In Search Of ...

The Aussie in Japan, kallun, crossed out "porn" as initial responses to a recent meme, and so that elicited my comment. He suggested I re-post the comment as entry on my blog with appropriate images. It is reposted below with minor edits for clarity.

A quick search on icerocket.com, my preferred search engine, for "porn" returned about 20 million sites, but just under 100 images; no, the kiddy'safety feature was not activated. Oddly, the numbers were far less when searching for "pornography". Thus, I have no appropriate image(s) to accompany this blog entry. You'll need to use your imagination.
"i am in full support of more porn on the internet. we talk about internet porn like it's the coming of the technological messiah, but we're sorta missing what it can teach us about ourselves. porn sites are like our eyes in that they are the window to the modern soul; they're glimpses into the twisted and tortured minds of an anonymous society. freud tried to deduce deviancy through decades of analysis and it is now completely exposed in the blink of a click.

carl jung's introduction of the concept of the "collective unconscious" was an attempt to explain why humans became unglued at the thought of being left in the dark (real) and being attacked by monsters (imaginary) .. but porn and the web results in the collective conscious. it's where we all see the things people would never admit to wanting.

and what is it that we want? from what i can tell, that answer is twofold: we want imperfection, and we want heightened reality. the porn everyone wants to see on the internet focuses on (1)amateurs and (2) celebrities. we either want a truck stop waitress who's a little unattractive and full of character, or we want voyeuristic images of britney spears on a private beach in brazil. and some would say that's simply human nature, but they're wrong: that's a reflection of how we're still trying to understand how this technological wonder works. ironically, or perhaps predictably, we need porn to do this. it's what keeps us interested in the unreliable, insecure internet.

in less than a decade, millions worldwide went from (a) not knowing what the internet was, to (b) knowing what it was but not using it, to (c) having an email address, to (d) using email pretty much every day, to (e) being unable to exist professionally or socially without it. the internet evolved so fast that we learned how to use it without having to understand it. i suppose this has always been the case with any technology: i watch television, yet have no idea how to explain it, fix it or build one. i am the everyday consumer out there fitting some bell curves, the much sort-after demographics in those silly polls and surveys.

and so, this is perhaps how amateur porn became so integral to the adoption of internet technology: it not only made people excited about using the web, but it also made people comfortable with using the web. imperfect, unpaid nudity softens the otherwise sterile virtual world; it's some sorta proof that this apocalyptic network of electrons is still operated by imperfect people and not soulless robots. amateur porn keeps us within our own imperfect world.

there are certainly differences between the nude body of, say, nicole kidman and the nude body of, say, a TGI Friday waitress in manhattan, new york, but they are not all that dissimilar when the lights are turned down, and virtually no difference even after a half-ass attempt on photoshop. in this instance, internet porn provides a bizarre sense of stability: it reminds us that virtual reality is Reality. what people want to see with nude celebrities is proof that superstars, whether they be nicole kidman or anna nicole smith, are not gods, but simply media creations.

web surfers are unwittingly subversive in their activities: celebrities are robbed of their privacy and, in effect, power is restored to the people. psychologically, the internet is very marxist: everyone with a modem has access to the same information, so we all get jammed into a technological middle class. and just like the middle class of Reality, Congress is still debating the virtues of taxation and scrutinizing ways to tax the bejesus out of us.

oh, the fact that a "bad" notion (re: porn) shouldering a "good" notion (re: technology and information for me) is too uncomfortable for most people to discuss .. so we don't. curiously, 99% of porn sites are directed toward heterosexual men .. does this imply that women are better equipped to differentiate the real and the virtual? or there are more men working on internet-related projects? perhaps, but i would dare say that women can lick their own nipples .. and that makes all the difference."
If you know of where I can get some appropriate porn images to post with this entry, then do speak up!

tags: .......
another point of view ...

Blogger Jo Travels


This is an interesting entry Nam!

When you talk about PORN, you don't need to post IMAGES. The word PORN itself can pop like a corn in everyones consciousness (and subconsciousness) :-)

I won't say I support and not support PORN. We live in a free world and people have the choice to view (and do) whatever they want displayed in their screens.

The 99% of porn sites directed towards heterosexual men was indeed an eye opener, didn't know that.

Well, even my blog, I get unsolicited emails and messages (i have a separate email solely for my blog which is in my blog profile) from men who wants to sex webcam me, or asking for naked pics of me, or me in a bikini. A few days ago, someone emailed me asking the exact directions going to the red light district of Utrecht in NL. This guy read my entry about prostitutes in NL. Crazy... the kind of emails I get from my blog.

But see, Porn is so alive! And funny, I didn't even know that my blog has become slightly pornographic, lol.
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


the dutched pinay: porn has always been confused with art - i have yet to draw the lines in the sand. that said, i can tell you that art has historically been domain of men, with the concept of the 'male gaze' ever omnipresent. from what i remember to get my art history degree, very few women artists have been recognized through the ages.

the ones i've had a fondness for years include elisabeth vigee-lebrune and mary cassette, and, of course, o'keeffe. only recently did i start appreciating frida kahlo and cindy sherman.

do you get offended when you get porn-related email (not spam, that's always offensive, but in a different way) from strangers?
 

Blogger KJ


Found some great porn pictures for you Nam.
 

Blogger Barbara aka Yooni


You and Kallun are so bad!~!~!~! but i likey!!!!!
 

Blogger Jo Travels


Nam, I don't get offended. I don't easily cry wolf, even when criticized because we are not perfect holy people. And every persons standard is different from the other. In fact I laugh about it. Action - Reaction. So what I normally do and control is MY REACTION.... so in cases like thise, I do NOT RESPOND.

Sex aggression on the internet can easily be hindered by a click of DEL and ESC, but I chose to just read, get my hearty laugh (hey laugh loud & often!) and move on.

Woo, I don't know those women you just mentioned! I know one sex/porn popular figure, Xaviera Hollander, the Dutch prostitute who made a success with her book. She's I think in her 50's now enjoying retirement but from to time she would show up on TV here in NL. Think she has become the icon of hooker intelligence, if there is a term like that(?), hehe.
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


kallun: you always come through! thanks for doing the research and making suggestions on porn images to go with the entries.

amerazn: well, would you expect any less from frick 'n frack?
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


the dutched pinay: look up some of those women, i think you'll like their works.

as for famous porns .. none is more famous than linda lovelace. also, during the california recall election (that's how we ended with arnold schwarzenegger as the governator), the los angeles-based billboard-queen angelyne and porn star mary carey tossed their names into the ring during the california governor recall election. their platforms included: swap guns for porn, free porn for everyone, etc.
 

Anonymous Anonymous


Well I gave a lot of thought to this topic, and came to the realization that personally I am seeing more porn than I prefer sometimes.
When I meet someone in the business world or university class, I really don't want my first impression of them to be their enhanced breasts spilling out, I want to see the mind, the person, the human being.
Or often in Arizona, where it is hot and girls wear those shorts where 1/2 their buns hang out.....sometimes not very pretty.
Is that porn? Pornography is "Sexually explicit pictures, writing, or other material whose primary purpose is to cause sexual arousal. "
I think the body is beautiful and maybe "art" and "porn" are two different things.
Yes, as for porn on the internet...... we can learn a lot about our society from more openess.
Nam, your good posts always give me lots to think about.
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


peri: wow! you're stating something so obvious that i've completely not even considered .. came to the realization that personally I am seeing more porn than I prefer sometimes .. we are completely assaulted with porn as if we are made to defend ourselves long before we are given the chance to say 'no' or 'that's enough'.

it's akin to having to opt out of contributing to certain taxes (where the default is to contribute unless you act .. that's "smut first, ask later" .. that's a big no, no in my book!
 

speak up!


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