First things First

On a sensitive note, fighting has broken out in Lebanon and my friend Ghassan's family is in Beirut and are stuck at their house in the middle of the fighting on the streets. They are all doing alright so far but I am sure you can only imagine what it is like to have 11 people in a 3 bedroom flat while bombs go off and masked men run around on their motorcycles shooting machine guns into the streets. Please say a prayer, rub a crystal, or whatever you do to send out the positive energy to Ghassan, Nagi, Ingrid, Fadi and Jamie (the American girlfriend on Holiday there!) and the rest of the family. Hopefully, everyone will stay safe and level heads will prevail.

So I have been doing some thinking recently. I am having a difficult time teasing something apart and I want to share it with you. Pornography. There is one side of me that takes pride in my ability to be open-minded and not be considered "uptight" when it comes to sexual behaviors, appetites, etc. There is another side of me that realizes that the pornography industry benefits from trafficked women. Sure, some women choose to be in the videos. But it is kind of like blood diamonds, how can you really tell if it is a diamond without conflict when there are so many blood diamonds out there?

Dakota suggested I get support from a website that has pictures of "naturally beautiful female nudes" and wouldn't that be a testament to the appreciation of the female form and not objectification. I am torn on that. In one respect the female AND the male form are beautiful. I like to look at them. Also, there is no shame to the human body and we should get over it. Lastly, I think that would be great to get support from a group that may be viewed as the "enemy/opposition". Like having Republicans supporting Obama.

On the other hand, I can see the deterioration of the appreciation of the female nude to the lustful wantonness that men cling to when they proclaim why they use prostitutes. "I am a man. I must have sex." Can I just say I want to crush those guys? I am not a violent person but holy cow do I get mad when that excuse is used as if they had no control. Thank goodness for the multitude of good men in the world.

Basically, I have come to the conclusion for myself that there is no teasing apart "good" from "bad" pornography, unless you make it for your own private use and all people involved give their consent without duress. We have become so desensitized to the whole topic and it has practically become mainstream to the point that kids know who Jenna Jamison is. I am not a prude and I cannot be a part of the system that preys on women and uses their bodies for profit.

What does this have to do with sex trafficking? Sex traffickers profit from pornography they make. You won't necessarily know if the women in the film are trafficked or not. Also, the ubiquitous nature of pornography today may be seen as encouraging the objectification of women. Hence my issues with the industry.

What if we became macrobiotic in our sexual appetites? Only consume locally and not the highly processed stuff that comes from origins you just don't know? That way we know who we are looking at naked and they know who we are and then we can all make informed decisions about who we have sex with. Video/web porn is like packaged store cookies. They look good at first, all soft and chewy and perfectly baked. They even taste great at first. But then you suddenly realize that you have been sitting there for 6 hours eating Chips Ahoy and you feel empty and a little sick to your stomach. Trans Fats, High Fructose Corn Syrup, "Enriched" Flour and Caramel Color! I knew those cookies looked too good to be true. Home baked cookies are delicious. You know what went into the batter, you know how it was made and you can bake it to be chewy or crisp, just the way you like it.

Let's change our sexual appetites for the better. Eat local.

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