Posted on 12/09/2004 1:16:14 PM PST by Lindykim
Pornography is Anything But a 'Victimless Crime' 12/8/2004 By Cheri Pierson Yecke How many more expert studies do we need to convince ourselves of this fact?
Jud Fry -- one of the characters in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! lives in a shack that is papered with pornographic images. He is a loner, lacks social skills, and is feared by his neighbors. He is clearly capable of murder. This insight into the character of a porn addict hit the Broadway stage in 1943.
Fast forward to 2004. A sexual assault and several attempted abductions of girls in the St. Paul, Minnesota, area are allegedly the work of 19-year-old Ryan Mely, who has been charged (for starters) with second-degree criminal sexual conduct. He apparently was a loner who was feared by his neighbors. Jud Fry is a fictitious character who bought his porn from an itinerant peddler. How did Ryan Mely get his start? Apparently, pornography was a family pastime. While some dads bond with their kids by fishing or playing hockey together, it appears that Mely and his father (a convicted sex offender) shared an interest in pornography. It was reported that sexually explicit material was found at the family home and on their computer.
Is anyone really surprised that pornography is involved here? It has been 60 years since a Broadway musical portrayed what social scientists and criminal analysis have now found to be true -- addiction to pornography can lead to violent sexual behavior. Dr. Victor Cline, a clinical psychologist and expert on sexual addictions, has identified four stages of progression among his patients.
The first stage is addiction, where the attraction to porn is overpowering and the viewer keeps craving more. The next stage is an escalation to more shocking and deviant images, as the earlier ones have lost their power to stimulate. Third is desensitization, where anything earlier seen as disturbing and repulsive becomes viewed as commonplace. Finally, satisfaction cannot be reached unless the perpetrator begins acting out the activities witnessed in the pornography. In effect, fantasy must become reality.
The events in which Mely was allegedly involved appear to follow this pattern. Perhaps the same is true for Alfonso Rodriguez, the man who allegedly abducted and murdered Dru Sjodin. Rodriguez apparently had an infatuation with Dru, who worked at Victoria's Secret, an upscale lingerie shop. On several occasions he allegedly called the store where she worked, asking for her by name.
Victoria's Secret is well known for its racy, soft-porn "fashion show" where voluptuous young models strut the runways in revealing lingerie. The liberal National Organization for Women called it "exploitative" and the conservative Concerned Women for America condemned it as a "high-tech striptease." Regularly protested by both sides of the political spectrum, the company announced in April that it will no longer air this event
The last Victoria's Secret "fashion show" aired on network television November 19, 2003. Dru was abducted three days later. Could it be that Alfonso Rodriguez, a convicted sex offender, watched the show and was propelled into Dr. Cline's fourth stage of sexual deviance? This is a question his judge and jury may consider.
In an interview the night before his 1989 execution, serial killer Ted Bundy revealed the influence of pornography on his life.
A case study for Cline's four stages of addiction, Bundy started his descent into sexual deviance and murder with magazines he found in the neighbor's trash. His addiction escalated until he felt compelled to act out his desires in more than 30 murders that were accompanied with violent sexual acts.
He warned Americans: "There are those loose in [your] towns and communities, like me, whose dangerous impulses are being fueled, day in and day out, by violence in the media, in its various forms -- particularly sexualized violence ... . There are lots of other kids playing in the streets around the country today who are going to be dead tomorrow, and the next day, because other young people are reading and seeing the kinds of things that are available in the media today."
Abundant evidence has demonstrated the tragic impact of pornography. How many more expert studies do we need to convince ourselves of this fact? The elections of 2004 have sent politicians the message that morals matter, so now is the time to focus on the impact of pornography -- the so-called "victimless crime."
Cheri Pierson Yecke is a Distinguished Senior Fellow for Education and Social Policy at the Center of the American Experiment, a conservative think tank in Minneapolis. She is a former Minnesota commissioner of education and is author of The War Against Excellence. This article first appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Used with permission.
Concerned Women for America 1015 Fifteenth St. N.W., Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: (202) 488-7000 Fax: (202) 488-0806 E-mail: mail@cwfa.org
ping
All I have to say is prepared to be flamed. There a plenty of people on FR who are unsympathetic with this issue.
*Snicker*
I wish more people would wise up to this.
pornography really is a terrible, terrible evil in this world...
True. There are a lot of "conservatives" here who think "F*ck Pigs 10" is "let freedom ring".
porno ping
bttt
Really, it wasn't before Warren Court decisions struck down obscenity laws all across the country. Fascinating to hear pro porn "conservatives" hiding behind Warren Court liberalism.
If you say so. "every?" I'd LOVE to see statistics on that, because it would be a big surprise to me.
Note that I'm not flaming you, I'm just pointing out that by using such a broad brush by saying "EVERY" does nothing but weaken your case, makes you look like a shill, and will do nothing to garner you any support for your cause.
Enjoy!
Agree 100%
But it will take those that so cherish their 24x7 access to such fare to rise above this sick addiction and aspire to something better, for all this to change...we are in dangerous, dehumanizing waters.
I recently saw a report that boys aged 9-14 that were exposed to the vicious and degrading porn so prevalent today had 80% less success with sustaining meaningful relationships with females...this is unraveling stuff.
How do we put this toothpaste back in the tube before we are a nation of souless sensation addicts--with women as the primary devalued, used and abused focus??
And this is NOT just the natural order of things.
It has become sheer hateful deviance.
Protection of pornography is no more constitutional than is "separation of church and state". Both are constructs of activist judges serving on the SCOTUS.
I defy anyone to prove that the founding fathers intended for the US Constitution to protect the production and sale of pornography. Such an idea is bovine excrement.
i'd like to see the ratio of people who watch porn and don't turn criminal and those who watch porn and do.
I think this is kind of like a gun study. Showing kids are more violent with guns than not. I"d like to see that same stat for the gun kids. Know what i mean?
The callousness it takes to murder and torture is ceratinly helped developed by pornography. The same murderous callousness and intemperance can be developed in alternate ways -- meaness and cruelty is the main one, along with drunkeness and being a wastrel. The murderers that develop solely from porno addition -- they are rare, if at all.
Alchohol is still the main adjunct to murder.
No, it isn't. It is protected by compromised judges and other deviants.
Moral Absolutes Ping.
Sometimes these pornography threads really get wild. I haven't read the article yet but want to ping it out while I have a minute. Have at it, if you feel so inclied.
Let me know if anyone wants on/off this pinglist.
Plenty of studies have shown the destructive impact porn has on interpersonal relationships...and if you believe that stability and marriage hold together our nation, you should be concerned about this.
Cannot have it both ways.
I think I'm addicted to my hot, perverted, girlfriend.... Is that bad?
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