Written and published by Marty Klein, Ph.D.
Issue #7 -- September 2000 Contents
1. Pro-Sex? None of the Above
2. Rejecting The Ultimate Outcasts
3. Thinking About Sex Declared Legal
4. Mona Lisa Under Arrest
5. For Whom the Wedding Bell Tolls
6. Cracking the Censorware Code
7. Calendar1. Pro-Sex? None of the Above
Americans are used to seeing both the Republican and Democratic parties present presidential candidates who are in favor of better schools, higher-paying jobs, and more sunshine. In this year of particularly uninspiring candidates, we can't even use their stands on sexuality as a guide to voting. All four candidates are, apparently, against sex.
Congressman Dick Cheney voted against funding abortion services for low-income women and soldiers even in cases of rape, incest, or when the woman's life is in danger. George Bush is against equal rights for gay people. The Republican platform proposes to boost spending on school programs promoting abstinence--to be run by churches.
But Al Gore and Joe Lieberman are no friends of sex either. Tipper Gore successfully attacked what she called "porn rock" in the 1980s, dredging up the ghost of Elvis' dangerous pelvis and bullying the music industry into parental advisory labels. Three months ago Senator Lieberman co-sponsored the Media Violence Labeling Act, which would create a mandatory rating system for all entertainment products--run by the Federal Trade Commission. Last year Gore made a series of speeches claiming that kids are at an increasing risk of abduction and molestation, exploiting media-driven parental fear about sex maniacs.
In a surreal demonstration that the Republicans and Democrats are simply two branches of the "sex and the First Amendment are ruining America" party, Lieberman recently linked arms with "Book of Virtues" author William Bennett to attack Hollywood as the source of America's problems. For all their talk of "faith-based values," these are politicians who simplistically conceptualize "morality" as a matter of making traditional sexual choices.
So there's no way to vote pro-sex in this election. Think, however, of the Supreme Court appointments our next president is going to make. Vote pro-choice.
2. Rejecting The Ultimate Outcasts
Two months ago, Britain's tabloid The News of the World responded to the abduction and murder of an 8-year-old by starting a campaign to "name and shame" local sex offenders. Once the paper began publishing pictures of people with child abuse convictions, angry mobs started singling out and attacking individuals--including innocent ones. Violent demonstrators in Portsmouth say they want sex offenders out of their community, although they lack any realistic suggestion about where they should go.
America already has experienced similar results with this "name and shame" strategy. Different versions of Megan's Law mandate that police actively inform people when a sex offender is released into their neighborhood. What exactly is the point of this policy--is it supposed to make parents or kids more careful to know that Mr. Jones The Pervert lives down the street? I assume parents are already being as careful as they're going to be, and nothing can make kids more careful--except possibly scaring the hell out of them, which ultimately creates a worse problem.
The more predictable reaction to Megan's Law is what we've seen in California, Minnesota, and elsewhere--people turning ugly as they attempt to prevent sex offenders from moving in or staying. What else could be expected? A climate of fear and ignorance is positively encouraged by law enforcement, government, and the media. The FBI says that almost every child abduction in America is done by a relative with no intention of harming the child, often as part of a custody battle. Both local police and the media ignore this, playing up the fear angle as much as possible. Most Americans don't want to spend a dime treating sex offenders--they'd rather get the gratification of punishing them, then titillate themselves with the knowledge that there are lots of scary, out-of-control sex monsters out there.
3. Thinking About Sex Declared Legal
Regular readers will recall (issue #4) that the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council banned Laura Schlessinger's radio show as "abusively discriminatory" to gays. Although I'm glad that Canadians won't be listening to her poison, I said I was against a government giving itself the power to regulate what people could say on the air.
The Council has again had to rule in this tricky area. A promo for late-night SexTV featured a strategically-covered nude woman, with the tag, "The average male has a sexual thought every eight seconds." A viewer complained, saying it was "morally wrong, degrading to women and harmful to children to think about how often their fathers, uncles, grandfathers think about sex." The Council ruled that other elements of the ad ... "attenuate[d] the objectification of the woman as a sexual plaything."
Once again, the Council has issued a ruling that supports the right to sexual expression. But they have reaffirmed their right to decide what is and is not degrading to women or morally wrong, and that's an important problem. The fact that we agree with a particular ruling should not seduce us into approving the principle, because sooner or later we will disagree with more than one important ruling--and feel outraged.
4. Mona Lisa Under Arrest
Just when you think America's obsession with sheltering children from sexuality can't go any further, it does. The House Judiciary Committee is now considering HR 5045, which would allow a citizen to sue if a minor is exposed to an entertainment product containing material judged harmful to minors. There's no requirement of actual damage to an actual child--just a belief that the minor is "likely" to suffer damage.
One of the most troubling aspects of American law is the assumption that sexual words, images, and ideas are inherently dangerous to children (and others, of course). There is NO proof of this, despite attempts by several Presidential commissions and other organizations to find it. On the contrary, it seems obvious that the message repressive policies give kids is that sex is bad, sexual feelings are bad, and so THEY are bad.
It's ironic--we don't want to think of our parents OR our kids as sexual. But they are. Believing that eroticism is dangerous for kids is our way of avoiding our own feelings about their sexuality--and our own. What does the Mona Lisa (or Catcher in the Rye) trigger in US that makes us think it's dangerous for others?
5. For Whom the Wedding Bell Tolls
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich married a former aide this month. To repay him for his role in destroying Americans' sexual rights, it would be poetic justice if:
If he's seen renting a porn film on his honeymoon, and his name and photo are splashed in the paper. And if he's taking medication with sexual side effects, and he can't get information about it from his physician because the doc's medical training didn't include human sexuality. And if he goes to the Web to get help, and he finds that his computer is outfitted with mandatory software that blocks access to sexual health sites. And if the couple has intercourse, their birth control fails and they go to a hospital for emergency contraception, and they can't get it because the Board has been packed with religious conservatives who won't allow it. And if, as a result, the blushing bride needs an abortion, and one reason they won't do it is to avoid walking through a screaming mob of hate-filled protesters. And if on their baby's first birthday, they take photos of her on a bearskin rug, and the clerk at Photo-Tyme has the police arrest Newt for creating child pornography.
This is the dark, bitter America Newt helped create. He deserves to experience it.
6. Cracking the Censorware Code
Many consumers, citizens, and employees use computers that are prevented by special software from accessing a wide range of websites, including those with sexually or politically oriented content. Internet activist Bennett Haselton has now developed a method for evading these filters, and has published it on his organization's website.
The information is free. To see the latest contribution from our 21st century Thomas Paine, go to www.peacefire.org/bypass/Proxy/akamai.html.
7. CALENDAR: Marty Klein's speaking schedule
September 15, 2000
Power, Anger, & Trust Dynamics in Couples Work
Family Service Agency
Aptos, CA
831/459-9351September 22-23, 2000
Human Sexuality
National Association of Social Workers
San Francisco, CA
800/538-2565October 7-8, 2000
Diagnosis & Treatment of Sexual Issues
The Behavioral Medicine Research & Training Foundation
Tacoma, WA
360/598-3853November 2-3, 2000
Human Sexuality
National Association of Social Workers
San Francisco, CA
800/538-2565November 4, 2000
Sexual Feelings on Both Sides of the Couch
Lifespan Learning Institute
Los Angeles, CA
310/475-3313November 9, 2000
Diagnosis and Treatment of Sexual Issues
Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality
Orlando, FL
610/530-2483November 10, 2000
Unresolved Challenges in Sex Therapy & Sex Counseling
Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality
Orlando, FL
610/530-2483December 9, 2000
Diagnosis and Treatment of Sexual Issues
Vistacare
Bakersfield, CA
760/371-4194January 20, 2001
Diagnosis and Treatment of Sexual Issues
Angeles Community Counseling Center
Los Angeles, CA
626/932-1000
You may quote anything herein, with the following attribution:
"Reprinted from Sexual Intelligence, copyright © Marty Klein, Ph.D. (www.SexEd.org)."