Rogue Keeper on 1/6/2007 at 11:20
Quote Posted by The_Raven
Removing the references to porn would make this equally true to violence and other things in the media, including news. [...] Once again, if you remove all explicit references to sexuality and pornography, you'll find that this is a pretty broad statement and can be applied to almost any visual/auditory work.
As I wrote, „Media are very subtly educative, far beyond the point we are willing to admit to ourselves" and later acknowledged that image of sex in media is not limited only to porn. But we are debating specifically porn and sexuality in media here, not violence and „other things“. I have touched the issue of violence in porn already.
If you have followed this thread, you could have noticed that some people suggested their doubts about mass media and porn having influence on them and in the context of mopgoblin's opinion I have expanded how the media do influence not only the performers involved, but also viewer.
You are broadening the porn as a sectional media issue here - we could dedicate a whole separate thread to topic „Influence of electronic media on people“ if you wish.
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While this may be true, I'm sure that's exactly the same view people took with homosexuality.
Again, I'm holding on current general consensus in psychiatric community, not on speculations that in next 30 years all possible forms of paraphilia could be sanctioned as healthy sexual behavior. Neither the law and criminology can afford think in such speculative spheres during lawsuits, they both are dependent on forensic medical evidence. Western society has relatively deep insight into human sexuality based on advanced sexuologist and psychiatrist praxis, and even if it wasn't burdened with general religious morality, there would be always some borders of normal and abnormal sexual behavior based on scientific research. Of course if somebody likes to fight for sanctioning of zoophilic, pedophilic or necrophilic behavior on a political level, he is legally free to do so - sooner or later it would end in debate about clinical aspects in psychiatric community anyway.
A supposition that in 30 (50, 100...) years all kinds of paraphilia will be considered as healthy sexual behavior would equal to supposition that in 30 (50, 100...) years we'll have no personality disorders and every person will be mentally healthy. Science fiction.
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You can't singly point to pornography and a sexualized media as the sole causes of this. How many of the polled students have been exposed to these things on a regular basis? Have these numbers actually changed compared to a similar study done in the 50's, another culture, etc.... Is this more of a trend of an increased atheistic viewpoint on life? A wider acceptance of human sexuality? Or a complete fear of a lower living standard, that must be avoided no matter what the cost?
There was an error on my part, I should have used quote tags when I was pulling Dr. Vanickova's statements out of the linked article :
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"Commercial sex among the young is on the rise," said Vanickova who participated in the survey. (...) One quarter of young women said they could imagine commercial sex as a solution to a possible difficult financial situation. The same possibility was conceded by one third of young men. (...) Vanickova said the young generation make money through sex also because they do not want to give up higher living standards that the media present to them as a standard level. She said that in consequence, young people cease to be sensitive to commercial sex. They do not consider accompaniment of top managers on business trips abroad or above-standard services of personal assistants after the work hours as prostitution.
On the contrary, they consider a dinner in a luxury restaurant or a night spent in a five-star hotel as "a justified bonus," and they only classify street prostitution as commercial sex, the survey showed.
I think the economical reality is well hinted in the quoted conclusions she has made - along with the media. If she said that commercial sex is on the rise, then I suppose she really has earlier data for comparison. (She's not an academic newbie afterall).
In 2006 Czech republic had unemployment rate about 8,4 %. Population below poverty line is inaccessible to me, but based on data from between 1990-2003, Czech republic had HDI rank of 30. These economical factors were generally slowly improving over last 10-15 years. It should be noted that state college education is free in CR, but of course every student has some expenses connected with study, which to large measure depend on personal demands, ambitions, etc.
Fact is that Czech republic is a relatively atheist country, roughly up to 50 % of population doesn't practice any religion, but I doubt this number has changed significantly over last 10-15 years.
Comparison with differently economically developed countries? It is without doubt that less economically developed cultures have high prostitution, but they may also have less developed business sector including advanced sex services (erotic saloons), and less developed information infrastructure and electronic media networks necessary for advanced commercial sex services like sex on phone, call girl escort services or erotic livechat. Czech republic is not a third world country. People have plenty of opportunities how to draw examples from electronic media networks and find information in their search for work, including wider opportunities of employment in various forms of sex industry.
Wider acceptance of human sexuality - here I'm not sure what you mean. Increased awareness among people that they have libido and sex organs ?
Despite my effort I wasn't able to find said 3rd MF CU‘s research online, but to my knowledge she's debating details of said survey and attitudes of young people to commercial sex in one of her books „Child prostitution“., published on Czech market ((
http://www.grada.cz/katalog/kniha/detska-prostituce/)).
As Dr. Vanickova is an UNICEF expert on commercial sex in Czech republic, the research has been probably sponsored by UNICEF which may initiate similar surveys in other countries as well, maybe including yours, so you can always look for a similar research around if you're interested.
Some additional info about survey focused on child prostitution from a different article:
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(
http://news.sawf.org/Lifestyle/10376.aspx)
The survey showed that 10 percent of girls and five percent of boys said they had suffered sexual abuse, with 18 percent of girls and 12 percent of boys saying they harboured unhappy childhood memories linked to sexual experiences.
Speaking at the symposium about the reasons for such prostitution, Vanickova highlighted "social, emotional or cultural poverty," alongside the more traditional explanation of "economic poverty."
"There is no single form of child prostitution, there are many forms," Vanickova, the author of a book on the subject, added.
Vanickova said she had the impression that the number of cases of child prostitution in the Czech Republic was rising. But neither she, representatives of the United Nations childrens's agency UNICEF in the Czech Republic nor the Czech Ministry of Interior were able to give statistics.
"For that reason it is really important to have research," said the managing director of the Czech branch of UNICEF, Pavla Gomba. "All we can say is that the world trend for child prostitution and child pornography is rising...the Czech Republic is no exception to this."
Making a living with prostitution because somebody is in genuinely bad economical situation is one thing. There are also many drug addicts casually earning money in porn. I've heard of a single mother who has took porn job to earn money for treatment of her daughter with leukemia. A prostitute on the street knows well she's a prostitute. But as the survey shows, young people (college students can be hardly called a low class) are increasingly ceasing to consider working in more luxurious forms of commercial sex (that includes pornography) as prostitution.
Do we have to completely redefine the term "commercial sex" or do we have to just pull pornography out of the sphere of commercial sex?
