Final post: what I’ve learnt.

Somehow this semester is over and with that the end has come to this blog.

What I’ve learnt:

• the porn industry is pretty gross. I started out with the belief that adult entertainment was just another industry, where yes people had sex for money but they did it because they’re good at it, or look good while doing it or whatever, and chose to do it. Not so apparently. After flipping through Jenna Jameson’s memoir How to Make Love like a Porn Star, (which I meant to post about but that never materialized) and all of the research I’ve done for this project, I have an entirely new outlook on that world.
• sex censorship is even more incredibly sexist then you already believe.
• Jezebel is my new best friend.
• My work definitely checks the history on my computer.
• “Sesame Street” and “censorship” comes up more than you would think on Google.
• I still have a job.
• I was incredibly close- minded for forming an opinion about adult movies after only seeing some late night soft- core stuff. Since September I’ve been unhappily introduced to the world of snuff films, child pornography, extreme S&M and other hard core pornography.
• Education is most important. Instead of children/ teenagers finding this stuff themselves, I think, similar to a ‘birds and bees’ kind of talk, parents or even teachers should talk to youth about pornography. Without stuffing their opinions down their throats.
• Blogging twice a week about a specific topic is a challenge.
• Blogging twice a week about a specific topic is a fun challenge.

:)

Could child porn prevent child abuse?

A strange new study thinks so. It suggests the legalization of child pornography could actually lessen child abuse rates.

Eurekalert: Legalizing child pornography is linked to lower rates of child abuse

The study put on my scholars at the University of Hawaii looks at the case of the Czech Republic, where child pornography was decriminalized in 1989. The number of child abuse cases then dropped significantly. Apparently the same trend can be found within the systems of Japan and Denmark. The authors of the study do point out that they in no way support  the use of real children in the making of child pornography.

Whether or not legalizing child porn will lessen child abuse is a moot point. As it stands now producing child porn is a form of abuse and legalizing it would just trade one form of harm for another.

I don’t see how

Kami from Takalani Sesame

Meet Kami! In case you hadn’t heard, Kami is a Takalani Sesame character. (which is the South African version of our “Sesame Street”)

Kami is just another character on the popular children’s television show. She is also an AIDS orphan.

Wikipedia claims Kami’s back story to be this : she is a five year old girl muppet orphaned by AIDS who always has the sniffles. She contracted the disease as the result of a transfusion of tainted blood she recieved as an infant. Her mother died as a result of the disease.

The point of Kami is to illustrate to South African children and viewers of Takalani, how to deal with loss and sad feelings in a way 3 to 7 year olds could understand.

Apparently there was a right wing uproar in the US following the introduction of this character, but I don’t really remember:

Characters like this are so vital for children. For kids born with HIV or not, to be introduced to a disease like AIDS from such a young age helps to reduce the stigma or shame they may feel about the disease as they grow up. AIDS is everyone’s problem not just those who have HIV. This idea is crucial for an area where AIDS is an epidemic.

Local film – Smash Cut

Today in class we were shown an excellent student documentary concerning the Canadian film industry. At one point the directors went around campus asking random people to name 5 American films they knew and 3 Canadian films they knew. Suffice it to say it was very easy for people to name US films and fairly difficult for them to come up with Canadian names.

I can come up with one Canadian film! That was actually filmed in Ottawa. And it stars an actress who usually does adult entertainment! I’m not becoming obsessed with Sasha Grey. She just happens to be pretty popular these days.

Here is the trailer for 2009’s Smash Cut which looks pretty low- rent but that may be the preview’s point:

It was made by Odessa Filmworks and Zed filmworks. Both production companies are based in Ottawa. Odessa was founded by Smash Cut‘s director Lee Demarbre.

According to IMDB the budget was $350, 000 Canadian.

I think small local production companies like Odessa and Zed are good for budding film makers. In a city like Ottawa, within a country like Canada where we aren’t really known for our artistic ouputs, the people who started these companies obviously haven’t given up on their dreams.

Female success in the industry

It’s only fair after exploring the case of Lara Roxx to discuss career succcess for porn actresses in the industry.

There is a little observed argument that the adult film industry empowers female performers to their full business and career success potential.

If you look at the case of succesful porn actress, Sasha Grey – who is moving her way into mainstream media through film and the television show Entourage; Grey is clearly a savvy business woman with a well thought out career plan.

For one thing she represents herself in the industry – she is her own agent with her own agency, L.A. Factory Girls. Grey is only 22, so she must have started performing only 4 years ago. Whether she started in the industry under her own agency (unlikely) or not, she must have been careful to avoid any scamming (which is rumored to be rampant within the California industry).

On Sasha’s MySpace she states she entered the industry as she felt she could bring “an enigmatic quality to it” despite the controversy surroung that kind of work.

She seems to have a message for the anti- porn crusade:

“..many people in society believe I am a victim. I was not sexually abused. I am not on drugs. The acts I perform are always consensual. I am a woman who strongly believes in what she does — it is time that our society comes to grips with the fact that “normal” people (women especially) enjoy perverse sex. I hope to inspire people from all walks of life, and to collaborate with innovative individuals (bohemians welcome). Many people mistake this thought and believe that I desire all women to do porn and fuck like rabbits, ignoring all health risks. This is not what I preach or believe. Like any business, I take risks in my profession. Anyone considering porn as a career should be fully aware of these risks before jumping in. I am ready to take on any opportunities and challenges that face me as a woman, porn star, and artist.”

She is clearly an intelligent girl. Which is refreshing in an industry where all the news your really ever hear about is girls being used and screwed over (not literally…).

Grey has been labeled as the next Jenna Jameson, who sold her own film company for $30 million to Playboy in 2006.

Does porn create monsters?

Ted Bundy, an infamous serial killer, granted an interview with psychologist James Dobsen hours before his execution in 1989. During their talk, he expressed the true agony of his addiction to pornography and explained how it fueled the crimes he committed.

The entire interview is available here.

Since the late ’90s erotica and violent pornography has only become more available due to the simple accessibility to it the internet offers. It has arguably also become more violent as snuff films and child pornography are abundant. Internet addiction is becoming more and more accepted as a real affiliation and its ties to pornography addiction are eminent.

DocuPorn

The Dark Side of Porn  is a UK documentary series which analyzed the Adult Entertainment Industry. It ran for two seasons and documented such events as the industry shutdown in 2004, stemming from Darren James’ diagnosis with HIV to the truth behind snuff films and the German case of a kidnapped prostitute in 1997.

The angle the film takes speculates that porn is filthy, exploitive of women and simply bad for society.  Violent porn, generates like an addiction, exciting men to a point where pornography only goes so far.

HIV in the industry and the case of Lara Roxx

Earlier post involving an HIV infected porn star. As his partners are tested, (it can take up to 90 days to seroconvernt) studios such as Vivid Entertainment and Hustler Video continue to be shut down.

Infections of HIV are not unheard of within the porn industry. Actors are tested monthly and must have valid documentation from the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation. But clearly the method is not fool proof, especially if actors have unprotected sex in between testing.

The case of pornographic actor Darren James is particularly notable. He and several other performers contracted HIV in 2004, while filming adult movies.  A Canadian newcomer Lara Roxx was one of them.

Roxx had relied on the porn industry’s HIV standards to ensure her safety. In an interview conducted before her results were determined, Roxx said “…told me that Darren James was HIV positive, it totally freaked me out. It totally made me realize how I trusted this system that wasn’t to be trusted at all, because it obviously doesn’t work.”

Breakouts of infection seem to come every 6 years or so in the industry. Marc Wallace’s case in 1998, Darren James in 2004, and now John Doe in 2010.

Half- naked women and fully dressed men

Dutch clothing company Suit Supply has taken the ol’ sex sells strategy, by making their newest ad campaign a lot like porn and a little like creep.

When does this ever happen? .. except in porn.

I feel like men will look at their ads and want to go watch porn rather than go buy a suit from them.  

Let her put down her coffee at least!

Apparently Dutch people are infamously relaxed about sexual images. Whether this means they are equally blaise about full frontal male nudity, I don’t know.

For more gross ads just check out the company’s web site.

Men against Porn

Here’s something I’ve never heard of! Men against porn. 

the Anti- Porn Men Project is an online space meant for (mainly) men to write about and discuss anti- porn issues. The creators argue pornography to be one of the most imporant social issues faced in the tackling of violence against women and wider gender inequality. Their mission is to “help develop a wider knowledge and recognition of the harms of pornograpy.”

One of the site’s creators Jonathan Wragg shares some background on the site and also brings up a new issue of categorizing within the phenomenon of pornography I hadn’t thought of before – mainly because I don’t really watch porn. I guess Wragg noticed major differences between a number of different adult films in which no distinction between very violent and less violent pornography was made.

As a female, I can understand where the Project is coming from. Their view that sexualized violence against women in porn desensitives men towards being repulsed by causing pain to women is empathetic.  We live in a world where sexualized ad campaigns, for example, teach us to disrespect, control and abuse women.

Here’s one example from ‘Suit Supply’ which I will be talking about in my next blog.