I have been relatively fortunate of late in not having spam comments. And then overnight, I was bombarded by over 200 of the nastiest. Generally, I delete these in batches through the php management facility, rather than through Moveable Type which is a slow process. But sometimes the server doesn't respond, so it has to be done individually, which is tedious, to say the least.
I have said before that I find it objectionable that someone is using my hobby/fun website as a tool for advertising their, presumably for-profit site. I'm not naive, and I know that in the cut-throat world of (unethical) capitalism their reaction would be to say 'so what'.
I also object strongly to the nature of the adverts. The pharmaceutical or debt management ones are by comparison innocuous - although anybody who buys medication or seeks to manage their debt by following such links is a fool: I would immediately assume the purveyors are at best charlatans, and more likely con artists and fraudsters. Still, where there is greed and desperation, charlatans and conners will prosper. Cave canem, I say.
I have a broad and open mind. As far as pornography is concerned, I am not against it as such. I am against any pornography that involves coercion, especially of minors, but also I know enough to know that much of porn involving adults involves a degree of coercion or force. Additionally, many women who enter the porn industry do so out of financial desperation, which reflects on the wholly inadequate ability of society to provide a viable economic alternative. Others are persuaded in because of promises of proper modelling or film work.
I am broadminded enough to know that there are people who get sexual pleasure out of practices that leave me cold. If two consenting adults want to piss on each other, so what? Not my idea of a good time, but, if done responsibly, with due consideration of kidneys, soft furnishings and public sensibilities, what harm does it do?
I also know that porn serves to fulfill fantasies that people would baulk at actually doing. For example, I get turned on by reading (well-written) accounts of consensual casual group sex. Would I ever do it? No. Do I want to do it? No. But fantasy is a whole different world. Porn can also open ignorant minds to activities they may enjoy (who can ever forget the story about Norman Fowler, Health Secretary during the 'Don't Die of Ignorance' campaign? Some official mentioned oral sex, and NF, a happily married man, enquired what that was, and the officals, deeply embarrassed had to explain delicately.)
Many people use porn occasionally and intermittently. Sometimes it can assit a relationship, or assist someone in getting off in a safe environment.
However, I am also aware of the compulsive nature of porn. Many people can't just use it occasionally. They have to keep getting more and more. And soon they tire of erotica, vanilla, soft porn. It's not enough to see people naked, they have to have live action videos. Then that fails to satisfy, so they move into the nastier bits - animals, children, force.
The more obsessive they become, the less they are able to separate fantasy from reality. They become desensitised. I've seen it happen. In Sixth Form, one of my friends discovered her brother's stash of Penthouse Variations, and a group of us worked our way through them. What a revelation, an eye-opener. These were stories, and all emphasised consent, generally between people in an already existing relationship. They involved bdsm, role-playing, outdoors, watersports, swinging. All the sorts of activities that are never mentioned in Just 17 and rarely in Cosmopolitan.
I have subsequently regarded these activities as 'normal', even if 'not for me'. I have no doubt that intensive exposure to pictures or writing of non-consensual sex can easily make one start thinking that this is 'normal', and soon, 'yes for me'.
Even the most vanilla of fiction available on the net assumes a whole group of people just wanting it, desperate for it, their whole being focused on sex. It's easy enough to write such a story. You don't have to worry about rounded characters. Who cares if that attractive target happens to have financial problems, or is worried about a family member, let alone more abstract problems.
What a shock it must be for some men, feasting on a diet of this, to find that the attractive, enticingly dressed woman in a bar is either not interested in pulling (she likes being single, she's on a girl's night out with the boyfriend at home, she prefers to meet partners in a less artifical environment) or is interested in pulling, but wants someone who is attractive physically and in personality.
I know of men, typically older men 'who live with their mother', who actually seriously believe that all women are up for it. They regard it as a compliment to the woman to ask her out - the subtext being I'll buy you a cheap dinner and you'll spread your legs. As they get rejection after rejection, they become bitter towards women, and resort even more to the fantasy world of pornography, where all women are up for it all of the time, and if not, might is right.
I haven't explored the depths of the internet, certainly nothing that involves handing over credit card details, but I do know that there is a lot of free stuff out there, and a lot of the free stuff really pushes the bounds of legality. Not to mention infinite number of pop-ups and god knows how much spyware. It's obviously a lucrative business. I just wish they wouldn't use this little site to peddle their disgusting wares...
