It’s All Clean or Is It?

Pornography is usually the portrayal of men and women or either of them in disrespecting positions. Lots of pornography exists merely to degrade men and women and to make money while doing it. Lately, pornography has gotten such a bad reputation that the pornographers have chosen to rename some pornography.

Have you heard the new name? It is called, soft pornography.

Will you get caught up in pornography without even noticing it? Sometimes porn comes on slowly but almost always it can grip you -unawares – just because of the porn industry’s change of terms. The porn industry has coined the term – soft porn – to entice those into their industry, similar to how a drug pusher gives free samples. Be aware that this is happening –in your neighborhood, and be aware that it happens even in film, and yes even in community access productions. Always be aware of the quality or type of show that you are volunteering on. That can make a big difference in your life.

Just when you thought it was safe to come into the water, think again. Most people see the television set as an entertainment box. Others use it as a babysitter. And still others use it as something to keep themselves company. A few see the box as a means to become educated, a means to become entertained and as a means to entertain company. But few see the box as the uninvited guest that it is. You turn the knob on the set or press the power button and so many times, you settle for what is on. How many times have you turned on the television and settled for less quality than you were looking for -rather than just turn the set off? I have heard from many that they use the tv for background, and for company. That is good if you know how to use it that way to the best of your advantage. But if you do not really think things over, that innocent-looking television, the boob tube, that little jack in the box can turn into a menace of proportions that you have never imagined.

So many families use their television as background noise. When you think that over, you might be better off just putting on some music or some information or talk show on radio. After all if you are not looking at the screen, why have the television on? You are what you watch sometimes. Whatever goes on in there filters your mind, spirit and your world, even when you do not know these things are being flooded into your memory. Think things over carefully the next time you reach for the television set. What does the typical station show? Are there clean, wholesome comedy shows? Are there educational shows so that everyone can learn a new subject? What is in there anyway?

The Hiding Process: Most times, pornography contains some form of violence and some form of put-downs or verbal or physical abuse. (Do not write to me and say this is not true because what I am stating is a fact . Realize that I preface that sentence with the word most. Usually there is a mix of violence, nudity, put-downs, verbal abuse, sexual abuse and or physical abuse in the porn movies or porn television shows. are pictures of violence. Lots of times there are pictures of people, women and men in stages of undressing. So many times, you will have a mix of violence and something society has termed soft porn. Who coined the term soft porn? Was that term invented just so that pornographers could bring porn into homes that would not approve of regular or hard core pornography? What the heck is that anyway? Can porn be soft? The term soft porn is contradictory in itself. If something is pornography it is pornography.

Pied Piper of Pornography: Remember that term the next time that you are watching soft pornography or the next time you are helping out on a show that is all about soft pornography or helping on a show that degrades people. Remember the Pied Piper. You will follow the piper through the soft porn, and unknowingly wind up with hard core pornography eventually. You can almost bank on that.

If something is labeled soft porn, most likely it is labeled that to draw in a specific audience. The audience that knows that most pornography, if not all, is quite addictive and most times has a negative effect on our lives. Think that one over. Are there any pornography shops in better neighborhoods? Is there a pornography shop next to the White House or next to the children’s hospital? Can you pick up pornography at the Starbucks with your morning coffee? Is there a copy of pornography in the waiting room at the hospital? Do the nuns or spiritual evanagelists go around distributing free soft porn? Everyone knows the answers to those questions and everyone knows the why to these questions. The reason that pornography is not available at these other places is either because there are laws governing the distribution of the porn or there are laws governing the locations where porn can be sold or given away. There are reasonable people in this world that just know that pornography has no place in our mornings, in our schools, in our workplaces or on our corners in our own neighborhoods.

Hidden Porn Shops: There are good reasons why society has decided to go along with the hiding of the porn shops. And the good reasons are that most people are against putting pornography into the hands of children and they are against putting pornography into the hands of spiritual people who do not want porn things in their own neighborhood. So, what does the porn industry come up with? Yes, you have seen what some are trying to do. Some are trying to permeate our networks and our other sources of media with something they have termed soft porn. They figure that if they label it soft that even reasonable persons might take a peak at it. Some in society think that if they re-label pornography and redefine pornography that they can once again put it back on the mainstream shelves in all of our neighborhoods. And, in some places in America, they are achieving their goals. Soft porn is popular with people who are against regular pornography. And soft porn is even invisible to some, as it does not come out and smack you right in the face. No, it comes in like the subtle little drug dealer comes into the lives of human beings. Soft porn sneaks in in some places because it is legal and also because sometimes the division line is so muddy, and so fogged that people will begin watching a show and before the show is ended, they will find out that they have been tricked and they indeed are watching soft porn. So, what is the solution for human beings that choose and wish to stay away from supporting the pornography industry? Are there any solutions? People have sometimes accepted something that they call tasteful pornography. The trouble with that is that usually that is opening the door to all kinds of pornography and hard core porn and violent pornography. It is similar to when a drug dealer gives a free sample of that harmless little weed to the school student. They view the weed as harmless and as a sample and as something that is not fatal. Yet, if you follow through history, you will see that so many times, hard core drug dealers began by selling harmless little weeds. As time passes and as they get more experienced, they graduate on to selling or using hard core drugs, hallucinatory drugs and drugs that kill sometimes in the first use. Soft pornography is the weed that sneaks into your home or your life because you think it is harmless, yet it harms you without you even knowing it.

Hidden Hardcore Porn in the Making: One of the main reasons that soft pornography is so harmful is because people do not recognize it for what it is. It is no more harmless than that first illegal free sample of weed. The warm water for the frog is soft porn. Let him stay in there just a little while and eventually it becomes addicting. And that addiction will almost always lead to a hard core pornography addiction at the very least.

If it is a duck, then call it a duck. A duck will never be a walrus and a walrus will never be a duck, at least not in real life. So when you come across this duck that people are calling soft pornography, make sure you remember it’s just a duck called pornography!

Stop the Uninvited Guest:

Yes. You have a solution. You can stop pornography from gaining a foothold in your own neighborhood by becoming organized with your churches,schools and synagogues and other public gathering places and vow to yourselves and to your groups that you will not permit pornography to step into your neighborhood. Most balk at that idea, because they have no time for that and also because some of the corner stores sell that porn, both hard core and soft core pornography books. You think that to drive the pornography from our neighborhoods that means stopping small business. That is not true. Look at all the small businesses in your own neighborhood. There are plenty that survive and thrive without supplementing their companies with pornography. And if one business can survive without bringing in porn, then a hundred businesses can do the same thing.

Free Speech: So, you say, what about free speech ? Pornography is free speech? Well, some think that it is free speech, and some do not agree. But if you put things in perspective and if you really examine what happens in your life, you will realize that even if pornography is free speech, then protests, complaints and campaigns against all pornography in your own neighborhoods are also free speech. There are so many times when society gets so wrapped up in demanding and getting free speech rights for pornography magazines,books, and stores, that people do not realize that soft pornography will creep up on them like warm water sneaks up on a frog in a simmering pot. It is your right to protest against soft pornography. Yes, that is your own free speech. That is what society needs to remember and that is what society needs to bring forward onto the front pages of what is happening in your own cities. You need to use your free speech to protest pornography no matter what kind of pornography it is. If pornography is soft porn or hard core porn, the fact remains is that it is all pornography or the word porn would not be in its’ presentation and advertisements. So many times when individuals or groups speak out against pornography or speak out against soft pornography, society labels these people as prudes. And, if you remember correctly, most times when someone is losing an argument, they begin to label people instead of presenting their ideas or protests about the argument themselves. So do not be surprised if you or your group comes out against soft porn that you will be labeled by the pornography pushers. Ignore the label and know that by registering your voice, your free speech and your complaints against pornography, that you are taking a small step in the direction of cleaning up your own neighborhood and cleaning up your own television sets and your own lives.

Recognize it, at least! Say you do not want to protest against pornography but you know that you do not want it inside your own home. You can still at least be aware of how it sneaks into homes. Being aware can help you become healthier. If you do not let it sneak in -through the doors of soft pornography–that you probably will be safe from the full-scale attack of hard core pornography that the advertisers and pornography manufacturers are trying to put across in America and in other countries. Once you recognize what you are about to view or what you are viewing, that is the first step into reality. Do not let soft pornography peddlers trick you into thinking that what they sell or what they put across is not pornography.

Do not let them fool you into watching their soft pornography just because they do not use the words soft porn or pornography when they promote their shows. Once you are informed, then you really have free speech and you really are making your own choices for your own life. So, even if you do not want to register formal protests and even if you do not want to join in boycotts or even if you do not want to write to the corporation leaders, at least recognize what you are watching. That is the first step in being educated and aware, just recognize what you are watching.

Ask! When you are doing your own television shows and when you are ready to help on others shows, ASK what kind of a show it is. If you find someone hesitating about describing their show in full or when you find that someone is trying to sugar-coat their show, then investigate it for yourself. Yes, I know that will be hard but that is something you need to do when you want to discover the truth. Look at the person’s show, view the show before you actually volunteer for that particular show. Yes, it is everyone’s right to choose whether they want to view pornography or not, society needs to unmask the soft porn merchants and make them accountable for what they are really showing on their shows. At least with hard-core pornography, it is usually right in your face and it is not hidden so that no one can make a choice of their own. Perhaps society needs to label pornography a little clearer. Perhaps when there is a show on or about soft pornography, there needs to be a warning before the show begins, perhaps like the little warning on the cigarette packages, that cigarette smoking can be harmful to your health. (The packages contain a line or two of warning while the host of diseases that come from cigarette smoking are miles long and invisible to anyone reading that cigarette package). This is the same with soft porn. You think that it is one thing and it brings you down to a whole new level in your life. So, when you come across a show and in your heart and mind you feel that something is so wrong with that show, instead of just hanging on and leaving the channel on that dial, get up and change the channel and watch some show that is not porn and that is not soft pornography. So, whatever your choices are, even if you think that you want to choose helping someone with a soft pornography television show, be informed, stay informed, and know that you might be getting into more than you bargained for. Your soft pornography, that thing you think is harmless will soon begin to creep into other areas of your life. And you will not notice it until it is possibly too late. So, the next time you hear someone say soft porn, put things in perspective and take the word soft out of that description because there truly is no such thing as soft pornography. Pornography is pornography; that is clear. If you are into soft porn or accepting soft porn then you are just in porn 101, waiting to be approached by hard core pornography when you least expect it. And soft pornography is not about sex. You can have a show about sex and that show is not pornography. You can have all sorts of shows educating people about sex and telling people about sex and still that does not have to be pornography. Sex is not pornography. That is how pornographers try to sell their wares.

Name-calling: Yes, correct. People who are into porn, or people who want to see and view porn and want it anywhere in television usually are the same people that call the abstainers prudes. Most times, in life, no matter what the circumstance, when you do not have a good argument for or against something, you wind up calling someone a name. And you think that by calling them a name that makes you correct and them incorrect. But the that is not the fact. If someone calls you a prude because you do not want to work on shows that are porn shows or soft porn shows, agree with them. Yes, I am a prude; what is your problem? People cannot argue with you when you agree with them. So if you do not want to argue with someone who is addicted to porn or pushing porn, just agree and walk away quickly.

Labels: They try and convince people that people who are against pornography are prudes. They try to label people and put those people down if they are against pornography. But once society and the public realize that pornography is not sex and sex is not pornography, then society is educated. And the pornography hustlers have to go somewhere else to peddle their wares. To some this might all sound contradictory or confusing. There is a simple solution. Use your own judgment. If you are helping out on a community access television show, and if you are watching a show, and you get that gnawing feeling that something is wrong, it probably is. Go with your first feeling. If you are viewing a show and you know something is wrong with that show then something is wrong with that show. Do not let any individual or group of individuals taint your viewpoint or make you think that what you are feeling is incorrect. Go with your gut instinct and listen to yourself.

Set Your Own Standards: If you are in the middle of helping out on a community access show, and you have previously told the producer that you work on only clean shows, and their show turns out to be pornographic or soft porn, you have the right to walk out on the show. If you have not agreed to work on a pornographic show or on a soft-pornographic show, then you have every right in the world to walk out. Keep your standards, and your values. You do not have to worry about offending that producer. Explain to him or her that you do not work on pornography shows. Why would you want to compromise your own values because you are afraid of offending a producer by walking out? Stand up for yourself and stand up for what you believe in. Go with your gut instinct. That is how you set your own standards. Keep up the good work because there are thousands standing with you as you stand up for yourself.

You can set your own standards and you will succeed in your own time. And, what about the secrecy or privacy of pornography? People think that they have complete privacy and secrecy when doing porn but there is nothing further than that from the truth. Even if you are in a room alone, doing your porn or watching your porn, you act with God right next to you. God is everywhere, so if you think that you can do porn and get a way with it, you are ever-so-slightly wrong.

Show Description: It is all in the description. Has someone described a show to you as a show where the women are wearing hardly any clothing? Halt! Stop! Pause. Listen to that sentence. The women are wearing hardly any clothing. They are not describing a show like Baywatch where everyone is wearing a bathing suit, but they are describing their own community access show and telling you, up front, that the actors or actresses have not much clothing on. Right off, you know this possibly might be a soft pornography show. I am not saying that it definitely is; I am saying that it might be.

MOST of community access shows have no pornography in them. So it is not hard to find wonderful shows to volunteer for. There are fabulous spiritual, science, information, and music shows on many of the channels of community access. Look carefully at the shows before you volunteer for the shows. That is your best, most informed way to volunteer.

Some say or think that pornography has no effect on crime, but if you know anything at all about advertising, then you know that statement is not true. If advertisers did not sell more products by using print media, commercials and other means of advertising, then all advertisers would go out of business. Fact is that pornography is advertising even though it is not classified as that. Porn movies, television shows and magazines lure the reader into wanting more. So, that in itself is going to help promote crime. So, if you ever think about taking part in any productions that use soft porn as a basis, know that you might be helping to advertise to people who will not “buy” a product , but might want to take a product. There is an old saying, “First do no harm”. That should be everyone’s motto but it is not. I am writing to say that taking part in any type of pornography productions, whether that be soft porn or the regular-labeled porn, taking part in that production is doing harm. It might be indirect harm, but it is harm.

“First do no harm”.

I hope that you choose wonderful shows to help out on while you are a community access producer. I know you will be successful if you just listen to your own judgment, join a good team and keep using your positive creativity, and your energetic spirit.

I updated this article on April 30, 2008

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