In the Republican Party’s 2016 platform, pornography is referred to as a public health crisis.
While it’s not clear what ailments one can contract from pornography, it is clear that the Republican’s campaign is pandering to it’s religious voters. What is said to be a health issue, can be construed as a religious dilemma.
I spoke with a Canadian cam model who works for My Free Cams. They are a company that allows women to work as independent contractors performing sex acts solo, or with another female entertainer, using a webcam to stream the acts to paying customers online. She asked to remain anonymous.
She told me that she saw camming as a healthy alternative to working as a stripper. She explained that her anxiety, coupled with working in a bar, led her to drink too much at the strip club.
She says:
“Camming opened up a whole new world for me. One where I was in a totally safe environment, my own bedroom, where I have complete control over everything… I love being able to do my job entirely on my own terms. That, to me is empowerment.”
I asked her why she thought thought the Republican Party’s Platform felt pornography was an issue of public concern.
She said:
“From a Canadian perspective, America is an extremely religious country. Though not always the case, religion can bring deep feelings of shame towards sexuality. One can see this in the politics and morals of America. On one hand, the US is incredibly sexualized. The largest porn industry in the world is based there, not to mention the constant flashing images of sexuality in advertising. There’s also a deep rooted shame in it, which is obvious in the never ending barrage of anti-sex laws that are constantly passing.”
Utah Senator Todd Weiler shared his objections to pornography in detail. He called pornography “an epidemic.”
The Concurrent Resolution on the Public Health Crisis, or S.C.R 009, does not appear to be concerned with the men and women who perform pornography. Rather, it addresses concerns about adults who become addicted to the content.
It claims pornography can lead to:
“Hypersexuality of teens, and even prepubescent children.”
It even states that pornography can:
“…impact brain development and function.”
The resolution goes on to state disputable statistics such as the first age of exposure.
The proposed resolution takes a shift from ridiculous to absurd when it tries to blame pornography for replacing sex education, treating women as objects, normalizing violence, child pornography, and increasing the demand for sex trafficking.
It is offensive to blame pornography for the crimes of human trafficking and child pornography. As a survivor, it horrifies me to think that my abuser would be given any room to justify his crimes.
He alone is responsible for the sexual abuse he inflicted. He knew what he was doing was wrong. There is no movie in existence that can be used to justify that he thought his behaviors were normal.
Human trafficking and sexual exploitation are serious issues. However, none of them can be addressed with censorship.
Elizabeth Smart is known as the victim in a highly publicized kidnapping case. She was held captive, starved, and raped for nine months. Today, she is an advocate for human trafficking victims. She explained how abstinence only education hurts rape victims.
She said:
“I remember in school one time, I had a teacher who was talking about abstinence, and she said, ‘Imagine you’re a stick of gum. When you engage in sex, that’s like getting chewed. And if you do that lots of times, you’re going to become an old piece of gum, and who is going to want you after that?’… I thought, ‘I’m that chewed-up piece of gum.’ Nobody re-chews a piece of gum. You throw it away. And that’s how easy it is to feel you no longer have worth. Your life no longer has value.”
Senator Weiler attempts to address important issues, but he addresses the wrong culprit. Pornography does not violate, rape, and exploit people.
As Elizabeth Smart suggested, it is often the stigma associated with sex that keeps victims from seeking help. Stigmatizing pornography and the consenting relationship of adults gives people the message that sex is shameful.
Pornography should not replace sex education. If young people are using it this way, what we see is a failure from parents and schools.
To stop sexual violence we need to prosecute rapists, not scapegoat entertainers. We need to remove the statute of limitations that allow rapes to expire.
Finally, we need to stop shaming the actions of consenting adults.
It seems logical, but outlawing pornography might not actually have anything to do with sexual violence.
The claims that pornography perpetuates violence might just be a distractor. That distractor is being used to push religious ideals into politics and regulate things the government has no role in.
Update: This article has been updated to clarify a term that was previously used.
