Questions raised by blogging about pornography and sons
We knew we were in trouble when blogger Natasha Olivera describes her angst about raising boys in a culture that appears to be more ‘girly-girl’ than manly — and declares she wants her boys to learn how to “screw a damn screw”.
[link] http://stumblesthroughparenthood.com/2012/01/12/teen-boys-watching-porn-boys-will-be-boys/
When she suspects her younger son of viewing porn on line, she announces to the blog world that it’s her story to tell as she’s the one who has made the discovery. She describes in some detail casing out her son’s computer viewing history after her suspicion has been raised and reports discovering he has accessed a number of listed pornographic websites.
Although she’s happy to tell the blogging world and readers about confirming her suspicions and having an open relationship with her sons about sexuality, she never challenges her son about his viewing habits. After explaining her own attitudes and beliefs about the role of pornography in the development of young males, she decides when the opportunity arises in the context of a conversation that began on a different topic to instruct her sons that pornography is done by actors for show, just like performers in WWF or any other movie actors.
Off setting her discussion are two images that emphasis the relative innocence of children viewing porn, as if to communicate her view that what they are doing is ‘natural’, even harmless.
What is interesting for us, apart from the particular attitude of this mom toward pornography as performance and her assumption that boys will be boys, is her willingness to expose her son’s behaviour as a matter of public knowledge when she’s not willing to share similar knowledge with her sons (from her own account). She tells us the details of learning about how they watch pornography but she chooses not to tell them what she knows.
As bloggers on the cusp of opening our blog to the community to capture a range of ethical practices, this blog is unsettling because it expresses views that are antipathetic to ours. The question is again raised for us, are we moderating the discussion and blog or offering space for uncensored opinions and dialogue?
We hope to continue our reflection and posts on this issue.
[link] http://stumblesthroughparenthood.com/2012/01/12/teen-boys-watching-porn-boys-will-be-boys/
When she suspects her younger son of viewing porn on line, she announces to the blog world that it’s her story to tell as she’s the one who has made the discovery. She describes in some detail casing out her son’s computer viewing history after her suspicion has been raised and reports discovering he has accessed a number of listed pornographic websites.
Although she’s happy to tell the blogging world and readers about confirming her suspicions and having an open relationship with her sons about sexuality, she never challenges her son about his viewing habits. After explaining her own attitudes and beliefs about the role of pornography in the development of young males, she decides when the opportunity arises in the context of a conversation that began on a different topic to instruct her sons that pornography is done by actors for show, just like performers in WWF or any other movie actors.
Off setting her discussion are two images that emphasis the relative innocence of children viewing porn, as if to communicate her view that what they are doing is ‘natural’, even harmless.
What is interesting for us, apart from the particular attitude of this mom toward pornography as performance and her assumption that boys will be boys, is her willingness to expose her son’s behaviour as a matter of public knowledge when she’s not willing to share similar knowledge with her sons (from her own account). She tells us the details of learning about how they watch pornography but she chooses not to tell them what she knows.
As bloggers on the cusp of opening our blog to the community to capture a range of ethical practices, this blog is unsettling because it expresses views that are antipathetic to ours. The question is again raised for us, are we moderating the discussion and blog or offering space for uncensored opinions and dialogue?
We hope to continue our reflection and posts on this issue.
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