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
Sure, all laws legislate morality, but not all morality can properly be turned into legislation.
Or are you in favor of outlawing the worship of false idols?
So if someone can find themselves some consenting 14 year olds then hey, that's cool.
Strawman. As you must surely know, minors are legally presumed to be unable to consent to certain things. We're talking about pornography involving only consenting adults.
It was on an EP of CSI: Miami :)
What's the deal, here? Does anyone know what a logical fallacy is anymore? Is the art of debate at long last dead?
What I want to know is, if Ted Bundy, as the article states, fished porn out of his neighbor's trash, and consequently went on one of his murderous rampages, whatever happened to his neighbor?
CA....
Indeed, hedonism does not lead one to a glorious utopia but straight to Hell.
His neighbor was The Green River Killer, I guess. But they didn't catch him as soon, because Bundy had all the guy's porn.
Sad thing is the comparison would be lost on them. They'd just become incensed at the idea, and not recognize the underlying truth of the matter.
Thanks! It's actually hubby's idea. I'd love to see it happen!! The porn heads can do their thing and we don't have to guard against it so diligently.
The problem here is that correlation does not prove causation. Was he a murderous antisocial loner because he had porn on his walls, or did he have porn on his walls because he was a murderous antisocial loner?
Chicken or the egg, which came first.
I never said anything about excusing anyone. I am pro-gun and drive an SUV too. :-)
However, my approach to porn is similar to the way our society is beginning to approach drunk driving. We must recognize the cause and effect relationship involved with the problem, as well as holding criminals responsible for their actions. Just as drunk driving carries a high risk of causing death and injury to the driver and others, consumption of pornography increases the likelyhood of harm to others around him. Not necessarily physical harm, but very real harm nonetheless.
The mainstream porn companies, such as Vivid (which is traded on the NYSE, by the way), Playboy, Hustler etc. are scrupulous about employing only women over the age of 18. These are big corporations with too much to lose.
No legit porn producer is going to hire a performer who might be underage. It's just not worth the risk since there are so many 18+ old girls willing to do porn.
The only way you're going to end up watching kiddie porn is if you go looking for it.
The religion of peace solved this problem with burkas ...
Oh grow up. I have a 12 year old and a 10 year old at home. I get the "He made me hit him" bravo seirra enough at home that I don't need to hear it from allegedly adult freepers. I didn't make you do a damned thing. You're grown and in control of your own actions.
By that logic, we can ban smoking, because a man's wife and children will be hurt if he dies of lung cancer. We can ban Big Macs, because society will bear the brunt of the bills for unclogging the consumer's arteries. We can, in fact, ban anything that's even remotely risky... which, in practice, is everything.
Your life belongs to you. Not to the government, not to your wife, not to your children, and definitely not to "society". You are the only one who is responsible for your own choices, and you are the only one who can decide what risks to assume.
I think that anything that is addictive is unhealthy for the addicted person. I think that anything that is degrading is unhealthy for the degraded person. In pornography both the addict and the object are cruelly victimizing each other and are being victimized by all of the panderers and abusers who facilitate the activity. Some say that porn can be non-addictive or non-degrading, like alcohol, but I just can't wrap my brain around that concept. It's just pure denial. And if you admit that it is addictive and/or degrading, then you have to confess that it is evil.
How can an activity that only occurs in private ever be considered public?
What I find fascinating is that the author of the article is basing her support on the rantings of Ted Bundy. I guess I go wack 30 people, I'll become an expert in porn's social affects as well....
Well, if you ever find the grant money, I'm willing to look at back issues of Playboy for hours at a time for the right price.
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