Best of both worlds

I found this blog’s subject matter to be quite interesting, though in this situation I have a differing opinion. In the case of women being more bisexual than men, I must rest know the criteria for being bisexual. If a girl kisses another girl, is she automatically bisexual? In this day and age, especially in college, it has become commonplace to see things like this. Through the simple evolution of sexuality and the changes in society’s perception of sex, we see women performing acts that could be bisexual. One aspect of society that is not changing as rapidly is the ability for men to be comfortable with issues of sexuality. While gay men are more comfortable than ever before in society and in being open with society, bisexual men have more of a problem becoming socially accepted or at least in feeling that way. If a man has a girlfriend and is bisexual, he will not be able to have both. While sleeping with two women or seeing you’re a woman with another woman is a common male fantasy, the idea of a woman seeing her boyfriend have sex with another man is not something many women are comfortable with. Society is lending to the idea that female bisexuality is acceptable while men should choose. While more women admit to or overtly display being bisexual, there are probably a great number of men who do not want to share being bisexual. Also, the culture of beauty and fashion in America is far more recognized and connected with women. Publications like Maxim and Playboy use female models throughout their magazines because it is the sex appeal their reader’s desire. In women’s magazines like Cosmopolitan, the models are also women. However, the women reading the magazine in most cases won’t want to have sex with the model being photographed. The same cannot be said for the men reading Maxim and Playboy. Today there is still a stigma towards the way people are and behave. Male bisexuality is still something that isn’t totally integrated into our social norms and behaviors. As a result many men are most likely embarrassed or afraid to come out about it, leading to a perception that there is an abundance of bisexual women and a lack of bisexual men. 

 

Those hard working police

In today’s modern global environment, there is a hierarchy in which nations like the United States sit at the top in terms of influence and power. We set standards and involve ourselves internationally or the purpose of trying to keep some kind of order and security in the world. However, with so many conflicts and depraved situations throughout the world it is hard for the United States to enforce their judgment in many areas.

            In watching the Frontline special dealing with the sex trade in Eastern Europe it was evident that poverty and lack of education play a huge part in the on going sex trade. This industry has thrived in the area since the fall of the Soviet Union, due to the unmanned and open borders it left behind. Now countries like the Ukraine and other surrounding areas can freely trade and sell women because there is no reason to fear any authority. In most of these nations the police force is too preoccupied with violent crimes and do not give any attention to a problem like sex slavery. Also, in many cases the police are aware of what is going on and simply don’t care to spend any effort in stopping it or as it is in many cases, are paid off or told by superiors not to care. This is specifically seen with the trafficking in the documentary, specifically in the country of Moldova, where 80 percent of its people live below the poverty line.

            In Moldova we see one of the women from the film, Katia being sold by an older woman right in front of a group of police. Also, in newspapers throughout the country there are ads printed aimed to trick girls into working abroad or as a waitress and end up entering into the sex trade. While authorities are aware, they continue to let the ads run without taking action, and as a result girls are tricked into answering to these ads. Why, even though the problem is becoming pubic and more widespread, do authorities in these nations simply ignore the problem around them?

            The fact that these countries are in deep poverty forces these girls to go out and support their families. Since the opportunities for education and a good job are not available in these nations, many women have no choice but to enter into this lifestyle. This has developed a culture of male domination and power in the midst of impoverished conditions. It has become accepted by many women in these countries that there is no hope for them, that it is just how things are now. By instilling that mentality into people and by having judicial systems indifferent to the activities, the industry can thrive. Even a sex trader caught red handed was given only five years probation.
            Until an example can be set, this problem will continue with ease. The sex trade will always exist because of sex being such a needed and wanted aspect of human nature. This allows people to rationalize the trade because it is not killing anyone or directly causing harm. However, in most cases the girls are beaten, hurt, separated from their family’s for long periods of time and in some cases contract diseases. However, despite this there might be a simple solution. If governments like the Ukraine can be pressured by international organizations to show improvement in stopping the problem, then maybe a chain reaction aimed at stopping the sex trade could occur. By making arrests and prosecuting to the fullest degree, people will begin to fear what they are doing and could stop. By showing that there are consequences people will begin to question the worth of what they are doing.

           

Porn or Burger King

     In viewing the lectures 12 and 13 and hearing the different perspectives on how people in the United States engage in pornography I found it very interesting to see how culture plays such an important part in what people do. Options and social setting mold and shape what a person can do. If someone is does not do well in school they are forced to take on lower level and lower paying jobs. Some people work two jobs and in many cases must worry about supporting others with their work. However, is pornography still looked upon as being the lowest and most reviled job one can have? In today’s society many people work long tough hours for barely enough to survive. If someone can make in one day what another takes a month to make, why not do it if your comfortable? Now that the pornography industry has made itself a safer work environment and the fact that sex is a more acceptable and mainstream topic of discussion that ever before, people are more eager to ignore what society thinks. Since most teenagers in the United States are engaging in sexual activity, most individuals are already qualified for a career in porn. However, when did being in a pornography become more acceptable than working in for example fast food. While neither is more qualified for either position, the porn star exudes more success because they are being paid well for something that is fun and enjoyable and no longer dirty and private as it once was. We look at people making minimum wage as a career as being stupid and because of their salary we see them as unimportant. When we see a porn star we look almost with envy at what they do for a living. We see them more as stars and celebrities because of the excess and glamorized image of the industry. We do not look with the same envious eyes and the individual flipping your burger.

Image is everything

     The process of integrating porn into social acceptability has been quickened with the expansion and at the same time the regulation of the internet. The main stigma and problem with the pornography industry is enforcing laws and regulating content available. By keeping the snuff, rape, and anything defined under disgusting or evil available to people gives porn the stigma of being a bad industry. By keeping an image of regulation and policing online, the industry is making itself more acceptable in areas like video distribution and advertising resulting from the success of porn. Sex has become a common topic and theme within mainstream America and as or people become comfortable discussing sex they are comfortable with seeing sexual imagery. Now companies like Playboy and personalities like Jenna Jameson can be seen as American icons in a way. Playboy is now looked at as a powerful world wide company with great mainstream appeal. Celebrities grant interviews to the magazine on a regular basis, the magazine discusses politics and issues relevant to the public. Advertisers have now flocked to the magazine and others which provide similar entertainment. By doing these things the magazine made itself acceptable and extremely popular. Today the name is more associated with business than pornography. In having Jenna Jameson enter different media mediums and appear on numerous television shows, the porn industry is making itself almost comfortable in the scheme of American culture. As the industry continues to align itself with credible companies it will become more acceptable and increase the industries popularity at the same time.

Porn and the government today

     In watching the Frontline special on Porn in America, I found it very interesting to see so many points about the expansion of porn into the mainstream and the attempts of government and religious institutions to stop it. Particularly, the fact that Donald Rumsfeld and the conservative Bush administration were heavily supporting anti porn advocates and taking the business to court. However, after the September 11^th attacks the government decided to leave the pornography industry alone for the time being. While seeing religion becoming an aspect of politics in the United States is not uncommon in recent years, it is important to separate religious values from societal common sense. Cigarettes kill people everyday in the United States; however, you must be 18 to buy them. When you are a legal adult you can make the decision to not only buy guns and alcohol, but a product that is going to kill you after a certain period of time.  The cigarette industry makes millions of dollars a year and they do not even advertise their product. Numerous organizations have formed in the last fifteen years to speak out and advertise against cigarettes. The fact is that when people are adults they can make adult decisions and in today’s day and age everyone should know that cigarettes are bad for you. If they want a product they are aware of and have knowledge of, then as adults they should be allowed to purchase it. In censoring a product like porn and allowing cigarettes to be sold at every gas station in America puts the nation in a predicament. How do they come out vehemently disagree with an institution like porn and still let a product know to kill be available to the public. The amount of taxes levied against tobacco companies makes them extremely profitable for the government. Perhaps if porn gave a portion of the yearly earning to the government we would see TV adds for Jenna Jameson’s new video and sex toys advertised in Sports Illustrated. Cigarette companies have been money makers for the government for years.  By keeping themselves separated from the mainstream and by being a subculture of society, though so many people purchase and view pornography, the porn industry has become extremely profitable online. The industry is annually making five billion dollars from video sales and anywhere from one to two billion on internet sales. Porn and sex are a part of the mainstream even if some still view it as taboo. Instead of looking at the industry from a moral and values perspective, the government should examine the overall success and marketability of the industry and realize that watching porn probably won’t kill anyone.

privacy and online pornography

In looking at small pornographies and online communities connected to sex it is interesting to see people’s comfort and trust levels. While the internet has made sex and pornography commonplace, it is now more than ever that people are connecting to one another through pornography or sex. People are comfortable with more on the internet now than ever before. Online shopping, gambling and even classes have made people more comfortable than ever with their personal information. People give out their credit card numbers all the time; however, they do it on sites that they trust. In joining online communities based around sex, people are very comfortable for several reasons. The quantity of sexual material online gives people the idea that since everyone else is doing it so can I. people don’t necessarily have to be truthful with one another in internet communities. People know that they probably wont ever meet anyone in their online community and thus can behavior as whomever they like, further adding to the element of sexual fantasy.

            ‘…the exposure to a wide variety of material that would otherwise be expensive or unavailable allows individuals to actively engage in shaping their sexual identity; or allows them to co-create that identity within a community’ (pg 35).

            This allows people to not only to be anonymous but to create whatever identity they want. However, more than ever people behavior is being monitored and policed online. Crack downs on child pornography, soliciting of minors and prostitution have all been great improvements in protecting people online. However, with that comes the pressure to censor and watch what one says and does online. By believing that we are being monitored, even though we have no idea, causes us to act as we do in society. The effectiveness of the idea that someone of authority is monitoring you allows online communities to function and be widely accepted. The size and anonymity of the internet makes people comfortable to be sexual and pornographic.

 

Halavais, A. (2005) Small pornographies. ACM SIGGROUP Bulletin, 25(2).

Human trafficking

In reading Donna M. Hughes’ article The Internet and Sex Industries: Partners in Global Sexual Exploitation, I was surprised by the amount of human trafficking currently exists and how much money the industry is making every year. This is a global problem and affects women all over the world and stems from economic depravity and impoverished conditions. In researching what types of international controls and programs were set up to prevent this problem I saw that it was only in 2004 that many programs and types of funding were set up within the United States. Being that the United States enjoys policing the world so much, it was a surprise that it took until November of 2004 to set up anti-trafficking task forces within the United States. The Department of Justice announced that 18 cities or counties throughout the United States would receive funding to set up task forces to stop human trafficking. Each of the areas receives anywhere from $330,000 to $500,000. The United States so often is a leader in world news and is extremely powerful in its political and social influence throughout the world. Thus, I find it surprising that it would be only 15 months ago that a plan to help prevent human trafficking within the United States was implemented. Powerful nations will have to acknowledge this problem and create international laws to help stem this problem. As long as poverty and social oppression towards women exists in the world this trade industry will exist. While it is good that the United States is setting an example for stemming the problem, it is long overdue.

April 30th, 1993: The Internet is free

            On April 30^th, 1993 the World Wide Web is introduced as a totally free technology. It was created by CERN or the European Organization for Nuclear Research. This organization developed a project called ENQUIRE which aimed at creating a file sharing technology. Initiated by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, the first website went up in 1991. However, it was not until April 30^th of 1993 when it was announced that this public technology would be available for free. The world now had a global form of communication. People all over the world began to set up sites and post information ranging in topic matter. One of the first mediums to make an impact on the World Wide Web was pornography.
            The ability to easily access this material through web galleries, usernet sites and video filing transferring led to a boom in internet pornography. Usernet groups allowed people to upload files an eventually video. As a result people around the world could share pornography. However, the ease in which to access this material led to many problems concerning indecency, underage viewing of the material and regulation of the content. The internet provides so much anonymity that in most cases during the early days of the internet it was easy to be anonymous and circumvent copyright restrictions. While people were posting these materials it was becoming apparent that it was easy to access pornography regardless of your age. Though the United States would develop internet pornography standards to protect children, specifically the Communications Decency Act of 1996, they could not police the internet.  The internet was world wide and in other nations what is considered indecent and illegal is perfectly legal. Some forms of child pornography that are illegal in the United States are legal in Russia.  In many other nations you do not have to be a certain age to view pornographic material while in the United States you have to be 18.
The inability to put a global standard or law into place to police the internet has allowed pornography to be readily and easily available to people world wide. The creation of the net and peer to peer sharing has allowed the world access to pornography without ever leaving their homes.  

Citations
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERN#Computer_Science_and_CERN2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_pornography

 

 

Reply about what is porn?

I saw this blog posting and agreed with what was being said.

In deciding what pornography is or what constitutes as pornography we must realize that it is an abstract subject. Is pornography offensive to everyone? What types of things constitute as pornography? In answering these questions we see that there is no true explanation for what pornography is. In many cultures throughout the world nudity and sex are not taboo or offensive but instead normal issues and topics. However, in the United States we see nudity in a magazine and its pornography. The culture one is brought up in shapes all his ideas and beliefs for the future. Your environment will constitute how you feel about certain imagery and whether you consider it pornographic. There is no way to set a standard on the issue because there are just too many ways to define it. 

Coppersmith Article

It is interesting to note the path that pornography has taken in the world. The increase in technology and mediums to convey pornography has allowed the material to become a mainstream part of our culture. With the development of video technology and the creation of the internet, people are exposed and have access to pornography than ever before. As a result of this the social stigmas or implications that are associated with viewing pornography are starting to become less serious. The fact is that sex has become a commercial and profitable business. As society has seen an increase in pornography being available, people have developed a more relaxed attitude about pornography. The internet especially has been the vehicle for the development of pornography into the mainstream. Computers have become such an accepted part of our lives and the internet has also become very commonplace. Pornography is very easily accessible as a result of the prevalent use of the internet in our society. On-line pornographic services made anywhere from 750 million to one billion dollars in 1998. Since then computer and internet related technologies have greatly improved and the internet is more accessible to people than ever before.  As a result younger people are being introduced to sexual and pornographic images. This will allow the business to continue to thrive.