What a strange trip it has been!

Let me just start by saying that this was my first ever online course so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. Then to find out that it is all about porn made matters worse. I am an EXTREMELY private and shy person so to have to look at pornographic pictures and films was a journey all in itself. My friends and families jaws would drop when I told them what classes I was taking this semester. The I watched the first lecture and I realized that it was more then just looking at naughty pictures and videos. It was about the behind the scenes and the stuff that the general public would never even think about.

We learned about different court cases and milestones throughout pornographic history. When and what the first pornographic film was, the different types of pornographic films (who knew there were more than one), and various other topics as well. I can't even begin to write down what I have learned. It would take me a whole semester!! There were times when I would struggle to come up with clever and interesting topics week after week, because there is only so many times and so many different ways to say that you are completely and 100% against any form of pornography. I am not going to lie, there were time when I would get discouraged and just want to give up, but then I would say to myself if he can talk for 3 hours straight each week there has got to be something that I can write about. Towards the end it seems that we all just started to drag and wanted it to be over with, but now that the time has actually come what am I going to do with my Sunday's now!!!

This has been a great class and definitely a great learning experience! I now know that there is more to porn then just what you see in the magazine or watch on TV. I have also learned that not all pornography is bad and actually for certain circumstances porn can be a good thing. This class has truly opened my eyes to a whole new outlook on the world. I now view everything with an open mind and judgement free!

Actions speak louder than words

I have to be honest here, when I ask myself which is more important, freedom of speech or rights of privacy. I have to say I would rather have the rights to my privacy over the right of speech. Actually I wish that we wouldn't even have to outline our rights as Americans. Everyone should be decent enough to treat others with respect, but such is life right! I have come to terms with the fact that we will never live in the perfect world. No the less I think that our privacy is more valuable then our speech.

When it comes down to it wouldn't you rather have your privacy protected? Think of all of the "sex tapes" that have surfaced just over the past few years. Who knows just how many more are out there. In the lectures this week Dr. Halavais discussed a case about a young woman who became know as the "sex tape girl." Granted her partner who released the tape received a hefty fine, but his parents paid for it. So did he really get the full consequence to his actions? Yeah he has to pay his parents back, but they are his parents. They can't send him to prison or make him fully regret his actions. Even when he was asked if he regretted it he was a cocky jerk and said no. Would he still have felt the same if he had to do time in prison? I really don't think so but then again some people just never learn from their mistakes.

I guess the reason why I feel my privacy is more important then my speech is because I know that I would never say anything stupid, but unfortunately at any time my privacy could be violated. I realize that there is a consequence to every action, but are we focusing too much on the wrong crime? Actions speak louder than words right?

Indecent Exposure

Last week I came across a blog that talked about the new laws that Bush has presented for actions against those involved in pornography. Ironically enough Dr. Halavais had us read the article this week as part of our lecture! I thought that day would never come when we would get some uniformity in the consequences to soliciting pornography.

Case after case that was discussed in the lectures all have had very different outcomes, but were very similar in actions. To this day I still do not understand how if someone murders someone they get life in prison, and then another person murders someone else and they only get 20 years and then are out early on good behavior. Two people got murdered and are dead right? So why is someone spending the rest of their life in prison while the other walks in just a few short years? Where is the uniformity? I don't care how they committed the crime, the fact is 2 people are now dead. It is the same in the pornographic world. Two people are arrested for downloading child pornography while one goes to jail and the other gets off with just a fine.

I truly hope that these laws will stick and will only get better and better from here on out. For years it seems that people would do whatever they wanted because they were protected under the first amendment. Well screw the first amendment, everyone should be decent enough to know when we are taking advantage of our rights and taking it too far. I think it is safe to say that most parents do not raise their children to be dishonest and indecent people. So why are so many Americans taking advantage of our freedom? I hope these new laws will open up our eyes to what we do have so people will stop trying to throw it all away.

Finally someone who thinks like I do!!!

I came across a blog by Boogie who feels the same way about the pornography laws as I do. I must admit that until I read his blog I had no idea that Bush has passed a law stating that you will get 5 years in prison for producing pornography. It was rather refreshing to find someone as passionate about the laws as I am. Boogie might be a little bit more then me but you get my point! His blog pretty much speaks for itself so enjoy! <a href="http://www.boogie-blog.com/">Bush Wants me to SPend 5 Years in Prison</a>

My questions to you!!

Dr. Lucas,

Do you think that similar crimes involving pornography should be punished the same? It seems that there isn't consistency with the sentencing even though the crimes are the same.

Do you ever see the pornography idustry being regulated and brought within control?

How do you feel about all of the violence and sex that is on Television and in Movies today?

Which is worse? The middle finger or a sex scene.

The lectures for this week have me quite confused about the future of our children. They can deny the selling of a beer in New York because the frog is sticking up his middle finger and this is considered to be "Harmful" to children, but yet we can have violence and sex on TV and in movies? What have the authorities done to protect our children from the harm on those media outlets? I know that the middle finger is offensive and we don't want our children to adopt the habit, but how is that worse then what we see on TV? Until this class I had never even heard of that beer. It should be that way about porn. We never should have even heard of it.

Dr. Halavais mentioned that there are a bunch of bills that have been filed for pornography, but have yet to be implemented. Why is that? If we are so concerned about our society and our children why does it take forever for something to get done about it? I do realize that things take time but this has been an issue for many decades now. I just wish that someone would finally take a stand and do something about it.

With all of the knowledge and technology that we have, we should be able to come up with a solution to the growing pornography epidemic. Certain cable companies offer parental controls for not only the television but for the Internet as well. If we could just all collaborate together to set guidelines within the same wave length, I think that we could get this growing issue under control. The parental controls should be easier to set up and I think that more would use them. A lot of people shy away from programs because they think that they will be too confusing so as a result, their children end up watching whatever they want. Even though this sounds like a great and easy idea to me, I do understand that it is not. There are so many loop hole that someone will always find a way around the rules. I just hope that for the sake of our future we can come up with a compromise.  

Who ever said “These are bad words”?

Swear words are just words right? So at what point and who categorized a certain list of words at "bad". What if someone decided that the word "that" was a bad word, would we listen and follow suit?

There are a lot of words that sound bad but you are safely allowed to say. So I ask why these words? Why are there seven dirty words? Why is "bitch" bleeped out and you will get fined if you say it on the radio or television, but it really means a female dog. An "Ass" is a donkey, but yet we still can't say it without getting rep remanded. What if we really were talking about a donkey or a female dog. Would we still not be allowed to say it?

A word is a word. I often think about what if in today's world we really said the word Bitch for dog and then dog was considered a "bad" word. It doesn't really make too much sense when you flip the words around does it. I think that if there wasn't such consequence for saying these seven dirty words, then in the long run they would get said as much. Some people only do things because they want to be rebellious. Well if it wasn't bad to say the word then it would get said as much.

Dazed and Confused.

After listening to this weeks lectures I truly am confused as to what our first amendment is. I know that it is freedom of speech, but what exactly defines speech? I cannot recall ever getting an exact explanation.

I was always told that actions speak louder than words. So now back to the first amendment, do we have freedom to just spoken words or do we have freedom for our spoken actions too? Why tell us one thing when they actually meant another. Dr. Halavais asked us if we thought that a picture of someone naked was protected under the first amendment. After careful thought and debate I have come to the conclusion that it should be protected. Until certain guidelines and parameters have been laid out to specify what exactly it does cover, I don’t feel that we should be held responsible. We are not mind readers so therefore, we don’t know what one person thinks from another.

It just seems to me that there are way to many gray areas within our law enforcement and our laws. In today’s world everything needs to be crystal clear or else someone will find a way around it or a loop hole somewhere. Just think about how many times you have taken advantage of the gray areas. I am willing to bet all of us have done just that at one point throughout our lives.

My Alter Ego…….

The pornography industry as a whole can be rather influential on our society today. It satisfies many wants, lusts, and needs that we as humans naturally have. Everyone's needs are different and are satisfied in different ways. For many, pornography satisfies the fantasy need and without this need being satisfied, many may try to satisfy their fantasy in reality. This could potentially be very dangerous

depending on what the fantasy may be.

Pornography also satisfies urges. Some people have such strong urges to have sex that they will do just about anything to get it even if it involves force. Now when they get an urge they can just pop in a tape and be fine. This may not be the case for everyone but some I am sure that it works for some.

Pornography also introduces us to what sex actually is. It can show us new positions and spice up a relationship. When you have been with someone for many many years, your sex life may start to get dull, so pornography can introduce you to fun new things. I would even be willing to bet that pornography has kept relationships and marriages together. It seems that more and more people break up because of a lack of interest in each other. Watching a dirty movie together can get them in the mood again and allow them to feel the attraction again.

As the title states, this is my alter ego. I am very much against pornography;however, I do realize that there is another side to every story.

Monkey see, monkey do…..

If those who continually watch porn are seeing women get raped and the rapper get away with it, it creates a false sense of authority. Since these people see others get away with crimes, perhaps they feel like they can get away with it as well. The audience is also seeing the pleasure that the rapper is getting from raping this woman, so in the long run perhaps men rape women because they have seen others get away with it with extreme pleasure.

 It is just like if children watch someone do something dangerous on TV, they are now exposed to something that they never would have thought of themselves and so they want to try it. There are people that have never been exposed to rape and they watch a porno and they now are exposed to this horrible crime, but they see the pleasure involved so they decided to try it themselves.

 This may not be true for all criminals but I sure am willing to bet that there is at least one rapist out there who decided to do it because he saw it in a pornography.