For full disclosure, I am writing this as a white Christian male (or at least half white) in the United States. Or as I am told, I have grown up in an extremely privileged position.
But what if I told you I came from a broken beginning, the son of a drug addicted girl whom society deemed as a slut. I was born to a lost and young teenager caught up in drugs and a risky lifestyle in the 80's. I am what you call a 'crack baby', that doctors had little hope of having a healthy child hood.
For my first few years we would move from one drug house to another, all the while my mother would trade her body for drugs. I was neglected, and severely abused as a young child.
I tell you this not to try to garner any pity, but to set the stage and tell you why I am not a supporter of the Adult Industry. Even if someone claims that what they do in the adult industry is the most freeing experience in their life, and the perfect expression of feminism, I politely disagree.
I have seen first hand what the industry can do to those involved, and I understand the consequences that it not only puts on the said individual, but those it puts on the people surrounding them.
In class we discussed Belle Knox and her claim that her feminism was expressed through her choice of working in the Adult Industry. We even wrote papers debating whether we agreed with her or not. While I agree that to her it may be a genuine expression of her choice's, it leaves us no room to look at the bigger picture of whether or not the industry as a whole is a positive or negative factor to society.
Within the video above, a personal friend of mine Joy Hoover talks a little about her work with her Non-Profit organization called The Cupcake Girls. They are an organization that provides girls in the Adult Industry with unconditional love by giving them amenities such as:
Medical Assistance
Dental Assistance
Federal/County Aid Application Assistance
Financial Advising
Tutoring- for both entertainers and their children
Nutrition Counseling
Law Consultation
Coffee and Cupcakes Groups
One on One Mentoring
Emergency Care Packages
Moving Assistance
Drug and Alcohol Rehab Assistance
Domestic Violence Assistance
Safe House Assistance
Hosting Baby Showers and Birthday Parties
And for those who don't think the Adult Industry can negatively affect people, there are scores of research that says otherwise. Here are some statistics:
25 percent of all search engine requests are pornography-related
Internet Pornography Statistics: 2003, David C. Bissette, Psy.D.
72 million internet users visit pornography web sites per year
Pornography Statistics 2003. Internet Filter Review.
Incidents of child sexual exploitation have risen from 4,573 in 1998 to 112,083 in 2004, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Reports of child exploitation up. USA Today Snapshots, 17 February, 2005.
The average age of first internet exposure to pornography is 11 years old
Internet Pornography Statistics. Internet Filter Review, 2004.
51 percent of US adults surveyed believe that pornography raises men’s expectation of how women should look and changes men’s expectations of how women should behave.
No Consensus Among American Public on the Effects of Pornography on Adults or Children or What Government Should Do About It, Harris Poll, 7 October 2005. www.harrisinteractive.com
40 percent of adults surveyed believe that pornography harms relationships between men and women.
No Consensus Among American Public on the Effects of Pornography on Adults or Children or What Government Should Do About It, Harris Poll, 7 October 2005. www.harrisinteractive.com
42 percent of surveyed adults indicated that their partner’s use of pornography made them feel insecure
Marriage Related Research, Mark A. Yarhouse, Psy.D. Christian Counseling Today, 2004 Vol. 12 No. 1.
41 percent of surveyed adults admitted they felt less attractive due to their partner’s pornography use
Marriage Related Research, Mark A. Yarhouse, Psy.D. Christian Counseling Today, 2004 Vol. 12 No. 1.
The more pornography men watch, the more likely they are to describe women in sexualized terms and categorize women in traditional gender roles
The Porn Factor, Pamela Paul. www.time.com. 19 January, 2004.
15 percent of online porn habitués develop sexual behavior that disrupts their lives
The Porn Factor, Pamela Paul. 19 January, 2004.
Source: Online Education
I am in no way trying to ban porn, or impede on anyone's rights to free speech. I am not going to say that a female, or male for that matter cannot feel empowered when they are involved within the Adult Industry.
Instead I believe that I will not celebrate someone's choice to partake in the industry. Just as I believe that some one has a right to eat a Value Meal at McDonalds and drink a Big Gulp, does not mean that it is a healthy choice. People have every right to make their own decisions for themselves, but I feel as though society wants us to celebrate their choice and affirm with them that what they are doing is right.
I was one of the lucky ones, I was pulled out of my early childhood situation and put in a loving family. My family may not have been perfect, but through my life experiences I have been able to succeed in many aspects of life. Unfortunately not everyone is as lucky as I was. Just as not everyone in the industry is as lucky as Belle Knox. She is an extremely intelligent individual, provided with an opportunity to attend one of the premiere schools of the nation. She is the exception to the rule.
Should something as destructive as the Adult Industry be celebrated when shown how destructive it can be to so many?
Word Count: 967
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