Thursday - May 08, 2008

Mil Blogging: No more porn mags for troops?

Stars & Stripes, via Military.com: GRAFENWOHR, Germany—Legislation that would restrict the sale of certain men’s magazines on U.S. military bases around the world would be bad for morale, according to soldiers at Grafenwöhr.

U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., has introduced legislation that would close a loophole in the current law that allows the sale of some sexually explicit material on military bases by lowering the threshold required to deem material “sexually explicit.”

A Department of Defense committee that reviews materials sold on bases ruled last year that magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse are not pornographic. But Broun’s Military Honor and Decency Act includes language that could make those magazines eligible for the ban.

The prospect of missing out on men’s magazines was not welcomed by soldiers at Grafenwöhr.

Sgt. Simon Brown, 34, of Daytona Beach, Fla., said men’s magazines build morale. “It’s not all about the pictures, although 80 percent of it is,” he said.

Pfc. Greg Smith, 21, of Northboro, Mass., a regular Playboy reader, said soldiers should be allowed to buy nudie magazines at the exchange.

“Playboy is good entertainment while you are on the can. They have jokes and good stories,” he said.

On the one hand:

Broun, a Marine veteran, told Newsweek recently that the magazines sold in military exchanges are partly responsible for a rise in sexual assaults in the military and other problems.

“Allowing the sale of pornography on military bases has harmed military men and women by: escalating the number of violent, sexual crimes; feeding a base addiction; eroding the family as the primary building block of society; and denigrating the moral standing of our troops both here and abroad,” Broun says on his Web site.

On the other hand:

Some troops in the Pacific region said the proposed legislation would impinge upon their personal freedoms.

“They’re making it a point of undermining soldiers to almost make them feel like we’re back in elementary school,” Pfc. Nickolas Sears said Friday at Camp Red Cloud, South Korea. “We’re all adults here, and if it’s something we want to do, we should feel free to choose as we please.”
...
I believe it’s a breach of freedom of speech,” said Senior Airman Garrett Deese, 25, of Elk Grove, Calif., who just completed a tour with the 8th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea.

He said he wonders whether such a ban would lead to barring other types of magazines lawmakers chose to challenge. He also questioned whether Broun’s link between magazines and sexual assaults within the military would stand close scrutiny.

Money talks the loudest?

Army and Air Force Exchange service public relations manager Judd Anstey said AAFES sold $231,000 worth of Penthouse, Playboy and Playgirl magazines in Europe last year.

“Sales of these three titles account for 2.7 percent of total European magazine sales ($8.5 million) at AAFES facilities,” he said.

The sales accounted for 0.5 percent of worldwide AAFES magazine sales of $46.4 million, he said.

You don’t exactly have full Freedom Of Speech in the military. Quite a few of our bases in other countries have followed the host nation’s laws and banned the sale of nudie mags and alcohol. While this is a little bit similar in effect, it’s completely different in nature. This is one of those “it’s for your own good” situations, and appears to be using the “porn = violence against women” meme as a base reason.

First up, what is pornography? Is my definition different from yours? Who gets to decide what is and what ain’t for the whole darn military?

Secondly, do you really think a lack of picture filled magazines is going to stop physically fit, hormone charged young men and women from thinking about sex? Let’s face it, when you’re in your late teens to mid-twenties that’s about all you think about. Period. Probably even when the Seargents are yelling at you or when the bullets are flying. Ok, maybe not then. But after it’s over. And it’s a very low level basic human trait - hard wired into our brains - that surviving a life threatening situation makes us want to breed. ( It’s true! Even when the threat isn’t real. I was a fencer in college. Fencing is rather like a knife fight disguised as a sporting event. Let me tell you, fencers are the ... um ... friskiest ... people you will ever meet! )

The magazines mentioned in the article are not what I call pornographic. Maxim, FHM, Playboy? A bit of tease, a lot of airbrushing, but nothing really trashy or explicit. Penthouse and Hustler? More direct, more “open”, but still fairly tame compared to what you can find on the internet with just a couple mouse clicks. Or in a real adult bookstore ( once in band camp back in college - which is the time and the place for everything, right? - I worked in such a bookstore for a couple weeks. It was an eye opening experience, no pun intended. Real porn, the hardcore stuff, is shocking at first and almost magnetic, but quickly becomes boring. And sleazy. And gross. And fake. I am so not into skanks either.)

So is this a good idea or a bad one? At this point I think it’s pretty stupid, and I don’t buy the “all girlie mags are porn, and porn causes violence to women” argument. But everyone has an opinion or three, so have at it in the comments. Maybe this is a great idea and we need to keep our soldiers morally pure in regards to their sexuality.

Posted by Drew458     on 05/08/2008 at 08:17 AM   
Filed Under: • Military •  
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