Sex does NOT sell - Enough alright already

Enough! I have truly had enough!

I am sick and tired. Sick and tired of being presented with soft porn or even main stream every time I turned a corner on the road, visit a shopping centre or even chose to rally for a cause I feel passionately about – animal rights.

Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) are about to launch a xxx website to draw attention to animal cruelty (http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8304493/peta-switches-to-porn-for-animal-rights). As a long time proponent of animals rights and a vegetarian for much of it (until I became pregnant and craved KFC – but let’s not go there), I am at a loss as to how the debasement and exploitation of women can in any way improve the plight of animals. I hope you are having a ‘huh?’ moment as much as I am.

Peta have long been known to use shock tactics in the form of pornography to drive its message (http://www.rachelstavern.com/uncategorized/peta-sexism-and-racism.html). In doing so, has appealed to a demographic I would hardly consider at the tipping point of progressive activism – Neanderthal males without a clue.

Peta have not even generated positive controversy as it is the want of many sagacious advertising agencies (for example, the Pure Blonde ad). All sex sells is....sex. Research suggest that sex-based advertising get in the way of the consumer remembering the brand or the product ((http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/mark-dziersk/design-finds-you/myth-rational-buyer-how-too-much-thinking-can-hurt-your-brand).

Really using sex to sell is the hallmark of sloppy, uncreative marketing wedded to the concept of shock tactics (though sex has now ceased to shock due to overexposure!).

And the mainstreaming of pornography has a host of other social ramifications – none of them associated with animal cruelty – including:

a)      Increase in child on child sexual abuse

b)      Pervasive increase in STDs

c)       Poor self image for young people (and now older!)

d)      Depression

And the list goes on – trust me.

And gone are the days parents could sit and watch TV with their child. Honestly, I hardly know how some of the music video clips shown on Rage of a Saturday morning get past to be shown in the morning time slot!

The debasement of human intimacy as a poorly scripted, exploitative performance art is in process of debasing ourselves. As a mother, this concerns me greatly as I do not want my child growing up thinking that what is shown in porn is intimacy. It is not. I do not want my son to think of women objects to be used for his gratification.

Please, please join me at Collective Shout – and organisation devoted to working against the objectification and sexualisation of women and children in popular culture (http://collectiveshout.org/).

Enough is truly enough.