Posted on 07/11/2002 3:23:12 AM PDT by kattracks
Washington (CNSNews.com) - A trend toward normalizing pedophilia is the latest manifestation of a dangerous understanding of human sexuality that has come to be more widely held over the last 30 years, a leading analyst of cultural trends said Wednesday.
To reverse the trend, which poses a serious challenge to contemporary cultural conservatism, Americans must return to conservative sexual mores, Carson Holloway, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska, said at a symposium entitled "From Playboy to Pedophilia: How Adult Sexual Liberation Leads to Children's Sexual Exploitation," hosted by the Family Research Council.
In a relatively short time, American has gone from a society that Alexis de Tocqueville, speaking 150 years ago, said observed stricter sexual standards than any other country, to one in which casual sex is depicted with approval in prime time television.
A great gulf now separates pre-1960s Tocquevillian America from the present sexually liberationist ethos, Holloway said.
The change in sexual thinking and behavior was brought about by sexual liberationists' rhetorical emphasis on the autonomy of "consenting adults," and the triumph of the notion that anything sexual is morally permissible so long as it takes place between consenting adults, Holloway said.
By insisting that there can be nothing objectionable about any sexual act that takes place between consenting adults, sexual liberationists deny there is a moral nature of sex, he said.
Similarly, the defense of pedophilia is repeatedly made on the basis that relations can be voluntary and that the young, who are more worldly-wise than previous generations, can in some cases be the instigators of sexual activity with adults, Holloway said.
These social and cultural trends also are reflected in landmark legal decisions, he said.
In April, the Supreme Court struck down a law that prohibited the distribution and possession of virtual child pornography that appears to depict real children.
"Reading the court's opinion, I was struck by the extent to which the members of the majority at least don't seem to live in the same moral universe as many of the rest of us," Holloway said.
"We learn, for example, there's a distinction between the indecent and the obscene, that pornography is not necessarily obscene and indeed that child pornography is not necessarily obscenity," he added.
With its decision, the court put materials that foster pedophile fantasies in the realm of constitutionally protected speech, Holloway noted.
The federal statute, which was enacted in 1996, had banned a range of techniques, including computer-generated images and the use of youthful-looking adults, which were designed to convey the impression of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
The court ruled, however, that non-obscene child pornography can be banned if it's produced using real children. Such material, the court holds, does not have constitutional protection because of the state's compelling interest in preventing the harm to children caused by their sexual exploitation, Holloway said.
"Thus the court seems to share the conventional view that the introduction of minors to sexual intercourse is wrong or abusive," Holloway said.
The justices also made it almost impossible to punish anything as obscenity, Holloway noted. The court ruled that the federal statute prohibiting virtual child pornography didn't take into account that for something to be considered obscene, it has to appeal primarily to the prurient interest, violate community standards, and be void of social, scientific, political or cultural value.
"What that comes down to is, if anything has the slightest sliver of culturally or socially redeeming value, then it can't be judged obscene, even if it's pure pornography from start to finish. And I think that's effectively emasculating any kind of laws against obscenity," Holloway said.
"It seems to me that any pornographic movie in which there's even one line of conversation could be redeemed on that basis," he added.
The cultural reaction to the behavior of President Clinton, who had sex with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, also demonstrated a change in Americans' attitudes toward sex, and a trend towards more promiscuous sexual activity among young people, analysts at the seminar noted.
"Clearly Americans disapproved of what Bill Clinton had done, but they didn't disapprove of it enough to want to get rid of him," Holloway said, in response to questions.
People objected to Clinton's lying and tampering with the administration of justice, but not to his sexual behavior, he said.
Holloway said there was a connection between the legitimization of homosexuality and the acceptance of President Clinton's sexual behavior. Interviews with "the man on the street" revealed that people believed Clinton did "what any man would have done."
"Well, if that's your moral attitude toward sex, then there's nothing wrong with anything any homosexual does either. It's hard to see a principled objection to what homosexuals do if what Bill Clinton does is just okay," he said.
E-mail a news tip to Lawrence Morahan.
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This looks like a job for the Green Lantern . . . !
Thanks. Were I not afraid of getting punched in the snout, I'd ask you to email me a few pix. You sure don't fit the techwriter mode (lascivious grin) . . .
Coming of Age in America (Much Too Soon)
"Girls in the U.S. and other industrialized nations are now reaching puberty at drastically earlier ages."
"Two factors proven responsible for precocious puberty are detached parenting 3 and consumption of cow's milk."
The article then expounds the hispanic vs US differences. No where does it mention at what this drastic age is or the percent affected. Rather, this article is about how bad cow's milk is for infants.
This next article is copied completely. Lot's of solid, concrete information we can sink our teeth into.
EARLY PUBERTY LINKED TO HORMONES?
The average age for North American girls to begin mensturation is 12, compared with 14 in 1900, and some scientists believe that change may be linked to use of growth hormones in beef. ''There is no other reason to explain it,'' says Carlos Sonnenschein (anatomy and cellular biology), adding that ''the length and amount of exposure to estrogens (a class of hormones) is one of the most significant risk factors in breast carcinogenesis.'' (Canadian Press)
Consumer Concerns About Hormones in Food
Early puberty in girls has been found to be associated with a higher risk for breast cancer. Height, weight, diet, exercise, and family history have all been found to influence age of puberty (see BCERF Fact Sheet #8, Childhood Life Events and the Risk of Breast Cancer). Steroid hormones in food were suspected to cause early puberty in girls in some reports. However, exposure to higher than natural levels of steroid hormones through hormone-treated meat or poultry has never been documented. Large epidemiological studies have not been done to see whether or not early puberty in developing girls is associated with having eaten growth hormone-treated foods.
Not much more to add.
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