Pornography

A Guilty Pleasure

"Hey guys, be careful when you type something like love or hearts into your search, you might get some explicit, inappropriate pictures that you don't want. Our school filters are good but not that great and sometimes they don't catch everything they need to" (Lawson). Surprisingly enough, 90% of 8-16 year old children view online pornography while doing homework (Ropelato). Today, pornography is one of the fastest growing causalities in our society. Twelve percent of all websites on the Internet are pornographic websites (Ropelato). At any given moment, an innocent child can be exposed to one of these websites and see things that could affect their life forever. Pornography is an overlooked topic, and this needs to be changed. The negative effects of pornography extremely outweigh the positive. Before our society is completely corrupted, censorship and filters need to be put into action before the human species and sexual intercourse are completely degraded.

As time goes on, things change. What may have been popular one moment will eventually become old. This is for one simple reason; trends get old. There is always a way of making something better. This is also the case in the pornography industry. They always look for new ways to improve and keep their viewers hooked. There are two ways to acquire pornography: through videos and television, or through the Internet. Within these forms of accessibility are different forms of pornography: hardcore, soft-core, and child porn. Fortunately, child pornography is illegal, but is also one of the most feared Internet crimes in America ("Most Feared Internet Crimes"). Although it is illegal, people are climbing over mountains to access it. Whoever is the genius that decided to put an innocent child in front of his camera deserves to go to prison, because that is just absolutely disgusting. Yet, some pervert is out there watching a child get molested, and the industry is happy to be making a profit. This is how pornography has been molded into society today. Anything that makes money is acceptable.

Now that technology has introduced us to the Internet, many people depend on it daily. People use the Internet for a variety of things such as education, work, and entertainment. This is also an easy hotspot for pornography. Anyone can access the Internet in a private setting, and about 52% of teens have this privilege (Ropelato). The sad thing is that Internet pornography has become considerably worse in the last 15 years and can literally be accessed within 2 clicks. Currently in the United States, there are 420 million porn websites, 100,000 websites with illegal child porn, 28,258 Internet users viewing online pornography every second, and 116,000 child porn requests sent into search engines (Ropelato). The material intensifies, becomes more dehumanizing, and can be accessed either intentionally or accidentally.

"This is not a feminist argument, it's a human argument" (Gottfried). Pornography has lifelong impacts. Internet porn then becomes a gateway to addiction, STD's, younger sex age, increased divorce rates, sexual abuse, increasing cyberspace crimes, and even suicide (Gottfried). This is because the majority of people tend to act based on what they see. When a young boy is exposed to pornography, he will view women as sex objects. When a young girl is exposed to pornography, she will expect her body to be perfect like a porn star's body, and she will give into anything a man says ("Sexualization of Girls Teaches Boys to Be Sexually Violent"). This kind of behavior leads to the younger sex age (usually around 14 years old), increasing STD rates, and suicide, because girls feel as if they cannot live up to societies "standards" (Kindersley). "I feel so neglected... It depresses me" ("My Partner Spends Hours Looking at Internet Porn"). This woman is speaking on behalf of her marriage which is being ruined by her husband's porn addiction. Just like any other addiction, the people in your life that do not firsthand abuse pornography are just as vulnerable to the side effects of it. Pornography is similar to a drug: it ruins families, relationships, and lives.

Perhaps this is an exaggeration. Maybe pornography is not as bad as it seems. After all, many people claim that it is a great stress reliever. After a long day, it is relaxing to sit back and spark their hormones with a video or two. These people do not realize that this is how a pornography addiction begins. There are many alternatives to relieve stress such as spending time with loved ones, exercising, picking up a new hobby, watching a movie, or reading a book. It is better to do something productive rather than promoting this obscene sex industry. "Pornography is the attempt to insult sex, to do dirt on it" (Kindersley). Sex is already filthy enough, and this industry makes it worse each passing day. Every second, over 3,000 dollars is being spent on Internet pornography (Ropelato). This is money that could be going towards public education, starving children, or the suffering economy.

Today in China, PC's must carry software that will block online pornography (Wong). They are taking a sophisticated approach to censorship, so that no porn can be accessed. This technique has shattered close to 2,000 porn websites in a short amount of time. China has the world's largest population of Internet users, and they have the strictest control over it (Mirsky). That may be the reason the United States falls so far behind them in technological advancements. Instead of complaining about how pornography is corrupting society, China has taken steps forward to censor it. This way, their children are not exposed to any indecency while growing up. They can do big things with their life rather than wasting time in front of the computer screen. Since it is impossible to get rid of pornography entirely, censorship would be the first step in creating a better future for America.

However, China is not perfect either. America has something that they lack: freedom of speech. Every human in America has the right to speak without limitation or censorship. For this reason, pornography has continued to succeed. This law was a huge leap forward for the rights of citizens, but it may also be a leap back for society. Because of this amendment, pornography is allowed all over the Internet without any restrictions of what can be published. Now, 25% of teenagers are viewing sexual images online without censorship. One in three ten year olds have seen sexual material online because there are no limitations of what can be accessed (Ropelato). "Children are easily able to watch violent and hardcore images with one or two clicks, either intentionally or as a result of an innocent search" (Perry). Adults are no longer the problem. It is children who need to be taken into consideration.

Larry Flynt, publisher of his own magazine, was a womanizer who strongly supported pornography. He made millions by exposing completely naked women in his business sales. Anti-porn activists took him to court many times, but he is most noted for the Hustler Magazine vs. Falwell court case ( "Larry Flynt”)  . The Freedom of Speech Amendment helped his case prevail and pornography is now what it is today. His case, although, was not set and stone that easy. He fell into many stages of depression, drug addictions, and became paralyzed after an attempted assassination (  "Larry Flynt”). He began as a man with a pornography addiction, and died as a paralyzed, drug and porn addict. Sadly, this could happen to anyone who abuses pornography.

The Hustler Magazine vs. Falwell court case was held in 1988 ( Hustler Magazine v. Falwell”). During those times, pornography was much harder to obtain. One had to be at least 18 years of age to purchase a copy of Hustler Magazine (Hock). That was then- now, we have the Internet. Pornography can be accessed at anytime, by anyone, through computers, or through cell phones. Not only that, but pornography gets filthier each passing minute. Since the case was closed, it has been overlooked because people believe that there will never be an end to pornography. This case needs to be reconsidered, now that we have a larger factor to overcome; the Internet.

Like drugs, alcohol, and sex, pornography is slowly becoming a norm of society. Pornography has an income of about 14 billion dollars every year (Ropelato). On the other hand, public education systems are struggling with budget cuts every school year. How corrupted is that? Eighty-three percent of parents believe that Internet porn is damaging to children, but only half of them are using active filters to block explicit material (Perry). Filters and censorship need to be put into action. Maybe they will not save the entire world, but filtered Internet may save one child's world. Fourteen billion dollars might help children play sports in school, or be used to feed hungry families. Instead, it is being used to degrade the human species. Think about that.

Works Cited Gottfried, Ted. //Censorship.// New York: Benchmark, 2006. Print.

Hock, James. Personal Interview. 17 March. 2011.

"Hustler Magazine v. Falwell." // Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia //. Web. 18 Mar. 2011. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hustler_Magazine_v._Falwell >.

Kindersley, Tania. "The Degradation of the Human Species: Tania Kindersley believes in freedom of expression and in an unfettered sexuality, but in this frank and disturbing investigation shows why hardcore pornography is repulsive, demeaning and dangerous. (Cover Story)." //Spectator// 8 Dec. 2001: 12+. //Global Issues In Context//. Web. 21 Feb. 2011.

"Larry Flynt." // Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia //. Web. 18 Mar. 2011. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Flynt >.

Lawson, Kelli. Personal Interview. 11 March. 2011.

Mirsky, Jonathan. "China's tyranny has the best hi-tech help; Censoring the Internet." //International Herald Tribune// 16 Jan. 2006: 6. //Global Issues In Context//. Web. 21 Feb. 2011.

"Most Feared Internet Crimes." //Crime and Punishment: Essential Primary Sources//. Ed. K. Lerner and Brenda Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 394-396. //Global Issues In Context//. Web. 21 Feb. 2011.

"My partner spends hours looking at internet porn'." //Daily Record// [Glasgow, Scotland] 16 Feb. 2011: 35. //Global Issues In Context//. Web. 21 Feb. 2011

Perry, Claire. "'Internet porn must be blocked'." //Daily Telegraph// [London, England] 10 Feb. 2011: 31. //Global Issues In Context//. Web. 21 Feb. 2011

Ropelato, Jerry. "Internet Pornography Statistics - TopTenREVIEWS." //Internet Filter Software Review 2011 | Best Internet Filter | Block Pornography - TopTenREVIEWS//. Web. 22 Feb. 2011.

"Sexualization of Girls Teaches Boys to Be Sexually Violent." // Is Childhood Becoming Too Sexualized //. Olivia Ferguson and Hayley Mitchell Haugen. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. At Issue. // Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context //. Web. 21 Feb. 2011.

Wong, Gillian. "Chinese PCs must carry software for blocking websites." //Globe & Mail// [Toronto, Canada] 9 June 2009: A15. //Global Issues In Context//. Web. 18 Feb. 2011.