitoring or forbidding to those underage or not responsible enough to know how to maturely handle the site.  But I do feel that this site is actually a benefit to some.  I know many of my friends have kept in contact with people from high school that they were only friends with in high school.  You know what I am talking about…those who you perceive to be best friends in school with, but once summer or winter vacation hits you do not hang out or call each other.  You are really only friends within the confines of the school.  Anyways, MySpace is a great way to keep in contact with those people and search for them to see what they have been up to.

            I believe that MySpace is too popular to start to control and limit to reduce risking unsafe encounters.  The only thing that one can do is trust no one on the internet whom you have not yet met in real life.  Parents should either forbid their child to have an account until they are of age or mature enough to know the consequences.  Other than that I feel this site can be entertaining and fun as long as one does not spend their entire day fixated on making the most perfect profile with the most updated backgrounds and pictures because we all have better things to do than sit at the computer all day.