Porn is not addictive. Sex is not addictive. The ideas of porn and sex addiction are pop psychology concepts that…have no legitimate scientific basis. – David Ley
Jill has largely retired from activism, but has written a guest post about the Cleveland kidnap victims on Amanda Brooks’ blog: “…Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight, and Amanda Berry…likely have many years of very costly medical expenses and the need for equally costly psychological help…Like me, their lives were interrupted at a young age. Now they have to move on with the physical and emotional issues…and…rebuild their lives…”
Neither Addiction Nor Epidemic
Once again, Dr. David Ley tells it like it is:
…when people buy into the belief that porn is addictive, it changes the argument…sex and porn aren’t the problems…one part of this issue is an attack on aspects of male sexuality, including masturbation and use of pornography…which society fears…
Though this was first published nearly a year ago, this updated version appeared last week:
…even though experts and studies have denounced the [sex offender registry] as ineffective, the battle cry of its supporters is still, “If it saves one child…!”…There is no evidence that [it] has done that at all. However, many, many thousands of children have had their lives made a living hell because of it…parents on the registry…are subject to the whims of local and state laws, including severe restrictions on where they may live…Vigilantes have murdered registrants, leaving their children fatherless…and…children [as young as]…nine…have been [registered]…Registered 12-year-olds aren’t even rarities…in Wisconsin…a district attorney did everything he could, and bragged about it, to have a 6-year-old prosecuted and targeted…for “playing doctor.” Some of these children find escape only in suicide…
New Yorkers are so very fortunate to have brave, dedicated professionals protecting them from dangerous criminals:
…Catherina G. Scalia, 47…was arrested after she…gave [an] undercover cop a massage…without a license…She’s also accused of unauthorized practice…[and an] offer for additional services…Scalia disputed the charges at her arraignment…”They keep framing me. I am broke. I am jobless. All these arrests are entrapment”…When CNN…profiled Scalia and her hot dog truck a year ago, Scalia asserted she was a stripper, not a prostitute…
…Anael Ibanez…[was arrested] for distributing pornographic material and exploiting prostitution [in] Syracuse [Utah]…the only ones who actually watched the sex show [Ibanez arranged] were a couple of undercover police officers and…[a man they] charged with sexual solicitation. Four sex show performers also were arrested…and…charged…SWAT team members were dispatched to clear the theater…[they] broke a glass door…to gain entry…Ibanez works for a janitorial company…and had access to the theater after hours…
Yes, they dispatched a SWAT team to bust adults having sex.
May must be Ashley Madison’s slowest month, because it’s always the one in which owner Noel Biderman makes some claim like this: “…its membership registration spiked [last] week following Sunday’s…season finale of The Simpsons…[Biderman] said new registrations surged a whopping 230% this week after…a frustrated Marge Simpson stumbled onto…’Sassymadison.com’…”
First They Came for the Hookers…
If prohibitionists really want to “rescue” sex workers, why do they keep trying to stop us from getting other jobs?
In June 2011…Reema Bajaj…was accused of prostitution…in June 2012 [she] pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge…Although she kept her Illinois law license…she…had trouble attracting clients. Earlier this month, she dissolved her law practice…and…sued three local lawyers: a former prosecutor who worked on her case, Calvin Campbell; one of her own former defense attorneys, Timothy Johnson, who is now law partners with Campbell; and a “John Doe” defendant. Bajaj alleges that the three lawyers circulated nude photos of her, causing her emotional distress and hurting her ability to generate business…
I hope she wins, restarts her practice and specializes in defending sex workers, since she knows firsthand how difficult it is for us to get justice in America.
Where are the Victims? (TW3 #28)
Because you know, “false consciousness” and all:
To hear the testimony of the women who worked for them, Vincent George Sr. and his son were not the violent and manipulative sex traffickers that prosecutors described, but, rather, the heads of a happy extended family…Bridgette Carr, director of the Human Trafficking Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School, said it was…“not shocking” that women would assist the defense, and may actually be evidence of how effective the pimps were in manipulating the women…
The cancer has now spread to Tennessee:
…12 new laws…include harsher criminal penalties on traffickers…and the creation of a state trafficking task force…a statewide study in 2011 documented incidents of sex trafficking… authorities will be able to prosecute those paying for sex – the “johns” – as traffickers…[thus allowing] for…termination of parent rights…
Read that again: Tennessee is going to call clients “traffickers”, charge them with a felony and steal their children. In other words, they’re going to punish fake “child trafficking” with the real, state-sanctioned variety.
The largest study on domestic violence ever done demonstrates that the MRAs were much closer to the truth than the feminists: men and women commit partner abuse at roughly equal rates. 23% of women and 19.3% of men have been physically abused by a partner, while 28.3% of women and 21.6% of men have physically abused one. Lifetime rates of abuse are higher among women, while past-year rates are higher among men. 41% of women and 43% of men reported emotional abuse. Motives were similar in both sexes. Here’s a short summary of the findings; the full report is available at the first link.
Being an official busybody for an oppressive regime is hard work!
Despite China’s ongoing sexual revolution… anyone found to be producing and distributing obscene material can get three years in jail…[this] requires many pornography censors…[like] 70-year-old Liu Xiaozhen…[who said] “You have to watch even if you don’t want to”…
As bad as American prohibitionists are, at least most of them aren’t murderous:
Unidentified gunmen have shot dead at least seven women and five men at a [Baghdad] brothel…[near] where alcohol shops were attacked last week…The attackers apparently…[used] silenced weapons, as residents…said they did not see or hear anything out of the ordinary…Zayouna is an upscale…district…where a number of brothels have opened in recent years…
…Ethicists and feminists are concerned [about]…a drug that can amp up female sexual longings…Male-sexual-enhancement drugs…are about…improving blood flow to the penis…while research so far suggests that most women need more than mere physical arousal…To stoke female desire with pharmacology, then, you need to get into the brain…some feminists anticipate that the marketing of these drugs will pathologize normal losses of desire…when in fact…[they] may result from stress or relationship problems that should be addressed in other ways…
I agree. If female desire were mostly about hormones, placebos wouldn’t be as effective as testosterone; in fact, they are often more so. Nor is this a problem limited to women, as Dr. Marty Klein discusses in the linkback.
Florida’s “sex offender” residence restrictions are so bad that a small, isolated settlement named “Miracle Village” has become a haven for them. Meanwhile, David Vitter (who has been the center of several sex scandals) is trying to keep them from getting food stamps:
…This…will…contribute to the continuing cycle of trapping the same individuals in the criminal justice system. All released felons have difficulty gaining employment…those with sexual offenses face even more impediments due to the public registry and the myriad of restrictions placed upon [them]…Studies…show that, denied benefits, there is a higher rate of return to drug use and crime…anything gained financially from a reduction in the food stamp program will just show up as increased prison costs…
A network of…internet companies is mining data from sex-offender sites…[for] an extortion racket [which demands] up to $499 for removing names…and other personal data…SORArchives.com, Offendex.com and Onlinedetective.com did not take down individual profiles after payments were made and launched online harassment campaigns against those who balked at financial demands or filed complaints…the websites [also] list individuals…who no longer are required to register and…include names and addresses of people who never have been arrested or convicted of a sex crime. The…operators ensure that anyone in their databases can be found easily [via] Google…[and] have prominently profiled specific individuals, published their home and e-mail addresses, posted photographs of their relatives and copied their Facebook friends onto the…websites…
Pope Francis…urged mobsters…to abandon their evil ways, particularly…trafficking rackets…”I think of the great pain suffered by men, women and even children, exploited by so many mafias”…He decried the crime syndicates for “making them do work that makes them slaves, prostitution”…Francis…has branded human trafficking as one of the most terrible evils plaguing the world…
This pro-censorship Guardian article isn’t nearly as interesting as Jezebel’s response to it, written by revolting neofeminist toady “Lapdoug” Barry:
There’s a campaign afoot in Iceland to seriously restrict underage access to hardcore porn…the argument that porn is a form of free expression smells…a lot like the sort of bullshit the multibillion-dollar porn industry shovels…the porn industry does not have the interests of Icelands [sic] malleable adolescent minds at heart when it argues that limiting access to its productions is tantamount to government censorship…
The biggest lie of several here is that the porn ban is intended to “protect adolescents”, when in fact it was specifically sold (as part of the Swedish model) to “protect” women. But let’s give Lapdoug’s argument the benefit of the doubt; if he’ll agree to let his writings be censored by a government agency for a trial period (twenty years or so should suffice), I’m sure people who respect human agency far more than he does can be counted on to give a nationwide censorship regime all the consideration it deserves.
The More the Better (TW3 #317)
Are people really so stupid they believe it’s totally different now?
[James Lipton]…of…Inside the Actors Studio used to be a pimp…the youthful 86-year-old admitted…that he had pandered “a whole bordello”…in 1950s Paris…”The French mecs didn’t exploit women. They represented them, like agents”…Lipton…added that…he was against people paying for sex. “I think if you can’t earn it on your own, then you don’t deserve it.”
Because obviously celebrities are morally superior beings qualified to judge what others “deserve”.
Objectification Overruled (TW3 #320)
Pathetic middle-class white British feminists are at it again:
The UK’s main supermarkets could be exposed to legal challenges…if they refuse to remove magazines and newspapers with naked women on their covers…In a letter published in the Guardian, 14 equalities lawyers say…retailers are vulnerable…under sexual discrimination law…A campaign launched by UK Feminista and…Object aims to put pressure on Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Asda and WHSmith to remove lads’ mags from their shelves…[they] threaten…a test case and will support employees uncomfortable with images of naked and near-naked women…
This is a load of rubbish and they know it; such a precedent would mean that anyone could bring a case against any product she finds “offensive”, for example Catholics suing to have birth control removed. But lest you think this idiocy is limited to Britain:
…the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has unanimously passed a proposal…to ban the display of bikini-clad mannequins outside lingerie shops…With Mumbai recording the second highest number of rapes in the country, [law sponsor Ritu] Tawade said the display of inadequately clothed mannequins was indecent and could lead to “wrong acts” by men…corporator Sunil Prabhu backed her…”I agree…that such scantily clad mannequins do invite unwanted attention of men and the resulting surge of sex crimes”…
Yet another rescue industry “hero” is exposed as a con artist: “[Andy Conner]…the [Washington state] Sheriff’s Deputy who funded a charity to help young women escape prostitution…is on administrative leave while the King County Sheriff’s Office investigates allegations that thousands of dollars may have gone missing…”
I strongly suspect that the “Sex and Porn Addiction” tripe is based, in part, on the shift in the definition of “Addiction” that can be traced to the anti-smoking Crusade. As addiction was understood circa the 1970’s (when I first read up on it), the addiction aspect of smoking was fairly mild; a physical craving for nicotine generally passed in two or three days. What made smoking hard to quit was the habit, especially if the needs the habit soothed were not addressed. But that model made smoking a choice and That Simply Would Not Do.
The Crusade against smoking has shed all kinds of secondary effects like this, enabling the Food-Buttinskis being another example. Anybody who shows an obsessive interest in what others ingest, read, or do to seek sexual release should have the dogs set on them.
Maggie, what else are they gonna do with a SWAT team? Every town has one now – fully outfitted with automatic weapons and armored personnel carriers. You can’t just let these guys sit around on their asses not doing anything all day. Though, you could ask the question … “Why do we have them in the first place?”
Tennessee … well I still own a house there but I’ll be damned if I ever move back into it!
Can’t blame that one on Christians!
THE POPE – Not really a relevent guy in this day and age.
“Pardon my ignorance about these matters, but aren’t these rates — $50 to $100 per alleged act — rather low?”
— http://abovethelaw.com/2011/06/lawyer-of-the-day-its-hard-out-here-for-oh-never-mind/
Ha-ha— “Pardon my ignorance about these matters,” mercy.
This guy is kidding no one…
He should add, “Not that I’ve ever compared rates online, myself.” and “I was unaware call girls even existed before today, I thought they were only fictional creations of films like ‘Pretty Woman’ and ‘Doctor Detroit.'”
Feigning surprise at prostitutes defending their ‘abusive’ pimps is simply another way of denying women the right to make choices and reduce them (legally) to the status of children.
The porn industry doesn’t have the interests of its customers in mind? I’m shocked, shocked that a major industry wouldn’t always keep the welfare of its customers (and employees) foremost in its thoughts. I’m sure this isn’t the case for auto manufacturers, cable companies, and banks, who would always worry first about their customers, and consider profit to be a minor issue.
You mean the mobsters who make large donations to the Church in order to salve their consciences and save their souls will suddenly recoil from a crime condemned by the Pope? Boy, bribes really don’t as far as they used to. Perhaps the mobsters could offer their own version of a ‘witness protection program’ for priests the Church wants to disappear for a while; would that help?
If anyone does wish to donate to the Cleveland Courage Fund for the victims of the Cleveland Kidnapping in the blog post Maggie linked to on Amanda Brook’s blog it’s http://www.clevelandfoundation.org/about/cleveland-courage-fund/
You know, I just LOVE the hypocrisy of Lipton about paying people for sex……..he openly admits he had a wonderful time doing it for the year that he did, that it was a great time in his life, but then in the same breath says that he’s against people doing it.
Uhh…….ok, so in other words, it’s ok if YOU choose to do it and enjoy it, but if someone else does it’s wrong. Pick a side for crying out loud!
Maybe he believes he was a young fool. Maybe he believes that conditions have changed from what he experienced to what he is told is happening now. Before I yell “Hypocrite” I want to know that he KNOWS he’s spouting hogwash.
But, no, I’m not particularly please with the silly git.
True, still comes off bad though. Makes me wonder in a way if he was sort of forced to add that by someone above him…….you know, company line and all that…….
“company line” seems all too likely.
My father has a pencil. On the side is written “Admit nothing. Deny everything. Demand proof.”
Lipton goofed.
Oh, my Dad’s job? Police officer…
When I heard what happened in Cleavland, I thought of Jill Brenneman. And shes right: neither governmental nor private sector programs are set up to deal with something like this.
If porn caused half the problems as the anti-sex crowd likes to claim, the world would now have about four thousand inhabitants, all the rest having been raped to death. This has not happened.
In Wisconsin. Why am I not surprised.
Massages AND hot dogs! Clearly a menace to society. {rolls eyes}
Hey, with violent crime plummeting, those SWAT teams have to be good for something, right?
The average escort has been with 247 ugly cartoon characters!* Marge has only been with one! Have an affair with Marge today!!
She may have trouble attracting clients as a lawyer, but yowza! she wouldn’t have that problem as a hooker. She’s HOT.
And yeah, I hope she wins, and taking up the specialty you suggest wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.
When evidence against a crime having occurred is claimed to be proof of said crime, I somehow always think of Salem, MS for some reason.
The word “trafficking” has now lost all real meaning. They might as well replace “trafficking” with “ooga-ooga” and charge people with that. At least then they wouldn’t be stripping a word of its real meaning before bending it to mean whatever they want it to mean at the moment.
We human beings can be a violent, abusive, manipulative bunch. Neither women nor men are excepted.
I’ll get to the rest later, hopefully later today.
.
Think of all the money China could save by getting out of the oppression business. Heck, think of all the money the US could save by getting out of the oppression business.
Did the Baghdad residents not notice anything out of the ordinary because the attackers used silenced weapons, or because it’s dangerous to notice such things?
I’m sure that the neofeminists consider loss of sexual desire to be a feature, not a bug. Sometimes, this loss of desire will be chemical, just as sometimes it is in men. Other times, it’ll be psychological, just as it sometimes is in men. I just hope it doesn’t become the default prescription, before psychological issues are even considered, the way Viagra is so often tossed at men.
We want these guys to straighten up and fly right! So let’s starve them! Good God, how stupid can we be? Pretty stupid.
So, is this Pope joining the dishonest panic for dishonest reasons, or has he been taken in? After all, if he truly believes that millions of children are being enslaved, he’d be a real jerk NOT to use his influence to do something about it.
Well, there you go: ALL women are “adolescents,” and adolescents are “children” who need to be protected from icky pictures and videos. Seems like Barry understands the basics of Icelandic censorship just fine.
Another jerk objecting to prostitution on the grounds that “Hmph. I never had to pay for it!” Well good for you, Adonis! How about getting out of the way of mere mortals who want to get laid, OK?
Why doesn’t somebody point out to these “feminists” that they are blaming women for men committing rapes? Only now instead of “Sally got raped because she was wearing a short skirt,” it’s become “Sally got raped because Betty wore a short skirt.” And Mr. Rapist? He slips away while Sally and Betty shriek at each other.
I don’t know if the Pope is trying to do the right thing and has just fallen for the propaganda, but this deputy sure is crooked… IF he did what he’s accused of.
In respect of feminists seeing loss of desire as a feature, this:
http://judgybitch.com/2014/03/12/pay-attention-young-ladies-your-older-sisters-have-a-plan-and-it-involves-you-crushed-under-a-bus/
“Lipton…added that…he was against people paying for sex. ”I think if you can’t earn it on your own, then you don’t deserve it.””
Because, of course, sex is a prize handed out by – I dunno. Women. Society. The point being: it’s something you do or do not *deserve*. Rather than being something that people sometimes like to do together.
Dammit – I need to stop writing these replies before I read the whole thing. You make precisely this point and it didn’t need to be restated.
[…] £36,000 [per year]…” You know who else pays censors to watch porn so the people can’t? China. The Great Firewall of Britain is well on the way, and once it’s discovered that merely […]