ALL THAT SEX --on YouTube and elsewhere on the web


Somehow people start to associate between sexual predators, pornography and Internet.

Youths have a lot of concerns over their sexuality. Adults have too. Both adults and youths are mostly concerned with their performance -- if they are attractive enough, beautiful enough, skilled enough… People are also often concerned about the object of their desire, about what they enjoy and like, about their identity, being queer, kinky or however different. Sexuality is an area of human behavior where most people seem to have some kind of insecurity. Safety is one of them, but not the only one. We should address all of those issues, not only the safety issue.

Micfri says America is obsessed with sex, at least he said it to be true for men, and he could tell it since he himself is a man and apparently had a direct experience with the issue. A French youtuber, by the name “koopatrizzle” posted a video response to Micfri. In his vlog he argues that not only America but the whole world is obsessed with sex and, yes, women are too, “if Micfri only had a chance to observe enough women” ☺. Another youtuber by the name peterhk69 also posted a response to Micfri-s video, a vlog named “I am a sex Porn Surfer” in which he openly talks about his addiction to porn. Subsequently he himself removed that vlog – for whatever reasons...

Pornography is the white elephant of Internet. Many people watch porno clips on Internet on daily basis. And yes many of them seem to be minors (I really don’t see what could prevent a 12 or a 15 year old from clicking on “Yes, I am over 18”. And yes, YouTube is replete with user-generated pieces that show people engaged in sexually provocative activities. Like many other web services, YouTube does screen for pornography and it also has a mechanism that allows users to flag sexually or otherwise inappropriate contents. However, those mechanisms do not work perfectly. BTW, neither do “safe search” options on Google or Yahoo browsers. The truth is that all American children who have Internet access will sooner or later discover “pornography”.

(Recently a YouTube “clone” that specializes in user generated porn content (videos and photos) – PornoTube has been launched. Not surprisingly the number of views that it receives daily is progressively increasing. It is for free and no credit card number is needed – all you need is to click on “yes I am over 18”).

How bad Internet/Sex/Pornography can be?

As I hinted previously, sexuality is a rather complex activity that requires regulation and coordination of a broad range of behavior and processes, including the physiological, psychological, social, cultural, political, spiritual or religious aspects of sex, etc.

Most of social behaviors are learned through numerous observations and limited but safe try outs followed by feedback. Most social behaviors are learned through REPEATED observations of multiple individuals performing the particular kind of behavior in multiple contexts.

If so then how do we learn about sex?

In the pre-Internet era there weren’t that many opportunities for young people to observe other individuals performing sexual acts, since sexuality was coupled with privacy and shame. Hidden behind the doors of adults’ stores, pornography was hardly legal, obscure and marginalized by film industry as cheap production. With the diffusion of Internet and multimedia technology among households, pornography businesses have flourished and porn contents have been made accessible to all kinds of people, including women and youth – no need to enter obscure adult stores – just a simple click on “Yes, I am over 18”.

In her book “Hard Core” Linda Williams argues that hard core pornography from its early stage of the “stag” film enables the viewers to see and study the mechanics of human body in various intimate situations of pleasurable actions. She acknowledges the apparent misogyny and objectification of women, but insists that pornography is not a monolith enterprise and that contemporary porn combines sex education with postmodern performance.

In the light of the lack public interest for addressing ALL concerns of American youth with regards to their sexuality (not only the safety issue! – see above the beginning of my blog) I embrace Linda Williams’ view! Furthermore, returning to my comment about social learning, I suggest that pornography does provide numerous opportunities for observing multiple individuals performing a large variety of sexual acts on multiple occasions.

Having said that, I want to emphasize that I do not consider pornography as an ideal tool for learning about sexual acts. However I definitely find pornography a more compelling tool for sexual education than typical sex ed classes that are taught in American public schools.

What I argue for is not to make YouTube and other Internet services “safe” by policing and censoring websites, but to make the web “sex positive”. I recognize the need for some kind of policing (at least over child pornography and other illegal contents), but I don’t see it as the only thing we can and should do. Instead I would like to advocate for an approach that addresses ALL concerns and needs of American youth with regards to their sexuality and provide a variety of resources that can help address those concerns.

much about nothing: “yeah, free gas!”


two girls CARA & BLUE (both pretty and flirtatious) @ a gas station dancing. while filling their SUV tank with gasoline, CARA turns toward the camera and starts telling about her interaction with a serviceman at the station. she says:
“no he asked me.. he was like ‘you have beautiful lips.. do you have a boooyfriend?’ and I said ‘nnooo’ and he said he would give me free GAS. so… i took it, i did not know what that means… i don’t know .. was it a code?”
BLUE and CARA debate for another 10 seconds about the meaning of that interaction and eventually leave without having to pay for the gas.
the end.

NoHoGirls apparently (“north hollywood” girls) produced 17 videos in the last 7 days. their most viewed video is “blue in pink” . in the video we see BLUE wearing pink dress and talking about herself and her friend CARA. in another video “casual blue” , we see BLUE again with “curlers” in her hair, talking (again!) about herself for a few minutes, without saying anything significant. these two and some other videos all feature BLUE and/or CARA in intimate spaces of their shared apartment telling about their lives…

who would like to see that and why?
it turns out more than 80 000 people have seen the “yeah, free gas!” video and over 200 000 people have seen “blue in pink”.
it turns out NoHoGirls received 1417 channel subscriptions during their 8 day presence on youtube and made to the second most subscribed channel of the week!
it turns out you don’t have to be very special, and you can film almost anything you do, there still will be people willing to watch you.
some have already suggested that NoHoGirls are professional actresses who seek to advance their careers (another lonelygirl15!?). even if this is the case, “fake“ and/or “real”, NoHoGirls remain similar or at least pretend to be similar to other youtubers who tell their everyday lives from their bedrooms. youtube turns these mundane experiences into entertainment and spectacle. however, what strikes me the most is that such stories lack fantasy and drama, the characteristics that are so prominent in other media (cinema, theater, novels). there is so much about nothing on youtube and maybe there is much about nothing in our lives too ☹

but then, where is all that drama that we are so addicted to. i need tears, blood and dead bodies… i know, i know i better go and play some nasty video games....

An adult on YouTube? FINALLY!

Dear “geriatric1927”,
I have been following YouTube for quite some time, but have never encountered somebody like you. Thanks so much for sharing your life experience, showing us your face and letting us know that older people exist and have many interesting things to tell. I enjoy your stories, so succinct and well organized, your soft-spoken voice and your thoughtful comments about YouTube, MSM (main-stream-media) and some other issues. Thanks for giving us a sense of history (personal and world history) and a sense of connectivity between past, present and future. With the ascendance of postmodernity and the fragmentation of knowledge, you are that “difference that makes a difference”.

Hey YouTube! - xoxo Paris (Hilton)

Paris
I cannot believe you became a YouTuber!
I cannot believe you traded your privileged, not-from-this-world status for a couple of days of fame! I cannot believe you are among us, competing with lonelygirl15, FilthyWhore , geriatric1927, morbeck and Emmalina ….
The time will show who will prevail.
Under the theory of Long Tail, media businesses that entail abundance of media texts and relatively low cost of storage and distribution (e.g., iTunes, Wikipedia, YouTube), will promote consumption of a greater variety of media texts than media business that have a relatively high cost of production, storage and distribution (e.g., Blockbuster stores). YouTube clearly confirms this model. So, go ahead Paris, use YouTube to promote your new album, YouTubers are not afraid of you. YouTube is not MTV, there always will be a place for everybody. Besides, you may find some highly unfavorable rants and reviews and decide to stay away from YouTube.

Zadok The Warrior and/or The Priest

As we are getting (not!) used to the images of the war in the Middle East, this video creates the sense of absurdity of wars by emphasizing the perspective of the winning side. No dead or massacred bodies, no ruined houses, no crying mothers. This video is powerful b/c it fully exaggerates the portrayal of war as a spectacle of power and technology. Like in first-person shooter video games we are removed from the perspective of the victim. This effect is further enhanced by the soundtrack. Images of explosions and destruction are remixed with the music from Handel’s “Zadok The Priest And All The People Rejoiced “, which is a part of his “Coronation Anthems”. As a result there is no compassion for the victims, but only a pure “rejoicing” and celebration of self-efficacy when getting the target.
The author denies references to the current war in Lebanon and Israel. Yet those are rather obvious. In Hebrew “Zadok“ means “righteous”. Zadok was the name of several characters who lived in biblical times, but is mainly associated with an individual who served as a high priest during King David's and King Solomon’s reigns.
The reference to the biblical times underlines the eternity of wars. The author concludes with a quote from Plato -- “Only the dead have seen the end of the war”. Grimly I am signing out this post -- war was today again a widely discussed topic on YouTube”. I am quite certain today is not the last time.

Dear "Dear World"

I‘ve been watching your new video on the backdrop of disturbing images of the war in the Middle East. As always, major network war reports create a sense of spectacle, leading us to believe that the war is far away, and happening to others. .There seem to be too many commentaries, reports and analyses. Too many talking heads mumbling all day long, without saying anything significant. As we are hearing sirens and explosions and watching bodies ushered to ambulance cars or buried under rubble, ruined houses and cars, we are becoming even more emotionally detached, We rarely get to face those people and look to their sufferings directly. Your images bring that intense gaze of pain. You capture people as if they are not looking to the camera but to the viewer, forcing us to face their appeal and question.
Once again inspiring and powerful!

♪ Dear World ♀

Wow, what a great start for DearWolrd23!
The video is composed of two parts. The first part is some kind of the director’s self-introduction. It starts with a title shot (something rarely found in YouTube productions) showing the head of the author and the title of the video. The lack of establishing shots of the context is definitely more in the style of YouTube videos. The video proceeds as a series of mid shost and medium close ups of the author walking and talking to an apparently hand held camera about her intention to share art and music by creating videos and posting them on YouTube. The camera zooms on her several times as she is slowly and somewhat timidly turning her head away.
The second part is comprised of shots of several paintings featuring human faces. The music emphasizes the emotional content of portrayed faces as they are boldly and intensely gazing to the viewers. Fear, despondence, loneliness, and some hope occasionally. We are intimately drawn to those faces wondering who they are and what made them feel that way.
Visually powerful and poetic – I look forward to more movies, movies that can “move”.

Proving Science Wrong... with Lonelybeast and Danielgirl15

Hmm, "Coriolis effect" -- That was hard and required significant labor of my grey cells (scientifically speaking :-) and some help from the web. I had to check on Wikipedia . LG15 is totally right: the Coriolis effect is not a determining factor in the rotation of water in toilets or bathtubs. I however wonder if there is any connection between the "lazy eye" effect (I used to have that one too!!) and the Coriolis effect. Explaining it would be a significant contribution to the Grand Unified Theory of Everything.
Thanks for the challenge.