Labour MP - British culture 'increasingly pornified'

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

A taste of good ol' repressed Britishness or does Abbott have a point? Or a bit of a point?

British culture is "increasingly pornified" and is damaging young people, shadow health minister Diane Abbott is to warn in a speech later.
She believes that the rise of sexual bullying and "sexting" - where people send sexually explicit text messages - is a result of hyper-sexualisation.
A "revolution in sex education" to help tackle the problem is needed, she says.
She will urge a "national conversation" between parents and children about sex, porn and technology.
There have been increasing concerns over the commercialisation and sexualisation of children, the ease with which pornography can be accessed through the internet and the way in which young people use text messages and emails to exchange sexually explicit images.
In 2011, the head of the Mother's Union, Reg Bailey, carried out an independent review for the government looking at the pressures on children to grow up too quickly.
It found that nine out of every 10 UK parents said children were having to grow up too early, with 40% saying they had seen things in public places, such as shop window displays and advertising hoardings, that they felt were inappropriate for children to see because of their sexual content.
'Pressure to conform'
Ms Abbott, whose brief covers public health, will say in a speech on Tuesday that fast-developing technology and an "increasingly pornified British culture" has led to a "secret garden, strip-tease culture in British schools and society, which has been put beyond the control of British families".

(Full article - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21127073)

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

It's a load of prudish nonsense. I went through my adolescence having ready , unfiltered access to the best/worst pornography the internet has to offer, and came out at the end not a rapist.

I don't understand the fuss over "sexting" - surely if you're able to compose a titillating message for the purpose of arousing others, then you're old enough to understand the concept of sex itself?

But I notice that recently the tabloid media have been playing up this whole "sexualisation of society" trope, despite the fact that it's massively hypocritical coming from the likes of the red-tops and the Daily Mail. But then again, this sort of thing isn't about "standards" or whatever bullshit Middle England likes to think, but is actually about control - first the children, because we have to protect the poor innocent little flowers, and then everyone else.

Authoritarians have this habit of using "think of the children!" as an excuse for their authoritarianism. Watch out for it.

[Quail]

It concerns me that "child-friendly" computers that automatically filter out "adult" content are being suggested. Who decides what is suitable and unsuitable content for children?

I do think that sex education in schools in the UK is rather lacking (based on my experience of it, anyway). Young people learn about the practical side of heterosexual sex, but nothing really about emotions and power dynamics in relationships. I don't think there is anything wrong with young people sending explicit texts/IMs if it's between two consenting people. It's natural for young people to explore their sexuality, and technology gives people more ways of doing that I guess.

The problem isn't the "pornification" of society; I don't think there's actually any evidence to support the idea that people who watch more porn are more likely to be rapists. I think there's a deeper problem where boys are brought up to feel entitled to a conversation, a dance, a kiss, etc., from girls. Guys sometimes seem surprised/shocked when I reject their advances on a night out, for example. There is also a double standard for young girls which is a lose-lose situation. If you're sexually actuve, you're a "slut", and if you're not, you're "frigid" (those were the words used when I was growing up). If porn reinforces these kinds of values, I don't think it's because porn is inherently misogynist, but rather because it's a product of a patriarchal society. I'd argue that it's a symptom rather than a cause, if it's even a problem at all.

[l'Enfermé]

http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000409527/polls_think_of_the_children_2111_284019_answer_2_x large.jpeg

[Clarion]

She talks about pornification but then goes on no to talk about any effects of porn but about sexting and children "growing up too fast" (newsflash, teenagers have always been horny), essentially about teenage sexuality keeping up with the times.

Remember all the sily panics about cyber sex when chat rooms were new?

It's also worth noting (and I have no idea whether Abbott cited it or the BBC just through it in for filler) that the Mothers' Union in question is a highly conservative Christian group who in addition to opposing porn (and "porn") also oppose mothers getting divorced and having children out of wedlock, so yeah.

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

Though I'm finding the points raised in the last few posts very interesting, lil off topic.
The post was originally focussing on D Abbott talking about the apparent over-sexualisation of children and teenagers and the impact on society.

Ok, carry on. Ta ra

[Quail]

Moved off-topic stuff to a new thread here (http://www.revleft.com/vb/starting-conversation-harassmenti-t178069/index.html?t=178069).

[goalkeeper]

God Dianne Abbott is probably the worst "left wing" politician out there. Other highlights has been her push for alcohol 'minimum pricing', opposing fried chicken outlets, a tax on fizzy drinks, and some sort of ban on or "regulation" of Kellogs frosty's and other sugary cereals.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

God Dianne Abbott is probably the worst "left wing" politician out there. Other highlights has been her push for alcohol 'minimum pricing', opposing fried chicken outlets, a tax on fizzy drinks, and some sort of ban on or "regulation" of Kellogs frosty's and other sugary cereals.

Good grief, if anyone could be fairly accused of advocating a "nanny state", then it is her.

People like her don't seem to realise that people enjoy pornography, sugar, salt, fat, grease and alcohol for some fairly fundamental biological reasons, and that banning or regulating shit like that does nothing to reduce peoples' demand for such, it only restricts supply.

What the fuck ever happened to educating people (so that if people do make bad choices, they are at least aware that they are bad), or perhaps even better, putting pressure on food and beverage companies to clean up their acts - while things over here aren't as bad as the US where they seem to put High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) in damn near everything, I'm sure there are still significant improvements to be made.

But that would be interfering with the holy and sacred Free Market, and we can't be having that, can we? What would Tony Blair think? Nope, instead I get the feeling that we're going to get more and more of this kind of crap shoved onto us, in some misguided attempt to "nudge" us into their idea of good behaviour.

FUCK OFF!

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

Good grief, if anyone could be fairly accused of advocating a "nanny state", then it is her.

People like her don't seem to realise that people enjoy pornography, sugar, salt, fat, grease and alcohol for some fairly fundamental biological reasons, and that banning or regulating shit like that does nothing to reduce peoples' demand for such, it only restricts supply.

What the fuck ever happened to educating people (so that if people do make bad choices, they are at least aware that they are bad), or perhaps even better, putting pressure on food and beverage companies to clean up their acts - while things over here aren't as bad as the US where they seem to put High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) in damn near everything, I'm sure there are still significant improvements to be made.

But that would be interfering with the holy and sacred Free Market, and we can't be having that, can we? What would Tony Blair think? Nope, instead I get the feeling that we're going to get more and more of this kind of crap shoved onto us, in some misguided attempt to "nudge" us into their idea of good behaviour.

FUCK OFF!

I saw her on Channel 4 News and had to hit mute...I cannot stand her insistance on being as 'visible' as possible (in the media) and promoting herself as some kind of left-wing crusader.