Panama Red

It’s Difficult to Make It In America February 26, 2006

In response to We All Have A Choice…

I definitely disagree with this blogger. If you take a look at a lot of the backgrounds of pornography stars, the majority of them have not had an “ordinary” childhood. Many of them come from single parent homes, where they have been abused, or molested, or something else of that nature. Don’t misunderstand me, I come from a divorced family, and many people from single parent homes succeed in life, but many of these porn stars have other factors working against them as well. I do agree that some people who have very tough childhoods end up being successful in life but with the majority of these people, the events that took place during their childhoods have changed them dramatically, and thus put them at a disadvantage for the rest of their adult lives. Since many of these porn stars have experienced traumatic events during their childhood, many are severely emotionally scarred and therefore they cannot find jobs. The pornography industry welcomes these types of people, and gives them jobs. I agree that going in to porn is kind of an easy way out, but it is probably the best option for people who have trouble finding work due to negative childhood experiences. Without this industry, many people who are making ends-meat would be unemployed and poor. It is not true that “anyone can make it [in America]”. It is very hard for some people to make it here! It is clear that in America the people with the greatest amount of resources (i.e. Money, connections) have the greatest probability of being successful.

Topless? At Colonie February 22, 2006

In response to the Blog How Much Less Is “Topless”, I agree with the blogger that I too thought that the definition of topless was pretty clear cut.   The blogger doesn’t make it clear weather or not the dancers are allowed to be “bottomless”.  Is this matter touched upon in the holding?  Also, isn’t it the topless girls that attracted people to the strip club in the first place?  Now that the girls are not going to be topless, how is the club going to attract customers?  If I was the owner of the club, I would be worried about the future of my business.

One thing that the blogger does mention that I found very intriguing is the fact that the term “topless” is not clearly defined anywhere.  Though the court decision says the dancers cannot perform topless, can they dance with see-thru tops on?  I cannot wait to see what this decision turns into.  It seems to me that this decision will probably be be brought in front of the courts again in order to clarify it.  I believe that the people at Colonie will “push the envelope” (liberally defining “topless”), which will force the case to go to court again if people in that area (the ones who conservatively define topless) have a problem with how the Colonie defines topless.

It is always disturbing to me that the courts leave so much room for interpretation in their holdings.  It would cut out a lot of wasted time and energy (for lawyers, judges, etc) if the courts would clearly state what they mean the first time they come out with a decision.

Straight Men Acting Gay (One Hard Job) February 22, 2006

I found it very interesting that straight men actually engage in homosexual pornography. In my mind, this kind of thing would be impossible to do. It would be impossible for me (a straight male) to get aroused by another male. But it is mentioned that these straight men who act out homosexual porn use viagra to help them with their erections. This was interesting to me because a new medical breakthrough in the field of medicine is being used in a way that it was never intended to be used. Instead of being used by older men who cannot have an erection anymore, it is being used by young males in order for them to look like they are sexually excited, when in actuality they are not sexually aroused at all. This drug, viagra, is directly responsible for the fortunes and professions of many porno actors of today. I also found it interesting that porn actually takes some skill. The people involved need to be good actors, especially if they are straight acting out gay scenes. I was under the assumption that producing porn takes no skill at all. I thought that it was just 2 people simply having natural sex, with no acting at all. The subject of homosexual male porn never even crossed my mind, but now when I think about it, it makes sense that gay porn has a market. If there are homosexual people out there, naturally there are homosexuals that want to watch gay porn, and thus gay porn has given many gay and straight actors jobs. It is seen in one of the clips in lecture # 12 that this specific gay porn actor is straight and doesn’t actually get excited during his gay scenes. It is all acting. In my opinion, these gay porn actors are part of a group of the best actors of all time. I think that it would be very difficult to act like I was enjoying a homosexual act when in actuality I was straight. The men in these films really look like they are enjoying the gay sex when as many as 50% of them are straight.

Porno: A Life Career February 22, 2006

I found it very interesting that many porn stars choose porn because they don’t have the choice to choose something else.  Many, if not all the porn stars don’t ever have the choice to be a judge or hold a job with a better connotation than porn star.  It is seen that many porno stars would not be in this business if given the choice of a different job with a similar pay and benefits.  It seems as though the people who engage in acting out pornography are less priveleged in life.  It looks as though the less wealthy population are the peoples who engage in pornography.  You don’t usually see kids who graduated from Harvard engaging in pornographic movies on camera as a means of making ends meat.

It was also very surprising to me that many women who are involved in the pornography business are also involved with the illegal prostitution business and vice versa.  The two businesses go hand in hand.  It is seen through lecture # 12 that many porn stars aren’t paid a lot of money.  In actuality, they can be paid very little money for their services.  I see why male porn stars are usually paid higher than female porn stars.  There is definately many more female porn stars as a whole than male porn stars.  Therefore the males would get paid more due to the deficiency in male porn stars. 

On another note, many, many people each year are sold into sex trade.  Just recently, a man was charged with kidnapping his own kids to enter them into a sex trade ring.  You can read the article here.    Though it is very hard to get the actual numbers of sex trade (b/c it is illegal), it is a very profitable business that is growing even though it is illegal.  Many times, small kids are subjected to being sold as sex slaves for life.  This sex trade ruins many kids’ lives, and it is my belief that more attention needs to be given to this topic.  Law authorities need to do more in order to combat this sex trade epidemic. 

Playboy paves the road for Hustler February 15, 2006

Larry Flint is a pioneer in the pornography business.  Though Hugh Hefner is the first real pioneer of the modern porn industry (Haynes pioneered the porn industry in the very beginning), Larry Flint took Hugh Hefner’s idea and elaborated on it.  Instead of publishing “soft core” porn as playboy did, Flint pushed the envelope and published “hardcore” porn in his Hustler magazine.  Flint definitely knew that his new publication would be challenged in the U.S. legal system.  He also felt that what he was doing was actually legal and he knew that ultimately he would win in court and create an empire for himself.  Larry Flint knew what he was doing, and in many ways he set precedents for many legal issues concerning the porn industry.  On the other hand, Hugh Hefner’s “soft core” publication was never challenged in the courts due to the fact that Hustler was more explicit.  Though Hefner was worried about publishing his name in the first playboy issue, his worries turned out to not be a problem.  

It is my belief that if Hustler had not gone above and beyond Playboy concerning explicitness, Playboy would have been challenged in the courts instead.  But, Flint saw an opening in the porn business and he flew with it.  And after many, many court appearances and after some time in jail, Larry Flint has prevailed, and he has created a new subsection of pornography.

There is a movie called The People Versus Larry Flint that accurately outlines Flint’s life and shows his fight to have Hustler stay on the market.  This movie is very interesting and I recommend it to anyone interested in the life of Larry Flint as it concerns to Hustler magazine and pornography.

Child Worker Sentenced to Life In Prison for Child Porn February 15, 2006

Here is an interesting link to Cnn.com.  This is an article concerning a child counselor who was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in a child pornography ring.  This sentence shows that the courts are really starting to crack down on child pornography.  This is a very interesting case because the defendant is a person who worked with kids everyday, and was trusted with kids everyday.  This case shows that parents really need to be aware of the people around their kids.  Parents need to know that these kinds of people are out there, and they need to know that these types of peoples are real threats to society as a whole, and these people need to be proscecuted to the greatest extent of the law.  There is something to be said that this case take place in California.  California seems to be the most leinant place concerning porn, and for such a harsh sentence to come out of such a liberal state, really makes a statement about the severity of child porn. 

MySpace: From Innocent Internet Connections to Kiddie Porn and Drugs February 15, 2006

MySpace.com has quickly become a huge website which connects people using the internet.  It is now bigger than Google and quickly growing.  MySpace started as a website to connect people, it has now evolved in to mainly a music website.  It now lets people hear other people’s bands.  You can post your music on the website or listen to other’s music on the website.  But with the Pros come the Cons.  MySpace also has its cons.  It is a breeding ground for child predators that prey on small children.  MySpace has also become a message board for teens to talk about sex and drugs.  This is not what the website was created for, but this shows that a website created for one thing, many times moves in a different direction than initially suggested.  Now, the MySpace supervisors are monitoring the text and pictures on MySpace to make sure no illegal activities are going on.  They are watching very closely to route out child predators and other’s using the website for malicious reasons.

Illegal Activities Concerning Pornography February 15, 2006

I found it very interesting that some acts such as rape, etc. that are illegal in “real life” are actual legal to depict in pornography productions.  In my opinion, if something is illegal in “real life” it should not be allowed to be depicted in porn.  On the other hand, I think that depicting rape in non-pornographic movies should be legal, because even though it is an illegal act, it is something that really does happen, and therefore should be allowed to be shown in certain forms.  I believe that rape in porn should be illegal because this is being viewed by “sick” people who “get off” from things like this.  It is being viewed in a sexual sense.  There would be no other reason for someone to watch porn depicting rape.  The only reason someone would watch such an act is if they get “turned on” by this.  

I don’t understand why depicting rape in porn is legal when depicting child porn is illegal.  It is the same concept.  They both are depicting illegal activities in “real life” but one is legal to depict, and one is not.  It seems as though child porn is a more sensitive issue than rape is, and this may be the reason for the discrepancies, but I believe that there needs to be a standard in determining which acts can and cannot be shown in pornography.  Why can one search for porn concerning rape on the internet with no legal consequences, but one cannot search for Kiddie Porn?  

Paris Hilton in the Porn Spotlight Again! February 8, 2006

Paris Hilton is once again in the news concerning porn.  She is complaining that someone may have illegally gotten a hold of her diary.  In it are descriptions of very personal events to Hilton and also descriptions of sexual relations that she had.  Is the way this man got a hold of her diary illegal?  I can just see it now in bookstores: Paris’ Hilton’s Diary: The Tale of her Sexcapades.  It seems as though no matter what Paris does, she is always in the middle of some sort of controversy.

Girls don’t always pee together at the bar! February 8, 2006

This is just a short response to the blog: http://mculrich.wordpress.com/, where he asks, why do girls take pictures of themselves while peeing at the bar?  I don’t believe that most girls take pictures of themselves while in the bathroom at the bar.  With this being said, I have realized that girls are much more comfortable seeing other girl’s bodies (etc.) than guys are seeing other guys’ bodies.  In these pictures, it doesn’t seem like there is a sexual aura.  It’s more playful and innocent.  One question I have is do these girls know you have put them up on your blog?  If not, have you broken some kind of criminal code?  Can you put naked pictures up on the Internet without permission from the person?  If not, what are the consequences of such an action?  I would agree that these pictures constitute pornography, but very tame, soft core porn.

Another thought I had, is this some kind of fetish that the blogger has?  I know that some people have a peeing fetish, and they either like to watch people urinate, or urinate on their sexual partner.  This is not my cup of tea, but neither is brusselsprouts.  Could someone please explain to me what makes a fetish a fetish.  How do fetishes come about?  Is it some kind of chemical makeup in the brain, social factors, or something else?