The culture of rape is a growing phenomena in the western world. It has been around in parts of the east at least for centuries, but in western societies it is fairly new. It wasn't that long ago that a girl was fairly safe walking around a university campus by herself. Not so much anymore.
But probably most campus rapes occur when the girl gets blotto drunk or is drugged, which was not so common in the 1950s for instance. So, misuse of drugs and alcohol certainly are a contributing factor in the evolution of the culture of rape in western society.
The main influence promoting this dreadful cultural curve is, I believe, the easy availability of pornography to adolescent boys. The adolescent mind 're-wires' itself and a person's views and attitudes change dramatically. That which influences the mind in the throes of adolescence can have a powerful affect on who, or what, a child becomes.
Pornography demeans women to the point of becoming nothing more than a vehicle for the fulfillment of a boy's lusts or fantasies. That concept can become locked in the psyche of a boy until something akin to psychological dynamite blows it up. That may be facing a long jail sentence for rape, or otherwise having your life ruined because of a poor decision to satisfy your lust at the expense of a girl who is more or less helpless to defend herself.
It has only been in the past 20 years or so that the internet has made pornography so readily available to anyone who wants it, which include a lot of curious, young, adolescent boys. So it has been in the last 15 years or so that the culture of rape has really begun to fester.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron is probably the world's leading political advocate for ending sexual violence. Coming out a year ago yesterday, Cameron exerted considerable influence on ISPs and search engines to begin to clean up the internet. One of the planks in his platform is the provision of filters for pornography, drugs, etc., for children. Some ISPs are more enthusiastic about this program than others.
TalkTalk's HomeSafe option has been in place since May 2011, and fully 36% of their subscribers us it. That's not great, but it's way better than the others. BT and Sky launched their filter services late last year. Only 5% of BT's new subscribers and 8% of Sky's new subscribers use the filters.
Virgin is the biggest disgrace among the four. They did not have their filter program in place until February of this year, and only 4% of new subscribers have opted for it. To make matters worse, only 35% of Virgin's new subscribers were even offered the service. Virgin says it is addressing the problem, but it is a lack-lustre start and perhaps an indication of the lack of enthusiasm by the company to comply with the program.
Getting pornography away from children is, in my opinion, absolutely essential for a healthy attitude by boys toward girls and toward sex. I know we can never completely keep it away from boys, but making it much harder to access will mean much less frequent exposure, which, in turn, will result in less perversion of the adolescent mind, and eventually, a better society.
But probably most campus rapes occur when the girl gets blotto drunk or is drugged, which was not so common in the 1950s for instance. So, misuse of drugs and alcohol certainly are a contributing factor in the evolution of the culture of rape in western society.
The main influence promoting this dreadful cultural curve is, I believe, the easy availability of pornography to adolescent boys. The adolescent mind 're-wires' itself and a person's views and attitudes change dramatically. That which influences the mind in the throes of adolescence can have a powerful affect on who, or what, a child becomes.
Pornography demeans women to the point of becoming nothing more than a vehicle for the fulfillment of a boy's lusts or fantasies. That concept can become locked in the psyche of a boy until something akin to psychological dynamite blows it up. That may be facing a long jail sentence for rape, or otherwise having your life ruined because of a poor decision to satisfy your lust at the expense of a girl who is more or less helpless to defend herself.
It has only been in the past 20 years or so that the internet has made pornography so readily available to anyone who wants it, which include a lot of curious, young, adolescent boys. So it has been in the last 15 years or so that the culture of rape has really begun to fester.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron is probably the world's leading political advocate for ending sexual violence. Coming out a year ago yesterday, Cameron exerted considerable influence on ISPs and search engines to begin to clean up the internet. One of the planks in his platform is the provision of filters for pornography, drugs, etc., for children. Some ISPs are more enthusiastic about this program than others.
TalkTalk's HomeSafe option has been in place since May 2011, and fully 36% of their subscribers us it. That's not great, but it's way better than the others. BT and Sky launched their filter services late last year. Only 5% of BT's new subscribers and 8% of Sky's new subscribers use the filters.
Virgin is the biggest disgrace among the four. They did not have their filter program in place until February of this year, and only 4% of new subscribers have opted for it. To make matters worse, only 35% of Virgin's new subscribers were even offered the service. Virgin says it is addressing the problem, but it is a lack-lustre start and perhaps an indication of the lack of enthusiasm by the company to comply with the program.
Getting pornography away from children is, in my opinion, absolutely essential for a healthy attitude by boys toward girls and toward sex. I know we can never completely keep it away from boys, but making it much harder to access will mean much less frequent exposure, which, in turn, will result in less perversion of the adolescent mind, and eventually, a better society.
No comments:
Post a Comment