Monthly Archives: August 2011

DSM-5 Attempts to Sweep Porn Addiction Under the Rug

DSM-5 Attempts to Sweep Porn Addiction Under the Rug

By Gary Wilson and Marnia Robinson The Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders work group for the upcoming Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is currently discussing whether to demote the proposed “Hypersexual Disorder” (which addresses compulsive porn use, among other behaviors) from Sexual Dysfunctions to the appendix. Further, a member of the work group advises that “Hypersexual Disorder” may be banished altogether, offering no explanation. The DSM is psychiatry’s bible. If a disorder isn’t in there, insurance companies won’t reimburse treatment costs for it, so psychiatrists don’t diagnose patients as having it. In the health care world, “Reality is what the DSM says it is.” So, if you fall into compulsive Internet porn use…tough luck. Your condition doesn’t exist and you will...

New e-petition (UK) about porn in newsagents

New e-petition (UK) about porn in newsagents

by Steve Hawkins A new e-petition of possible interest to many of you. Printed pornographic material is obviously available much more readily these days. The days of the brown paper bag have long gone. Teens, younger children, as well as everyone else, have ready access to supermarkets and petrol stations. Supermarkets and newsagents sell a much wider range of goods these days. Wouldn’t it be great if venues such as these were porn free? Ideally I’d like to see printed porn only available through licensed adult stores. Porn is a multi-million dollar industry which hardly contributes to healthy attitudes to sexual relationships and behaviour. We COULD get a grip on this if the will was there. I feel strongly about this – I have...

Effort to take issue of condoms in porn to a LA public vote

Effort to take issue of condoms in porn to a LA public vote

AIDS Healthcare Foundation together with five former adult film performers—two of whom contracted HIV while working in the industry— have announced the launch of a City of Los Angeles ballot initiative that would allow Los Angeles voters to have a say on a measure that would require adult film makers in Los Angeles to ensure that condoms are being use in the materials they make. The group have also unveiled, ‘For Adult Industry Responsibility’, a campaign that will shepherd signature gathering and support the entire ballot initiative process. “At present, animals working in film & TV productions in Los Angeles enjoy more safety and health protections than adult film performers do. There are laws and state statutes to protect adult performers—but there is no...

Pornographers for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Pornographers for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the animal rights campaign group are reportedly planning to launch a porn site when they acquire their .xxx domain name. The first indications came earlier this week when, buried in a Reuters article about the new .xxx top-level domain, PETA spokesperson Lindsay Rajt reportedly said that instead of blocking its .xxx name, PETA plans to launch a pornography site that draws attention to the plight of animals. PETA has become well known for its long-running “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” campaign featuring celebrities like Eva Mendes who have stripped off for photos for campaign ads. However more recently, with the public becoming relatively desensitised to pictures naked women, PETA has got more hard-core. In...

Update on library campaigns

Update on library campaigns

Thought i’d send in a quick update on some of the news recently emerging about opposition all over the US to porn being accessible in public libraries. Since hitting the news in April with the the case of libraries in New York protecting the rights of users to watch porn on library computers there seems to have been a number of cases of opposition across North America. This week alone has had a few (and i might look into other cases). Along with a hopefully successful campaign by the London Abused Women’s Centre, Stop Porn Culture and Men Against Sexual Trafficking in London Canada, there have also been reports from other places in Canada such as Windsor where City Councillor Al Maghnieh said he...

Success for anti-porn campaigners in Canada

In London (Canada) anti-porn campaigning groups had success on Tuesday when councillors on the city’s community and neighbourhoods committee voted unanimously in their favour. The London Abused Women’s Centre, Stop Porn Culture and Men Against Sexual Trafficking took two main issues to the committee. They want pornography filters added to all London Public Library computers, and councillors to prohibit boards, commissions and departments that receive city funding from leasing space to events sponsored by the porn industry. Representatives from thegroups made a presentation titled — “Who wants to be a porn star? Sex and violence in today’s pornography industry” – which is about porn’s impact on the community on Tuesday during council’s community and neighbourhoods committee meeting. “There is a myth in society that...

Branding & Pornography: making it cool, making it better?

Branding & Pornography: making it cool, making it better?

When I was younger I made some older friends (these relationships were cultivated with elusive ‘coolness’ in mind) who introduced me to the finer points of adolescence in the East Midlands. Snooker in the afternoon. The frequenting of pubs. Arcade Fire. They also had a trick of smashing any pretentions I had to originality: whatever I did, they had done it before. This was infuriating. Their shtick consisted of luring me into making a value statement (from “Grolsch is better than Fosters” to “Little Thoughts deserved to be on Bloc Party’s first album’) and then systematically showing that whatever I thought was passé to the point of boredom. One day I was naive enough to opine that I preferred small breasts. “Oh David,” I...

We need to communicate about porn

We need to communicate about porn

One of the hardest things about writing about my personal experiences with and around pornography is that it is all compartmentalized. My use of pornography was never out in the open – it only existed in myself, in my own personal bubble. Only since I have stopped watching pornography has this bubble began to crack and slowly but surely things have started back into my memory that I had long since forgotten and supressed. One of the memories that recently floated back into my memory was of the loft where we hung up our washing when I was between 9 and 12. The walls of this space were adorned with pictures of heavy metal bands like Iron Maiden and with pictures of naked women from...

Casey Anthony, Porn and Punishing Women

Casey Anthony, Porn and Punishing Women

Casey Anthony, the mother of a murdered 5 year old girl who was then tried for her murder and eventually acquitted has been offered roles in porn by both Vivid and Hustler. The case has been huge news in the US for months being dubbed the ‘Social-Media Trial of the Century’. Below are some extracts from an article written by Sady Doyle for GlobalComment. You can read the entire article here. It is very possible that Casey Anthony killed her daughter. Before we say anything else, we should say that: the fury that was unleashed over Anthony’s July 5 acquittal is based on some very understandable outrage. Anthony did not report that her two-year-old daughter Caylee had gone missing for 31 days; she lied...

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