[apcofsky]

I was talking with someone the other day, who commented that in the little town where he grew up, back in the 1950s, if he had wanted to view pornography, he would not have been able to, nor known how to go about seeking it out. Now, we have the internet in our homes and filfth and sleezy material is just a click away. Sometimes, it even seems to seek us out. My friend continued by observing that the magazine covers that one sees at the checkout stands in grocery stores would have been considered pornography back in those days.
I am saddened by both the growing prevalence and seeming tolerance of pornography or "sensualized" media. It seems to be to the point that if I don't want to be subjected to pornography, I must start to do something. Beyond internet blockers and just not buying pornographic materials myself, what can I do to combat this trash. Any ideas?
Perhaps we have varying definitions of "pornography". I am talking about scantily clad women, men, teens and children! I am talking about the sensualization or sexualization of everything we see or hear. I am talking about not being able to watch an hour of television (if its not in your show, its in the commercials!) or a movie without reference to or displays of sexual acts. I'm tired of it. I'm worried about my family being subjected to it, deceived by it, and potentially becoming enslaved or addicted to it. This is a real threat that i think deserves real attention and NOW! We can no longer just turn our heads, or walk away, we have to DO something! The time for passiveness has passed.
What suggestions/ideas/resources are there for avoiding, fighting, protecting against, and overcoming or helping others to overcome who've already formed addictions to pornography?

[MJ7]

I agree with you totally. I like that you are looking for answers to stop the craziness too. I refuse to shop at Victoria Secrets after their seductive displays perverting angels have been so openly displayed in the mall windows. I choose to go around the store when taking my children to the mall. I want my boys to know what modesty is and desire a woman who RESPECTS her body. To protect my children, I don't watch regular TV durring the day.
My dh really is on his own. He doesn't have time any longer to be on the internet and tempted by porn--thank goodness! We don't support porn or sex shops. The mighty dollar speaks loudly and frankly sex does sell. So until more people wise up and decide not to be suckered in by sexual advertising, I don't think things will change.

[hennypenny]

It honestly doesn't worry me. I don't utilise porn, but it doesn't worry me if others do. The sexualised media I feel I can handle also, I don't give it much thought.

[hennypenny]

Ooops, one thing I should clarify though, is that if I saw children being sexualised by the media, that would bother me, but I've not seen that happen which is why it doesn't concern me. The child porn I hear about on the internet is a saddening thought though, and I am 100% against that.

[MJ7]

Hennypenny, glad you cleared that up!

[workingdad]

I'm always offended by the various forms of hypocrisy surrounding the issue. On the one hand, there's the guy selling the magazines at the newsstand and claiming First Amdendment/Free Speech when of course what he really means is "Free Market." On the other, you have stupid probes like the Meese Commission spending hours upon hours watching movies like This Butt's For You. "oh, yes, horrible, horrible stuff -- put on the next reel!"
Or, here's one for you: I was watching an ABC News report on the Branch Davidians, which speculated on David Koresh's sexual activities with fourteen-year-old girls, making him out to be a child molester (he may have been, I don't know), and during a commercial break here come shots of young women in cute, "home-movie"-style poses, while Maurice Chevalier sings on the soundtrack "Thank Heaven For Little Girls"!! You've got this incredibly contradictory attitude people have about this stuff. Porn is hardly the only place where women are objectified.
If you want to do something about it, keep engaging in critical dialogue about it. My main concern with images of sex in our culture is that we are not only objectifying women but that we cannot be honest about it. We put on this smug face about Janet Jackson's breasts but we make Desperate Housewives a hit. We don't approve of strip clubs but we have bus stop ads for Bebe where the women look like whores. We teach repression of sexual desires in some places but celebrate them in mainstream advertising. We have a very unhealthy attitude toward sex, and porn and other sexist advertising are symptoms.
I'm a passionate defender of free speech, and to a degree the free market. If adults want to make sex movies and adults want to buy them, well, I don't think I can stop that. I also get the idea that pornography is in the mind of the beholder, and that's not a standard of judgment to make for good laws. But the problem is that such stuff is part and parcel of a sexist social order that makes women objects of desire, and those attitudes need to be reshaped. This stuff creates unrealistic images of women. I don't advocate censorship or even boycotts. I advocate critical thinking.
As for those who are addicts of the stuff: those people need to seek assistance like any other addicts, be they alcoholics or gamblers.

[MJ7]

Good points workingdad. I think it's important that the time and the place for these kinds of things are taking place. It is not--nor should not be appropriate to air a Victoria Secrets commercial between Dora and Sponge Bob. Not that this is happening. Thankfully more of the more provocative ads are on later at night. I think magazines in stores with seductive covers should be kept out of eye level of children. Free speach is one thing, but I feel like I ought to have the right to go even to a grocery store without this kind of stuff staring my children in the face. Thankfully porn shops black out windows.

[babydawn]

Originally Posted by MJ7

It is not--nor should not be appropriate to air a Victoria Secrets commercial between Dora and Sponge Bob. Not that this is happening.

Carl's Jr. sure didn't seem to mind airing the Paris Hilton commercial durring American Idol. That IS a show that children watch and that commercial was quite a bit worse than any Victoria Secret commercial if you ask me.

Originally Posted by workingdad

I'm a passionate defender of free speech, and to a degree the free market. If adults want to make sex movies and adults want to buy them, well, I don't think I can stop that. I also get the idea that pornography is in the mind of the beholder, and that's not a standard of judgment to make for good laws.

I disagree, adults can't make (grow) and sell and buy drugs if they want to. It is illegal. Pornography is so much more addictive than drugs. It destroys families, it leads some people to act out on the stuff they see which often results in sex crimes. Ever heard of Ted Bundy??? He admitted his problem started by looking at porn. My husband and I have a friend who is a probation officer for sex offenders, he said that he has yet to meet one who didn't get his start looking at porn. Is everyone who looks at porn going to become a child molester? No, but that is a risk that no one seems to take into consideration when they start looking at this stuff, because no one wants to admit that it is bad.

Originally Posted by workingdad

But the problem is that such stuff is part and parcel of a sexist social order that makes women objects of desire, and those attitudes need to be reshaped. This stuff creates unrealistic images of women.

This I completely agree with and it is another huge problem with porn. I feel so sorry for women whose husbands get ensnared by this stuff and it ends up ruining the marriage because the woman can't/won't perform the way the man fantasizes. Or the husband become frustrated with the wife because she not skinny enough or pretty enough or kinky enough. This can lead to infidelity in the marriage, this is what happened to another gal that I know.

It leads to broken homes, we should be fighting ANYTHING that causes families to be torn apart.

[madcanner]

Originally Posted by apcofsky

Beyond internet blockers and just not buying pornographic materials myself, what can I do to combat this trash. Any ideas?

We take full advantage of the v-chip in our tv. Unfortunately it doesn't work to black out commercials! I have a friend who doesn't even watch tv anymore. They just wait until the shows they want to watch come out on DVD and watch them then. I was thinking about it, and even if you bought the series instead of renting them from someplace like Netflix, it could still be cheaper than cable or satellite.

[MJ7]

Originally Posted by babydawn

Carl's Jr. sure didn't seem to mind airing the Paris Hilton commercial durring American Idol. That IS a show that children watch and that commercial was quite a bit worse than any Victoria Secret commercial if you ask me.

You're right! I forgot about that. I'm sure that's not the only one. We usually turn the channel to Home Shopping durring the commercials. That one was absolutely disgusting.