The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: Opinions

TIM ECHOLS

Oconee County's Coach Brian Dickens provides a sad reminder that leaders in our schools and communities must be vigilant regarding sexual predators. Dickens is the 37-year-old coach who resigned and forfeited his teaching license because of an alleged inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old student.

School administrators went "to the mat" defending this man's character and reputation, as is often the case with sex offenders.

Sex offenders, mostly men, abuse any power they may have and often lead a double life. According to interviews from those behind bars, it often begins with soft pornography and progresses to real people.

Ridiculous, you say? "A little Playboy or Penthouse never hurt anyone" - or so many people think.

"Soft porn," such as Playboy and Penthouse are often called, is viewed as harmless by many. Not so, says Judith A. Reisman, Ph.D.

Reisman went through every issue of Playboy in a 25-year period, examining recurring themes. She discovered, for example, that over 25 years, Playboy depicted Santa Claus - a "child magnet" according to advertisers - 329 times. In 170 of those cases, sexual activity was involved, including 91 instances associated with adultery or with an orgy. Nine times, Santa was shown as a participant or observer in minor sex. In four cases, Santa was shown having sex with animals.

Can anyone who feasts on this stuff not come away slightly warped?

Reisman found that over that same 25-year period, "soft porn" magazines published 6,004 images of children under 18.

The bottom line is that such magazines promote a view of children and sex that is unhealthy (and quite often illegal).

And from its maiden edition in 1953, Playboy has focused on giving men step-by-step instructions for tricking girls out of their virginity, Reisman said. The magazine's philosophy is one of directing men to seduce virgins and move on, as a "bee pollinating many flowers, but not remaining long with any one of them." This is a handbook for exploitation.

Why the emphasis on virgins in Playboy? A man who preys upon virgins decreases his chance of contracting a sexually transmitted disease. In urging men to have recreational sex, Playboy stated "date virgins, or very young lovers, or people who were monogamous for the past decade, and you cut down your chances of being exposed to the virus" (May 1987).

By the magazine's own admission, provocative "letters" from young girls describing various sexual exploits were actually falsified - along with other letters supposedly from priests or law enforcement touting a risky lifestyle.

Advice from the magazine is equally outrageous, suggesting to the reader that sadism is fun, child sexual abuse is normal, illicit drug use OK and incest is on everyone's mind.

I am not suggesting these magazines should be censored or banned. This is America. Our Constitution protects free speech.

However, I agree with Reisman's conclusion that any publication that alters photos, slants articles, falsifies letters and presents a consistent bias is nothing more than propaganda.

Reisman sums up her research this way: "Playboy was the first mainstream magazine to popularize illicit drug use and rape - even the rape of children and virgins - by college men. Today, sexual harassment, trickery, and sexual sadism are epidemic."

The exploitation of children and women should offend us all, and there are things we can do. First, let's have zero tolerance for any kind of sexual harassment - regardless of age or life experience. Call the person down, report him - whatever. Better background checks and oversight can help, too.

Let's enforce the laws on the books - at the local, state and federal level - regarding exploitation, obscenity and vice. That may mean some intrusive work from solicitors and the police force. Local governments may need to pass incremental legislation that makes it more difficult for these folks to do business.

Finally, let's not pretend children are not being exploited in our sexually-charged culture. They are, and sometimes for a profit. When we catch those involved, let's remove them or isolate them from society and rehabilitate them as best we can. This problem is prolific. We can and should do more.

- Tim Echols is a graduate student studying public relations.

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