Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Failure to filter allows child porn a free run

By Michael Flood - posted Thursday, 7 October 2004


Walk into an “adult” store and you will see collections of X-rated videos in such series as Teenerama, Kinky Teens, Seventeen, Barely Legal, Schoolgirls, Teeny Vision and Teen Toys. Some videos portray the women as children, with pigtails, knee socks, frilly dresses or school uniforms, having sex with much older men. You can buy magazines like Teenagers, Young Stars, Finally Legal, Cherry Pop, Teeners from Holland, Barely 18, Sweet 18, Just 18, and Innocence.

On the Internet, one of the largest genres of pornography is “teens” porn. Many websites show young women with shaved pubic regions or with hair digitally removed to suggest youth. Overlapping with these, another popular genre is “upskirts” and “peeping Tom” pornography. This features photos and videos of girls and women undressing, showering, and toileting, taken illicitly through windows or using hidden cameras. Given the popularity of such websites, we should be outraged but not surprised when individuals install hidden cameras in girls’ changing rooms.

Mainstream pornography’s obsession with female “teens” contributes to our culture’s “fetishisation” of girls and young women. While teen porn is one genre among many, it encourages consumers to see pre-pubescent girls and teenagers as sexual objects and as always sexually available. And like much pornography, it sometimes expresses contempt for females and depicts them as little more than body parts and orifices.

Advertisement

If we are serious about challenging sexual abuse, then we will have to tackle the pornographic imagery that makes abuse look sexy.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All

First published in The Sydney Morning Herald  October 6, 2004.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

1 post so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Dr Michael Flood is a Research Fellow with the Australia Institute.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Michael Flood
Photo of Michael Flood
Article Tools
Comment 1 comment
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy