back to article China-inspired charity aims to sex-down society

A new charity, SaferMedia, has been launched to combat the menace of the sexualisation of society. Its demands for cleaning up the internet are likely to be fed into an official government review of sexualisation in childhood later this year. Around 70 delegates from a range of concerned organisations met in the Grand …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Oliver Mayes

    Double standards as usual

    Pornography apparently "leads men to objectify women". Anyone who's ever seen a diet coke ad knows that this works both ways but they don't seem to want to point that bit out.

  2. John H Woods Silver badge

    Can I please just say ...

    ... that I am not the John Woods in the article?

  3. CheesyTheClown
    Thumb Up

    Less Christians having sex would be a good thing

    I think this is a fabulous idea. The sooner those Christians stop reproducing, the sooner we can start spending government money on useful research!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Our faith"

      This is from their site: http://www.mediamarch.org.uk/ourfaith.htm

      "Our Faith

      mediamarch heartily endorses the Christian aspirations which have been publicly displayed, ever since 1931, at BBC Broadcasting House in London. We recognise that these are in accordance with Philippians 4:8, and the wording used is as follows:

      "This Temple of the Arts and Muses is dedicated to Almighty God by the first Governors of Broadcasting in the year 1931, (Sir John Reith being Director General). It is their prayer that good seed sown may bring forth a good harvest, that all things hostile to peace and purity may be banished from this house and that the people, inclining their ear to whatsoever things are beautiful, and honest and of good report, may tread a path of wisdom and uprightness."

      mediamarch and its supporters are committed to campaigning on behalf of all those who are being harmed as a result of the increasingly explicit violence, sex and bad language in media content. Those affected range from both the victims and the perpetrators of media-fuelled crime, through to couples struggling with dysfunctional relationships, and to young girls who become anorexic in their pursuit of stick-thin 'beauty'.

      "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12)

      That the people may tread a path of wisdom and uprightness"

      May I put in a request for a Mary Whitehouse icon?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Grammar Nazi

      Not less. Fewer. (However, I agree with the sentiment.)

  4. James 5
    FAIL

    Really?

    In this respect, one speaker cited an ad for Mikado chocolate biscuits, which was described as a "pre-pubescent girl having her fanny photographed".

    In which world is a 20 year old or more girl considered "pre-pubescent". I have to assume the use of Fanny is the American one. Unless the original commentator is privy to footage that was not broadcast.

    1. foo_bar_baz
      Thumb Up

      De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da

      And they (purposefully?) conflate a photocopier with photography. To quote the ever excellent Police:

      Poets, priests and politicians

      have words to thank for their positions

      Words that scream for your submission

    2. Eddie Edwards
      Thumb Up

      Well quite

      I think it's the English use of "fanny"; it's a definite upskirt.

      But I still don't know many 12-year-olds with office jobs.

    3. Ken Hagan Gold badge
      Coat

      fanny != knees

      The only part of her body touching the photocopier (and therefore in the focal plane of the copier's optics) were her knees. I've seen some very nice knees in my time, but as a rule it's a part of a woman's body that I like to keep away from my groin.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Paris Hilton

      Some People Doth Protest Too Much

      Whoever that speaker was, I think the fact they perceived a fully-grown adult as a pre-pubescent girl says more about them than it does about anyone else. Perhaps they doth protest too much?

      And this brings up the question: how does repressed paedophilia manifest itself?

      It's a serious question that does need to be considered, lest we make the mistake of entrusting children's safety to repressed paedophiles who are parading around as "think of the children" extremists.

      Paris, because she was pre-pubescent once. I needn't explain the rest.

  5. CD001

    *sighs*

    I thought we'd shipped all the bloody puritans off the the colonies?

    Working in a office predominantly staffed by women I can tell you one thing - they're as bad (if not worse) than most men - how many posters of a half-naked "Jacob from Twilight" do you think there are here? Yeah.

    As for "Sexualisation of Society" - I'm fairly convinced that society is getting tamer by the generation. The Victorians were a bunch of smutty monkeys (despite their claims to the contrary) - I dread to think what our grandparent got up to "during the war" - or our parents in the 60s. Go back far enough - read some Chaucer for instance - and it's just filth I tells ya!

    Sexualised society? Pffff - it gets tamer by the generation.

    1. Someone Else Silver badge
      Go

      Note fromt he Colonies:

      We're done with 'em...you can have them back.

  6. dave 46
    Pint

    I whole heartedly agree

    Porn and alcohol are destructive but it's pretty much all we've got left, any politician would be massively naive to mess with either.

  7. Oz
    Flame

    Mikado

    'In this respect, one speaker cited an ad for Mikado chocolate biscuits, which was described as a "pre-pubescent girl having her fanny photographed".'

    That speaker is clearly a complete bell-end. Even the half sighted could surely see that the "girl" is clearly in her twenties, and has the accompanying "tattybojangles" (to quote Russell Howard) - definitely not items of pre-pubescence.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Thumb Up

      Pre-pubescent?

      If that is where they are drawing the line for pre-pubescent I can understand why they might equate nearly all pornography with child porn. Anyone under the age of 50 might look pre-pubescent so they should all be banned!

      1. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

        Re: Pre-pubescent?

        Also, Mikados totally look like really long thin willies. LOOK.

        1. Wommit
          Pint

          Sorry everyone.

          Sarah's seen some chocolate and gone off the deep end.

          Again!

          1. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

            Re: Sorry everyone.

            Hahah it's funny because chocolate makes women go crazy it's true.

            1. Tigra 07
              Grenade

              RE: Sarah

              "Hahah it's funny because chocolate makes women go crazy it's true."

              Many a time i've been attacked for my last rolo so i can confirm that as true

              Whatever happened to those chocolate pretzels?

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                RE: Sarah

                In my experience chocolate tends to have the opposite effect. There is many a rolling pin that hasn't been bashed on my head ....... Well if you know I had a lot to do with women and all.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          quite

          And the box they "come" in resembles a cubist minge.

          At least that was my excuse when my workmates walked in on me.

      2. Mark .

        drawing a line

        "If that is where they are drawing the line"

        Careful - drawing a few lines might now have you locked up in prison for possession of "child" porn, if it's deemed to look like a 17 year old "child" doing something sexual!

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ridiculous

    The solution is very simple just ban the Internet. It doesn't really do much for society anyway, and with Web Too it is going to do even less.

    1. wayward4now
      Linux

      What is really obvious

      Just keep anyone under the age of 18 off of the net. Simple. Give the kids back their sandboxes and let them play outdoors. This reminds me of the Wild West. It was the cowboys and the rest of the neer-do-wells that settled the west. When it become safe enough, the do-good-ers moved in. Same with the web. It was created by adults for adults, and it's Madison Avenue that "lusts in their hearts" to have children on the web so they can sell them stuff. Now THAT is perversion.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    guffle

    We don't want any sexualisation by the back door!

    1. Elmer Phud

      not only that

      also 'sexualisation is a slippery slope'.

      I'd bloody hope so - especially if it's by the back door.

  10. Steve 13
    WTF?

    Crikey

    "by acting as a massive drain on time available for commitment"

    If they're drawing on their own experiences, then I'd suggest that they've been over doing it a bit!

    Either that, or they've really no clue what they're talking about.

    1. WorkingFromHome
      Thumb Up

      Indeed....

      I rather suspect they are speaking from experience.

      It has been my experience in life that the more table thumping and moralising a person is the more likely that they have a guilty conscience. Just look at how many of the politicians which shout about “family values” have been then caught doing the nanny/secretary/neighbour etc etc.

      That’s not to say that some aspects of the media may have got a little over the top but I don’t see quite the problem these folks seem to.

      As someone else said – if you’ve ever worked in an office full of women you will have heard conversations which would put builders in the pub to shame! The idea that women are being picked on exclusively is just wrong.

      Finally – if you don’t like what your kids can see on the internet then put a filter on, monitor what they do – it’s your job as a parent. It (At least that way they have to work for the dirty stuff – it gives a much better sense of satisfaction :) )

  11. Tasogare
    FAIL

    me->opinion[human_race] -= 1

    I started laughing around this part: "...acting as a massive drain on time available for commitment" and didn't stop until the end. Loathsome as I find such groups, they're still fun to hear about. They're invariably indistinguishable from parodies of themselves.

    Honestly, any parsing of this I could come up with amounted to some combination of "ZOMG he's getting aroused by someone who isn't me!" and "Somebody think about the kiddies! Think about the kiddies now because we told you to! ...hey, you thought about the kiddies. You sick pervert pedo."

  12. Steve 13
    WTF?

    Double Crikey

    "with children frequently and accidentally exposed to wholly inappropriate material, such as bestiality and child abuse, speakers explained."

    I don't know what kind of websites they've been browsing, maybe children are more 'vulnerable' somehow, but I've never been accidentally (or deliberately) exposed to any bestiality or child abuse... Hysterical much, I think so.

  13. tom 102
    Paris Hilton

    ohhh dear

    firstly i would like to point out that the child's access to the internet is the parents responsibly no the governments. What they are saying here is they would like a communist society which, if u wanted i would move to china, and im still here in the uk.

    Porn have labels on it saying that this will damage your health?? im sorry but i really cant think of anything that is really going to happen if you look at it. well except maybe this one .

    WARNING this product if found by your partner might cause you to be hit over head with a frying pan!

    lastly the best way to sort people who think like this, the best thing to do is to get them laid and im sure that will help with them all.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    They're right!

    My brain has been "pornified"; I just scanned "Miranda Suit" as "Miranda Slut"!

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Meh.

    Another group demonising the internet. Why can't such people see that the internet is purely a communication medium. What the medium is used for is a reflection of what people want. If it's mostly used for content of a sexual nature it's because that's what people want.

    If you don't like it, don't use it.

    1. Alan 6

      It's always been this way

      Cave walls, paintings, books, videos, dvds

      Whenever a new communication medium is developed it's almost instantly used to reproduce smut.

      Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, each new medium is smaller and easier to hide from your mum or partner.

      (can you imagine trying to read a cave wall under the duvet at night...)

      1. DJ 2

        You've only

        got to walk down the Itallian section of any major art museum and count the number of naked breasts exposed and divide it by the number of paintings.

        Le Lourve in Paris, rates a 21.5 on the Puppies:Paintings ratio.

        it's nothing new, except now idiots get to moan about it.

        1. Alan 6

          Art

          I remember walking around a gallery with my nephew and his mum when he was about 3. All of a sudden he stopped dead, pointed and said "Boobies!" really loud.

          Anyone know where Mr Canaletto lives so I can have him prosecuted for corrupting my nephew...

  16. Tony Paulazzo

    Title

    >arguments about freedom of speech and “artistic expression” were now... outdated<

    Scary. Witch hunt 2.0. When you hold up China as a bastion of human decency you're on the path to damnation.

  17. Circadian
    Flame

    Voluntary R18-rated Comment

    Just slap a R18 on the whole internet and be done with it. The sooner we get those fucking kids off our lawn (and according to the tabloids, that is *exactly* what the kids are doing, and recording it on their own phones) the better. Time to take back the internet for adults, and to leave those of sensitive dispositions (e.g. children, the mentally frail, politicians, whackjob religious factions...) to dream of shiny happy things in their own little worlds.

    Don't think this is quite R18 rated yet, so to the stroppy little toe-jobs that make up the committee, please go and sexually pleasure a dead horse and then blow your own head off in a violent and messy way.

  18. John G Imrie
    FAIL

    Innocence or Ignorance?

    "However, there was also some concern that the establishment focus on sex education was leading to sexualisation by the back door."

    Are these the same people that believe that only nasty things happen to the deserving, and the best way to avoid being mugged is to never attend self defence classes.

    What a load of [redacted for sexualising the debate]

  19. Atonnis
    Flame

    Dr Cox said it best...

    ...when he said 'I'm pretty sure that if you were to take all the porn off the internet there would be one site left...and that would be called 'Bring Back the Porn'.

    I'm taking this as just another hysterical denunciation by another group that wants to be noticed and likely get grants to pay for them to live rich lives. Screw them and screw their demands.

    We can watch what we want, when we want, how we want. We don't need or necessarily want some materials, but I'll be damned if we lose the right to go and view what we want to, as adults.

    If it's children you want to protect - perhaps you should take care of your damn kids instead of foisting your incompetence as parents on the rest of the world.

  20. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Flame

    I want my women objectified and hot!

    I also want to have a .50 Browning HBAR fully locked and loaded with 500 antipersonnel rounds to use on these whining "government save me, clamp down on other people" amoral spidery cretins.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    I call bullshit.

    'Child abuse is not some stand-alone activity "enjoyed" by a small sub-set of the population: rather, adult porn usage is frequently a gateway to an interest in such material.'

    Wait what? Watching regular porno turns makes you want to look at child porn? With the not so subtle implication that it also makes you want to abuse kids directly? Cite your sources matey.

    And the 'cigarette style warning'? What the fuck is that?

    'WARNING: UNEXPECTED CLOSE UPS OF RON JEREMY'S GURNING MOUSTACHIOED FACE MAY LEAD TO ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION.'

  22. D. M
    Big Brother

    1984

    They want Minitrue, Nothing less. If they get what they want, Next, if you don't agree with them you will be visited by "nice" group of "men in black" and enjoy your stay at miniluv.

    The sooner we get rid of all religions, the better the world will be.

  23. Tom 35
    Troll

    Some fairly wild claims were put forward

    "Woods' figures - which he later described as "just figures""

    So, another bunch of idiots pulling numbers out of their asses.

    "children frequently and accidentally exposed to wholly inappropriate material, such as bestiality and child abuse"

    frequently and accidentally? What a load of crap!

    I've been using the internet since day 0 and I've hit bestiality once (a typo landed me on a horse blowjob page) and I've never hit a child abuse site, maybe a few pictures of girls that could have been 17 and lied about their age. What I have been exposed to frequently is sensational "news porn" about such sites.

    "gateway to an interest in such material"

    The gateway argument... we don't like this but can't even make up a reason why it's bad, so it's a gateway to something bad.

  24. Dave Murray
    Grenade

    Round 'em up and shoot them

    "leading men to objectify women" - of course we're always to blame, let's ignore the vast number of adverts that paint us as stupid, ugly, smelly, social inadequates that are just on the planet to open jars for women.

    Bestiality - I've seen more bestiality courtesy of David Attenborough and his cronies than from any porn sites.

    Mikado - how many "pre-pubescent girls" do you know that work in offices? She's clearly at least 20.

    If I was in charge I'd round up people like this and have them shot. But, I do have a terrible human rights record.

    1. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: Round 'em up and shoot them

      Er, I think you're veering off the definition of 'objectify' there.

      Incidentally I can open any jar you put in front of me. Not making a point. Just saying. I can.

      1. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

        Re: Re: Round 'em up and shoot them

        (Negative portrayal of men in the media in a non-sexual way as you're describing is irrelevant to the discussion - dumb as the discussion may be.)

      2. Aaron Em

        Does that include pickled mushrooms?

        Because after they've been in the fridge for a few weeks I can never get the damn things open without spending five minutes swearing at it then giving up and prying at the lid with a butter knife. Is there some kind of trick to it?

        1. Michael Dunn

          @Aaron Em

          If your pickled mushroom jars stay in the fridge a few weeks, have you ever asked yourself if you really like pickled mushrooms?

      3. Michael Dunn
        Thumb Up

        Opening a jar

        I'm afraid arthritis has made jar opening more troublesome now I'm in the late 70's, but I have a handy gadget of plastic and rubber called a boa, which makes it easier.

  25. The Metal Cod

    Message to these Godbotherers

    Your hell, you burn in it.

    I've been using online communities, BBSes and the internet for 16 years now. Not once have I encountered bestiality, not once have I encountered child abuse. Utter utter Godswallop of the worst kind.

    As for "children frequently and accidentally exposed to wholly inappropriate material, such as bestiality and child abuse", if they're suggesting my partner or I allow our lad to be exposed to anything *we* consider inappropriate then they're welcome to come round and meet me and my cricket bat.

    As parents it is *our* decision what is right and proper for our lad to see, not theirs. Perhaps they should start to exercise the same judgements on their offspring.

    As Bill Hicks said "I find it ironic that people who are against things that cause sexual thoughts are generally fundamentalist Christians who also believe you should be fruitful and multiply."

  26. Cameron Colley

    I think they have this arse-backwards.

    The internet is full of porn because the first thing men do with a new technology is use it for porn. You can't "sexualise" society because the Homo sapiens is a mammal which must reproduce sexually and individuals of the species tend to feel an urge to do this -- this is somewhat tempered by the ability to think logically and practice self denial where procreation may not be optimal.

    As for the whole adverts lead to porn, porn leads to child porn, child porn leads to child abuse -- give me a fucking break! Child abuse is generally the result of a sick individual taking a sexual interest in their own children or those in their care -- step parents of serial mums etc. seem to be pretty good at raping and killing children, for example. It also has to be said that in some sections of society girls as young as 15 are encouraged to become pregnant in order to be paid more money for fags and booze -- this, again, has fuck all to do with porn or the internet.

    Still, these people get paid good money, some of which is paid by us tax payers no doubt, to justify their own existence by using the latest in Daily-Fail style buzzwords. Actually, thinking about it, sick fucks like Miranda Suit are the ones making money from child pornography.

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    But it's TRUE!

    There is clear evidence that one thing leads to another - smoke a single joint and within months you'll be a crazed coke addict, mugging old ladies to feed your habit. Read page 3 of the Sun and a week or two later you'll be off to Thailand to find a child brothel - and don't talk to be about Agatha Christie! There is indisputable evidence that every time a new Aggie Christie came out that there were several thousand extra murders throughout Middle England - and every Morse episode on TV statistically correlates with mass slaughter of Oxford academics - fact! I have figures to prove it! [okay, they're just figures...]

  28. Wommit
    Paris Hilton

    If they're DEMANDING

    less porn on the interwebs, can't we DEMAND more porn?

    Just a thought.

  29. FoolD
    Flame

    More self-righteous puritanicals ahoy!

    Children are their parent's responsibility. A good parent should not allow childen to have unsupervised access to the internet or even unrestricted access to mobile phones. Such access is a privilage that should be earnt with trust. Government's role should be to encourage good parenting - no more.

    As for adults watching porn - that is down to the individual. Warnings won't stop anyone that wants to from doing so. Anyone that thinks the government stance should be more like the Chinese on these issues (and think things like individual's rights are so outdated) should think about applying to emmigrate there instead. The rest of us could even start up a fund to buy their tickets...

    It unclear from the article what exactly the gov attitude is towards these people - I'm getting a hint of "slightly dismissive". If so then good job ! keep it up. Maybe try for "completely dismissive" next time...

  30. James Micallef Silver badge
    Flame

    "Sexualisation" - of culture

    "Sexualisation" - of culture - What comple BS!!

    Humans are inherently sexual creatures. Sex, desire, lust, polygamy, multiple partners, homosexuality, masturbation etc are all perfectly natural, so much so that they all occur naturally in many many other animal species. What REALLY happened is that human culture has been DE-sexualised through some perverse ( mostly religious ) definitions of 'morality' . Thank goodness that we're gradually (albeit with great difficulty thanks to antedeluvian attitudes such as described in this article) returning to the sexual fredom that is our true nature.

  31. strum

    Fixed it

    Pamela Paul, author of Pornified, John Woods, a consultant psychotherapist at the Portman Clinic and Nola Leach, chief executive of Christian charity CARE - are harmful, in themselves, as they make sex dirty.

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Sex ed = back doors and BJ's, arguably better'n pregnancy

    "the establishment focus on sex education was leading to sexualisation by the back door."

    I saw what you did there - and yes you're right, it does, because sex ed causes kids to know enough about biology to utilize (shall we say) alternative ports ;) in order to avoid pregnancy.

    Same as for BJ's etc.

    Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, well the latter one anyway... the first one wouldn't interest me (risky + presumably uncomfortable, dunno haven't tried it).

    Ms. Obvious says: Note to any kiddies reading this: Neither of those techniques prevent you from catching some embarassing incurable disease or other, so you might as well go buy/steal that box of rubbers (condoms or whatever they're called in England) and do things the usual way.

    In any case, abstinence and ignorance are *not* effective techniques of dealing with much of *anything*, whether sexuality or sex ed or anything else.

    That said, porn would have a much greater acceptance among conservative adults if more of the porn participants looked like they were actually *enjoying* themselves. Too many of them don't. At least the stuff I've seen while stumbling around trying to find non-porn stuff via Google.

    And yes, some of that has included a half-dozen or so webpages of bestiality - I find it hard to imagine that if a person uses search engines a lot for year after year, they wouldn't have accidentally found such sites. I'm better at recognizing such pages now *before* clicking on them (I'm not offended by those sites, but they do seem predictable and [no pun intended] boring and a waste of my time and bandwidth), but people in a big hurry could easily click away and land on such a page without intending to. Maybe it would help if I used the 'safe' search filtering thingie but that would require me to keep Google cookies or something and I'm insufficiently motivated to bother with setting it up.

    As a straight lady who is not turned on by visuals and pictures (rather stereotypically, I prefer the written word on the very rare occasions when I feel in need of such non-personal titillation), I can assure you that when I say I found those bestiality-picture sites by "accident", it was exactly that.

    However I might use search engines more than the norm when doing research on strictly non-sexual things, so that increases the exposure likelihood.

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Women=intelligent, men=sexy

    There. Reverse-discrimination problem solved :)

  34. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    have they actually seen

    the mikado advert? i know asian women are know for being quite small of stature but she clearly has boobs and she's working in a fecking office.

  35. Tron Silver badge

    Bestiality. It was 1978. I was 11...

    ...Vivid memories of that man with his arm up the animal's bottom.

    BBC1. 'All Creatures Great and Small'

    I survived mentally unsullied.

    Ms. Suit and her fellow cronies bring legitimate child protection movements into disrepute and should be ashamed of themselves. No, we don't want to be more like China. If she likes it so much, maybe she should move there.

    Can't wait for the official government warning. 'Wanking over this can seriously...' Any suggestions?

  36. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    The Ministry of Truth

    >Pornography, speakers claimed, is harmful in and of itself.

    I'm sure I recall detailed research by the Canadian Government to find out if the Customs Officers who were "forced" to watch the tug-fodder they confiscated from people were suffering harm concluded that there were no adverse affects at all.

    >creating unsustainable expectations of female sexuality.

    You sexist ********! My girlfriend enjoys porn just as much as I do and wants sex at least as much. How dare you say that she is inferior or that she is a victim because she's a woman.

    >frequently and accidentally exposed to wholly inappropriate material

    I can't remember the last time I "accidentally" found porn.

    >From the floor, John Carr, a United Kingdom government adviser on Internet safety policy

    >for children and Secretary of the UK's Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety,

    >highlighted the US First Amendment as possibly the greatest obstacle faced by those

    >wishing to clean up the internet.

    Yes, Mr.Carr. That's exactly what it's for. To protect the people of America from people like you who think they should have the right to ban all adult material because of the problem of child porn. I think it's to our shame that we don't have a similar law here.

    >pre-pubescent girl

    Already covered... If you class her as under-age start building lots more jails.

    >arguments about freedom of speech and “artistic expression” were now... outdated.

    Why stop there? Aren't the laws that say you can't have people arbitrarily locked up because you don't like the idea of what they might be doing in the privacy of their own homes outdated too? While you're at it, why don't we go back to the old days when unmarried girls caught having sex were locked up in asylums under the "Mental Defectives Act" as women weren't supposed to enjoy sex?

    Look at all the people from Government departments who were at this presentation. I think these people are going to be listened to at least to an extent. Hearing these people go on make me so sad for what our country is turning into.

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Grenade

    Inappropriate material on the Internet

    "with children frequently and accidentally exposed to wholly inappropriate material"

    Like this Islamaphobic so-called "Christian" political party (http://www.christianchoice.cpaparty.org.uk/?page=map&id=10)

    Is it the same Miranda Slut? I think it is!

  38. Qu Dawei
    Headmaster

    Ridiculous

    Another day, another load of over-hyped and unsubstantiated assertions passed off as facts, bolstered by "evidence" or "examples" that even a child of 5 could see was not what was claimed (the WOMAN in the advert was clearly not a child or even likely to be an older teenager). What these moral crusaders need is a course on critical thinking and rational argument techniques. The problem is that if they did complete such a course and benefit from it, then their whole loopy religious bases for their delusions here would probably be cut from under their feet. I am not surprised that this kind of attempted meddling in other people's lives goes on by such groups (after all, it helps them never consider their own morals), but I am surprised that they are given even the benefit of faint support from any other agencies.

    A case might be made that children are not given the best environments in which to grow up in in the Uk at the moment, and that this can sometimes mean they have to mature psychologically and emotionally much more quickly than might be best for them; but it is not clear-cut that this IS the case, and it would require hard evidence for this if any large-scale legislation were contemplated to deal with the problem (after all, it may not exist when examined scientifically). In any case, I strongly suspect that any results would point out the need for society to re-emphasize the responsibilities of parents towards their own children more, and for society to try to be more positive to the notion of education as a route for improvement, which isn't an issue about sexualisation at all!

  39. Me Meeson

    Sorry, I couldn't actually read past...

    "However, there was also some concern that the establishment focus on sex education was leading to sexualisation by the back door."

    Thanks El Reg. Sometimes all a story deserves is to be used as a vehicle for terrible puns ;-)

    1. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: Sorry, I couldn't actually read past...

      It is funny because 'back door' is like a euphemism for bottom holes sometimes.

  40. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    well it is a problem that need to be addressed

    so we have 2 options, either wait for some charity or politician to come with *their* solution, or we (as IT people) could come with our own solution.

    here is my proposal to the problem,

    many of us already know about OpenDNS and how it works, we could ask all ISPs to host 2 type of DNS servers, an open server that will resolve all site and a restricted one that block many sites by default (while providing an OpenDNS type panel to each connection).

    At the time of signing up, you can select which type of DNS you would like your connection to use. Those with no worries can opt for the (default) open DNS, those who are worried can opt for the restricted DNS. The ISP can even charge the parent an extra few pounds to allow the parent to use a proxy server that allow the parent to do what they want with the connection, while to kids have to use the connection without the proxy.

    Yes, the problem with this idea is that the kids can change the default DNS on their connection to use some other DNS. But there is *accident* about that.

    this is my idea of how to give the politicians what they want while leaving the internet alone.

    anyone have any other idea?

  41. bugalugs
    Badgers

    Did you see what they did there ?

    "More perniciously pornography, or the "pornification" of culture, was directly harmful to children. Sexual predators use it to groom, to erode boundaries and to normalise the abnormal "

    NONONONONO the sickos have got Facebook, Twitter et al do THAT with !

    the video after the Mikado ad is a peach http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsguOk4xinI&NR=1

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Nature's cruel joke on us humans

    "most women aren't going to be able to live up to any expectation or self expectation that they might apply about their sexuality"

    Not to be argumentative or anything, but a lot of it depends on what stage of life the woman is in.

    If I may speak openly for a moment - anonymity is helpful here - when I hit 31 (I'm female) holy shit the hormones went through the roof and I was so goddamned horny *ALL* the time that I just about wore out my boyfriend, although he never complained. :) Fortunately for him, I am monogamous (only one lover at a time), so I never strayed, although I certainly kept him busy.

    It was a temporary phase though, lasted for only about 10 years. I'd moved on to another guy by then, for totally unrelated reasons, and by then I was back to what society regards as "normal" among womenkind.

    This is not unusual and certainly not uncommon.

    Although, if you're of the male persuasion, you might not get too many women to admit to it. Some women don't like to talk about that sort of thing, or else they're not old enough to have experienced it yet, or maybe their 30s were spent on The Pill which seriously reduces sex-drive sometimes almost to zero. Or, if they have serious "female problems" or if they've had problems related to childbirth or other medical issues, that can wipe out the sex drive too. So *not* every 30-something woman will rock your world like that, but it certainly does apply to some women.

    The fact that birth-control pills can reduce the lady's sex-drive to practically nil, is a total bummer, because the whole friggin' point of being on the pill in the first place, is to be able to f#!k like rabbits (or at least once in a while anyway), but after getting on the pill, the desire for sex pretty much goes away. Yeah, libido can be slightly artifically-revived via, um, toys and things, to some extent, but it's not really the same when the guy has to work too hard to get her interested, and if she's not really interested, the sex is not very good for *him* (he's better off doing a solo act than trying to get it on with a disinterested female). The medical establishment really needs to work on that - pretty sure that if such a thing affected males (more directly than not getting laid very often that is), there would have been some better system invented years ago.

    Anyhow, sans birth-control etc., a lot of women in their 30s are about the same sexually as a stereotypical raging-hormone 17-year-old boy - so I've heard anyway since I have no personal experience of being a teenage boy although I recall what a lot of the boys were like in high-school, total horndogs, "one-track minds."

    It's just one of the cruel jokes that nature plays on us humans, the way the age-related sexual peaks are so different between women and men. There's probably some evolutionary reason for it, although can't think what it might be. (Probably something bad.)

    On the other hand, being horny *all* the time can be like a handicap, because it can interfere with other aspects of life when one has to go f#!k or jack (jill?) off a bunch of times every day. (Yes, plenty of women do that too - if God hadn't intended males *and* females to jack off s/he wouldn't have put the relevant bits on the outside within easy reach.)

    TMI? Hey, information is power :) ... use it wisely. ;)

  43. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Commitment

    [Porn is] "a massive drain on time available for commitment"

    So's working for a living, but I don't see them making that illegal.

  44. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    I'm the censor for my kids, thank you very much

    Having developed a charity and worked with several charities I find it very suspicious that it took this group 10 years before officially forming as a charity. However that is beside the point.

    As a parent, I am responsible for educating my child in the safe usage of the internet and to educate my child how to spot and avoid sites that have dangerous or malicious content or objectionable material. Every parent is responsible for their own children.

    The government, ISPs or dubious charities, have no right in creating a blanket censorship under the banner of "will someone think of the children". As a parent I am always thinking about the safety of my child, thank you very much.

    The charity (official but still dubious) is a very fundamentalist group and only targeting the internet as it is an easy target to get them widespread media attention. They are targeting not just pornagraphy but violence as well and in all media forms, TV, multimedia games, magazines, papers, and the internet.

    As someone else mentioned, where is the Mary Whitehouse icon?

This topic is closed for new posts.