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
The Fates are cruel.
Yes. Marry her and then it is okay.
Is there anything you don't believe is form of pornography? You've pretty much confirmed my suspicion that to the many on this thread, anything involving a semi-attractive woman is porn. Only Helen Thomas can be safely viewed.
Indeed, yet this face inevitably gets plastered on the word 'conservative' and is used to beat people like you and me over the head.
Post some pictures already and let someone else be the judge.
Ah screw it. Feed my inner criminal.
What's a mazel?
Those activities harm the person or property of another without their consent. That's why they are illegal.
Porn harms no rights. That's why it cannot be made illegal.
Show the stats on the breakdown of marriage and societal mores.
Excellent point! Obviously, the production of porn is most akin to prostitution. It's sex for money. I don't understand why it is possible to forbid prostitution and (seemingly) impossible to shut down the porn operations. (I'm aware, of course, that plenty of FReepers would like to see the USA turned into Amsterdam, but evidently our activist courts have not yet required that we permit sex for money here.)
BIG WRONG.
While this may be more or less true, people's own experience, whether personal or that of a family member, bear out the truth of it. Anyone who has had a heavy-duty pornography user in their family, or been one, will tell you that it changes a person. It's just a fact.
Even if I were to stipulate to that... so freakin' what? Smoking is destructive. Fatty food is destructive. Each person decides whether the risk to his health of smoking or eating one of these is worth the enjoyment he derives from it. It's this thing called freedom... perhaps you've heard of it.
When women get together, it is a common grouse, complaint or k'vetch. And I personally have had relationships that were effected in one way or another.
As a geezerette, I am noting an escalation in mis-informed expectations and downright cluelessness. But I haven't done a double blind study with a signification statistical population starting with lab rats and progressing to couples in 4237 cities running for 5 years :)
Well, except for the bisexual part, I think I married that woman.
I love people that talk about how evil something is, but just can't not look at it...kinda like the Stern haters that have to listen to him b/c he is such a heathen....
Your problem is your overgeneralization of the issue. Not all porn watchers are social deviants....sorry to disappoint you.
Thx for the thoughtful response.
Yes, but then there are other risks...
Or they all don't jump into the shower together with a bottle of Tupelo honey ;)
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