 | The porn culture may have difficulty dealing with Utah state Sen. Todd Weiler. After all, he’s not the kind of wild-eyed, right wing fanatic who fits nicely into a convenient stereotype. He’s an attorney. He’s articulate. He makes a point of acknowledging Supreme Court cases that protect adult pornography as free speech, and that he isn’t interested in trying to ban it outright. He even compares those who would deny the mounting evidence about pornography’s harmful effects to climate change deniers. |
| | Those last two sentences should disarm a large section of his critics. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean it will be any easier to get people to talk about this issue like adults. As I wrote once before, those who think we have progressed since the 1950s, when even the mention of sexual intimacy in public would generate uncomfortable giggles, are wrong. The difference today is that the giggles have turned into snorts and dismissive laughter from a culture so steeped in the problem it seeks to repress serious discussion. Every year, the Utah Legislature comes up with an issue or two that surprises observers. This year, when many thought two bills seeking to legalize various forms of medical marijuana would be lightning rods, it’s Sen. Weiler’s concurrent resolution on pornography that has gone viral, instead. “Apparently, this is a joking topic all around the world,” Weiler told the Deseret News. “I think it’s a serious issue.” It is indeed, senator, and welcome to the club of people trying to talk sense to an audience that operates on a junior high level. When I reached Weiler on Tuesday, he seemed happy that at least people are talking about the issue, even if he is a little frustrated that what he is doing has been mischaracterized. By their nature, resolutions are nonbinding. They consist of a series of “whereas-es” and end with a “Therefore, be it resolved.” They express an agreed-upon opinion by a majority of lawmakers, nothing more or less. No one will go to jail. No one’s business will be taken away. And yet some news organizations have referred to this resolution as a “bill,” which ought to have led some reporter to ask exactly what law the “bill” would enact. A New York Daily News account delved into masturbation, something not even hinted at in the resolution, as well as Utah’s reportedly high rate of pornography consumption. That rate of consumption is not a sign of hypocrisy. It ought to bring urgency to Weiler’s resolution, just as a high smoking rate would bring urgency to anti-tobacco measures. At a hearing last Friday, experts and academics spoke of the many studies that link pornography to damaged relationships, an inability to be intimate, objectification and risky behavior. They spoke of addiction and changes in brain patterns over time. They talked about an average age of 11 for first exposure to pornography, and of how it can affect the development of an adolescent mind. They spoke of research that links pornography to depression and a lack of self-worth among females. The mounting evidence is hard to ignore, unless you willfully do so under a cascade of jokes and giggles. Weiler told the hearing, “I think it’s naïve to think that all of the degrading and degenerate images and videos that are available for free a few clicks away on the Internet are not undermining and doing harm to our public, and I think it’s time that we took notice of that.” Weiler told me that, while he knows he can’t make pornography illegal, he hopes to change the focus of the discussion from free speech to public health hazards. He also hopes to get other states to adopt similar resolutions. “If we can get maybe 15 states to do it, maybe we can put pressure on Congress,” he said. That would be pressure to, perhaps, force Internet providers to not allow pornographic materials to their customers unless they specifically opt in, as British Prime Minister David Cameron has sought to do in Britain. To do that would require a serious, adult conversation. Good luck being heard over all the giggles. |
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