The Perversion of Innocense
There has been a great deal of talk lately about Pedophiles and the case of child porn online. The New York Times is just one major news media outfit that is investigating this abhorrent misuse of the Internet. Yet in doing so they have also glossed over a great many real facts about the Adult Industy on line.
The current article, perhaps inspired in part by the Jon Bonnet Ramsey case, is that child modeling sites are a new bred of site aimed at the scourge of our society, the Pedophile. There is a portion of that article that got me thinking.
Based on the images and wording from online advertisements, the sites show toddlers wearing tight thongs, and slightly older children posing evocatively while wearing makeup and feather boas. ( New York Times Article )
What got me is the end of that paragraph. Given all the hype lately of the supposed killer of Jon Bonnett being caught, there have been tons of photographs of her on the television. Now seems to me she is dolled up just as this article describes.
Which makes me wonder, when is it indecent and when is it wrong to take a child and doll them up like the Ramsey’s did?
Personally I don’t think they were involved in her death directly, but in dressing her up like they did, in enabling her to be seen publicly like that, they drew attention to her that more than likely lead to her death. At the same time, how can we demand a safer internet from sites promoting those same type of pictures and yet not go after the parents who enable this behaviour?
If dressing up a child in provocative clothing is wrong for use online, surely it is just as wrong to do it on a stage for a pageant? How can it not be?
And there is what the article perhaps misses out on. Just as it did in its celebrated Justin Berry case, where this alleged victim scored hundred of thousands of dollars of gifts and cash while a minor.
The Ramsey’s kept insisting that this is what Jon Bonnett wanted to do, that it was her desire and goal yet I wonder, who is the parent here, the child or the adults? Maybe she did really want to play dress up in that way, but surely the adults in the family should have said No as should other parents in similar circumstances.
I suppose part of this is that we put too much stress on beauty and on being recognized as such. Look at the televison commercials for shampoo or cars, or hell even feminine hygeine products, and tell me it isn’t designed to make a person feel a bit of a sexual urge? Yet that is legal and showing the same online isn’t?
More double standards it would seem to me.
I also think that while an adult is just that, and should be held accountable, a child can easily manipulate a willing adult. As is the case in the Justin Berry case, least in my opinion. Yet he is being held up as a prime victim but at best, he was a willing victim. To claim otherwise pushed the realm of credability, in my view.
So it would seem to me we are once more rushing into the dark regions of law simply to appease the moral indignation of some, without looking at the whole picture. Yes pedophiles are going to be attracted to this type of behaviour, but if we as a society allow it, then aren’t we also asking for that unwarranted attention?
If we truly wish to make it hard for creeps like pedophiles, then let’s make it a real attempt. Let us end the showcasing of our children in lewd outfits totally. Yes that include the pampers commercials and let us let kids be kids for a change.
Many won’t agree with me, but do we need to see kids in diapers to know that Pampers is super absorbant. Or the CanDoo commercials where a toddler is on the toilet smiling with his/her pants down at the ankles? Let’s face it, the commercials aren’t for kids, but to get adults to buy for the kids. So why are we showcasing innocent kids in compromising positions in commercials and then bitching when they are shown in similar conditions online?
Just more of a witch hunt I would think. For myslef, I believe no child should be shown on television or online in anything but fully clothed and in normal day to day activities like playing football, baseball, or such. We don’t need to see kids in underwear prancing around to tell us that they will enjoy the cartoon characters on them.
Let’s get real here. Apply some common sense for a change and end this cycle of abuse by limiting the ability for parents to exploit their own kids. No more Jon Bonnett’s please… one childs death is enough.
