Comments | stephenh2oman: 10 Cups of Crazy!

stephenh2oman

10 Cups of Crazy!

Apr 04, 2006 20:18

I'm watching this whole child pornography special on CNN right now, and it's pretty interesting. (Haha, I just realized that I'm always very intrigued by discussions on child pornography. Read into that what you will.) Anyway, they started talking about this kid who I guess was like the all-time champion of child pornography named Justin Berry. I ( Read more... )

Comments 11

cescalynne April 5 2006, 04:22:44 UTC

I saw that special on Justin Berry awhile ago. It was all pretty appalling. I think you're way oversimplifying the main issue though. I don't think the rationale behind child pornography laws is that "being naked" is wrong for a ten year period during child/adolescent life. I mean, as you know (I think we discussed it recently), some photography of naked children is considered art (and legal), but there is a difference between that and pornography (and that's ultimately up to lawyers to persuade and judges to decide). Sometimes what is art and what is porn is very clear. Sometimes it isn't. Anyway, it's all about the initial victimization of the child by the pornographer and the repeated victimization of the child by the viewers and circulators of child pornography. It is NOT, as you suggest, simply about being naked. Child porn involves children sometimes in suggestive poses totally age inappropriate and very clearly staged by an abusive adult and it often involves the rape of the child.

stephenh2oman April 5 2006, 06:39:00 UTC

The special was appalling? Or you mean the acts, I hope. The special seemed all right, but I was only paying attention to it about 55% of the time ( ... )

ugh. leilei2 April 5 2006, 17:40:47 UTC

i dont have the patience to sit and write out a lengthy response like tina and francesca did, but let me just say that you are absolutely ridiculous.

the reason it's a problem has very little to do with any "overcomplication." rather, the reason it's a problem is because this exploitation clearly exists and young children who are too adolescent to understand the complications and adult motives behind this abuse fall victim to asshole perverts who find solace in arguments such as yours.

like tina kind of said, of all laws to question, why would you ever choose one so controversial and sensitive as this? un-american, you say? i believe any american is the first to say that children are our future, they are innocent and unassuming, and should be protected from such violations of their youth.

it's as SIMPLE as that.

Re: ugh. stephenh2oman April 5 2006, 19:44:49 UTC

Well, I'm not really interested in making someone lose their patience or stir up controversy, so, I'll spare you a lengthy response.

Why did I choose to question this law? 'Cause it was on TV, so I wrote about it. I'm just that impressionable. When did CNN become the Child Nudity Network anyway? Haha, I'm sorry, I just wanted to make that lame acronym since yesterday. Hehehe. The end.

Thread 6

Gah. _calliope_ April 5 2006, 13:40:53 UTC

I don't understand your obsession with making everything so black and white. Dissecting things into their individual parts is not always the best way to understand them.

All of society's rules are arbitrary but that doesn't make them any less important. You draw the line at molestation. Why? Following your line of logic, society is just afraid of sexuality and who's to say that until a certain arbitrary age you're not ready to experience that? At some point you have to draw a line. And of course that line is reflective of our collective societal morality (as are our rules about murder, theft, and assult). We as a society decide that we want to live in a place where our lives are valuable, our property is respected, and children are allowed to be innocent.

As for art vs. pornography, I think it's very clear which is which. There's a lot of literature theory that tries to define the differences (see John Berger's Ways of Seeing) if you need some formal definitions, but I can't imagine anyone having difficulty telling the

Re: Gah. stephenh2oman April 5 2006, 20:19:44 UTC

Despite all the similarities and moments we've shared throughout the years, I think it's clear that we often don't understand each other's choices and beliefs ( ... )

cescalynne April 5 2006, 13:44:26 UTC

No, I liked the special, I meant the acts were appalling ( ... )

Oh, shit. Two Parts. Haha. Part I stephenh2oman April 5 2006, 21:22:03 UTC

Agree to disagree? I don't agree to that ( ... )

Oh, shit. Two Parts. Haha. Part II stephenh2oman April 5 2006, 21:22:26 UTC

If you can accept that there is an inherent right to freewill so long as you don't trespass on others' freewill (and if you really want to get into whether such inherent rights do exist, I'll do it, because I enjoy this nonsense, and I'm getting paid to write it, but it's probably a rather awful tangent to pursue) then you'll see that the lines I draw are never arbitrary ( ... )