Bestiality, Consent

darkness, 03 Sep 2005 17:03:37

I am delighted to see that these proposals cover
bestiality. I am involved in animal rescue and this is
something that my organisation has been campaigning
subtley for for some time.

I personallly plan to push the proposal to go further
than it currently does so that it covers "crush"
sites.

Animals cannot give consent anymore than children can
and are in an even more vulnerable and disempowered
position. I would hope that our alliance of SM-related
organisations would condemn bestiality and fetishistic
animal abuse in the same way that they would
pedophilia when distancing ourselves from these areas.

I have read the proposal, as I am sure most of us
have. I think it is inconsistant in places, but is
generally a good idea. I was initially concerned about
definitions of serious sexual violence, but tend to
think that the definition of GBH is a reasonable place
to draw the line.

I think the only real task for the BDSM community in
all this is to highlight the concept of consent.
Rather than tackle the proposal in question, perhaps
we need to have consensual acts explicitly excluded
from Offences To The Person. At the moment, too much
is left to the discretion of a jury.

By pinning our colours to "Consent" as a concept, we
clearly seperate ourselves from bestiality, pedophilia
and extreme abuse material. That would solve the
marketing and propaganda issues as well as summarising
the main issue that we want taken into consideraton
when forming legislation.

As such, I suggest we push Consent in a big way in the
presentation of our campaign. Do others agree? Perhaps
it is a better word to be marketing ourselves with
than Backlash as it is entirely positive in its
implications yet summarises our issue? Backlash
suggests retaliation or resistance.

Sometimes it is better to be seen to work with people
whilst subtlely satisfying an agenda. I dont think we
can, as a community, be seen to be defending rape etc.
So let's be seen to support the proposal generally,
but encourage ammendments that exclude the very
reasonable rights of sexual expression of consenting
adults of our own species.

darkness^


--- Lothario UK wrote:


> It is worth noting that the government's proposals
> do not necessarily
> reflect identically the aims or demands of various
> campaigns that have
> been calling for something to be done about this
> issue. The proposals
> in some respects seem to be more broad than the
> demands of those
> campaigns. For example, none of them have mentioned
> bestiality, as far
> as I know. Perhaps other groups (eg. RSPCA) did.




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Manniq, 03 Sep 2005 17:11:27

Author wrote:
> I am delighted to see that these proposals cover
> bestiality. I am involved in animal rescue and this is
> something that my organisation has been campaigning
> subtley for for some time.

Darkness,

I do hope you will rethink this view, along with your view on the law on child porn.

I do not support or advocate child abuse, necrophilia, bestiality, or a whole host of other things. However, I was active - along with very few others (mainly lawyers, in fact) in opposing the way in which the child porn law was framed.

Why? Because what it did was push UK law far further than it had gone before in terms of criminalising thought. Worse than that, it set a precedent which we expected to see later applied to other areas such as bdsm. As it now is.

The tragedy is that the government then managed to create such a halo effect around child abuse that sensible and informed debate around HOW to put in place a legal framework to deal with it went out the window.

The principle that I - and I suspect many others - will defend is that it is not the place of the government to dictate what images we will view. Yes: it may well legislate to control what is MADE - but viewing?

That is an entire bridge-worth of intrusion too far.

Certainly, there are many tactical approaches to take within this campaign, in terms of how our case is made. But if the bdsm community falls back into just defending ITS activities and failing to see the danger from the underlying approach of the government, it may well win this battle and lose the war.

Regards,

M


fuschia, 03 Sep 2005 17:20:20

I like the slogan "Stop the backlash - against the criminalisation of
consensual SM"

While our individual opinions on the other aspects of the document may vary
hugely, some people will stand for out and out libertarian anti-censorship
while others will support the anti-bestiality elements - we don't need to
have a campaign around 10 points.

Just one clear slogan we can all agree on, around consensual SM.

I think we SHOULD be defining ourself in the negative - AGAINST the
criminalisation of SM images. Again, we can't expect to agree on an alternative
programme of legislation, nor do we need to.

We need a single issue campaighn that can gain the widest support , from
Spanner, FAC, SFC, the SM community. Each group will have its own more detailed
position. We want to pullit together, and also be able to lobby vanilla civil
righst groups etc.

Attachment:.
message.html (text/html)

darkness, 03 Sep 2005 17:21:24

Hi Manniq,

I am highly suspicious of the government. Wouldnt
trust them to sit the right way on a toilet..:)

Nevertheless, I realise that democracy and freedom are
not what they once were in this country.

I am pretty certain that these proposals will be made
law. This government isn't interested in the views and
feelings of the people of the country. I think the
best we can do is guide them a little and hope to
achieve an ammendment that will secure the rights of
consenting BDSMers.

If we try for too much (i.e. getting them to drop the
entire proposal), I fear we will miss out on the
opportunity to achieve the ammendment.

Whether or not you agree with my feelings on the rest
of the bill, would you agree that Consent is a good
focus for our campaign?

darkness^



--- manniq@hotmail.com wrote:

>
>
> Author wrote:
> > I am delighted to see that these proposals cover
> > bestiality. I am involved in animal rescue and
> this is
> > something that my organisation has been
> campaigning
> > subtley for for some time.
>
> Darkness,
>
> I do hope you will rethink this view, along with
> your view on the law on child porn.
>
> I do not support or advocate child abuse,
> necrophilia, bestiality, or a whole host of other
> things. However, I was active - along with very few
> others (mainly lawyers, in fact) in opposing the way
> in which the child porn law was framed.
>
> Why? Because what it did was push UK law far
> further than it had gone before in terms of
> criminalising thought. Worse than that, it set a
> precedent which we expected to see later applied to
> other areas such as bdsm. As it now is.
>
> The tragedy is that the government then managed to
> create such a halo effect around child abuse that
> sensible and informed debate around HOW to put in
> place a legal framework to deal with it went out the
> window.
>
> The principle that I - and I suspect many others -
> will defend is that it is not the place of the
> government to dictate what images we will view.
> Yes: it may well legislate to control what is MADE -
> but viewing?
>
> That is an entire bridge-worth of intrusion too far.
>
> Certainly, there are many tactical approaches to
> take within this campaign, in terms of how our case
> is made. But if the bdsm community falls back into
> just defending ITS activities and failing to see the
> danger from the underlying approach of the
> government, it may well win this battle and lose the
> war.
>
> Regards,
>
> M
>
>
>
>
>
>

> --
> If you want to share pictures, use the calendar, or
> start a vote
> visit http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/Backlash
>
> To leave the Group, email:
> Backlash-unsubscribe@smartgroups.com
>
> Report abuse
>
http://www.smartgroups.com/text/abusereport.cfm?gid%3D3271426&mid%3D59
>




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fuschia, 03 Sep 2005 17:23:58

In a message dated 03/09/2005 17:21:36 GMT Daylight Time,
darkness_f28@yahoo.co.uk writes:


Whether or not you agree with my feelings on the rest
of the bill, would you agree that Consent is a good
focus for our campaign?


I think it's absolutely key, and will allow us to win the support of those
who don't do SM but don't object to those of us who choose to, while not
standing up for bestiality, while not drawing a line that excludes those who wish
to view extreme images of SM, as long as they're consensual.

Attachment:.
message.html (text/html)

darkness, 03 Sep 2005 17:27:00

Dear Fuschia,

--- Fusch1af@aol.com wrote:

> I like the slogan "Stop the backlash - against the
> criminalisation of
> consensual SM"

I am concerned that that slogan is ambiguous. What is
a backlash? (All bullwhip demos welcome.:) )

Are we the backlash? Or is the proposal a backlash
against us?

Re positive versus negative marketing....Positive
marketing is generally more effective I think,
particularly when targetting a wide demographic who
dont like to feel challenged. We could argue the toss
for hours I expect!

darkness^






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Thunder, 03 Sep 2005 17:29:49

In message <20050903160332.92610.qmail@web25501.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>,
darkness^ writes

>
>As such, I suggest we push Consent in a big way in the
>presentation of our campaign. Do others agree? Perhaps
>it is a better word to be marketing ourselves with
>than Backlash as it is entirely positive in its
>implications yet summarises our issue? Backlash
>suggests retaliation or resistance.

Whilst I agree that "consent" is of vital importance I remember this was
used in the defence in a German trial involving cannibalism .

the term "consent" would have to be qualified but that opens , in my
mind, a minefield.
--
^Thunder^


darkness, 03 Sep 2005 17:32:21

Quick domain check...

consent.me.uk is available. All other possible domains
gone.

consentuk - all domains available

I promised you a site for Monday...so we need a domain
name asap. Thus, I need to know what to register.

If anyone has any thoughts or ideas about domain names
or PR concepts, this would be a good time to raise
them.

Best Regards

darkness^



--- Fusch1af@aol.com wrote:

>
> In a message dated 03/09/2005 17:21:36 GMT Daylight
> Time,
> darkness_f28@yahoo.co.uk writes:
>
>
> Whether or not you agree with my feelings on the
> rest
> of the bill, would you agree that Consent is a good
> focus for our campaign?
>
>
> I think it's absolutely key, and will allow us to
> win the support of those
> who don't do SM but don't object to those of us who
> choose to, while not
> standing up for bestiality, while not drawing a line
> that excludes those who wish
> to view extreme images of SM, as long as they're
> consensual.
>
>
>
>

> --
> If you want to share pictures, use the calendar, or
> start a vote
> visit http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/Backlash
>
> To leave the Group, email:
> Backlash-unsubscribe@smartgroups.com
>
> Report abuse
>
http://www.smartgroups.com/text/abusereport.cfm?gid%3D3271426&mid%3D63
>




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Manniq, 03 Sep 2005 17:33:45

Author wrote:
> Hi Manniq,
> I am highly suspicious of the government. Wouldnt
> trust them to sit the right way on a toilet..:)
> Nevertheless, I realise that democracy and freedom are
> not what they once were in this country.
> I am pretty certain that these proposals will be made
> law. This government isn't interested in the views and
> feelings of the people of the country. I think the
> best we can do is guide them a little and hope to
> achieve an ammendment that will secure the rights of
> consenting BDSMers.
> If we try for too much (i.e. getting them to drop the
> entire proposal), I fear we will miss out on the
> opportunity to achieve the ammendment.
> Whether or not you agree with my feelings on the rest
> of the bill, would you agree that Consent is a good
> focus for our campaign?
> darkness^



I suspect I would like to answer your question in several ways at once. (First I shall wear this hat, and speak in a silly Swiss accent, now that hat....).

And that will depend on where I decide to centre my campaigning. And I suspect I am not alone in this. I have long opposed a great deal of what this government does and for me the bottom line is as I said above: that it is NOT the business of government to be regulating what you or I can look at.

This is separate from - but wholly linked to the attack on the bdsm community. And as a paid-up member of the latter, I shall be campaigning here as well.

I guess I have been in politics long enough to take a very long view. So there is my personal long-term ideal (which probably involves a toilet and Tony Blair in some configuration, but more specifically is around freedom of expression).

In that context I will work with MANY groups - lawyers, artists, journalists, etc.

There is my preference for this proposed legislation (which is to kill it entirely) and my fallback position for that legislation which is, if it must come, we should do all we can to make it difficult to work and of minimal effect.

And then there is my tactical view (borne of many campaign experiences) which is about as easy to pin down as Peter Mandelson in a bath full of eels. That is, if it works, if it embarrasses the government and makes it harder for them to command a majority on this topic, I am for it. Period.

To answer your question: at one level, I think consent is a good focus, since within the discussion paper, the government is introducing the weasel concept that people consenting to be bdsm'd aren't really consenting. That MUST be resisted to the last ditch and beyond. Because if they get away with that, bdsm in the UK will be the next target.

At the next level, I would say suck it and see: if it works as a campaign focus, go with it. If it doesn't, find something that does.

Yours slipperily and wearing many hats,

M


Thunder, 03 Sep 2005 17:36:32

In message <20050903163216.58378.qmail@web25506.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>,
darkness^ writes
>Quick domain check...
>
>consent.me.uk is available. All other possible domains
>gone.
>
>consentuk - all domains available
>
>I promised you a site for Monday...so we need a domain
>name asap. Thus, I need to know what to register.
>
>If anyone has any thoughts or ideas about domain names
>or PR concepts, this would be a good time to raise
>them.
>
>Best Regards
>
>darkness^
>
>
d^ can you please consult Adrian who has already registered some domain
names some of which I think are now regretted.

--
^Thunder^


darkness, 03 Sep 2005 17:47:20

I assume he is already on here...

Adrian - what has been registered? Are we using it?

Website plan...

Short term - register domain (Adrian). I have agreed
to throw together some flat html which Adrian will
host on his UF account. Due live for Monday - so
please send any content asap. Post here or email
direct to darkness_f28@yahoo.co.uk

Medium term - I will set up a website with a content
management system based on Plone technology. This
needs specialist hosting which Tanos has agreed to
provide on his IC server. Once it is set up, anyone
will be able to submit content to the site, but
reviewers will determine what goes live on the site.
Timescales for this are at least 10 days from now.

Sorry to be so short and to the point. I dont intend
to be a web-nazi. Am just in a hurry to go play with
my horses tonight!

ttfn

d^


--- ^Thunder^ wrote:
> d^ can you please consult Adrian who has already
> registered some domain
> names some of which I think are now regretted.
>
> --
> ^Thunder^




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rosalee, 03 Sep 2005 17:56:44

I disagree. As I understand it there is no legal definition of GBH and it is up to juries to decide whether or not it is. As things stand, for example, cuts to the skin could be considered GBH.

Ginny
----- Original Message -----
: darkness^, 03 Sep 2005 17:56:44
Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2005 5:03 PM
Subject: [backlash] Bestiality, Consent



I have read the proposal, as I am sure most of us
have. I think it is inconsistant in places, but is
generally a good idea. I was initially concerned about
definitions of serious sexual violence, but tend to
think that the definition of GBH is a reasonable place
to draw the line.

Attachment:.
message.html (text/html)

Alex_Birch, 03 Sep 2005 18:01:11

> Darkness,
> I do hope you will rethink this view, along with your view on the law on child porn.
> I do not support or advocate child abuse, necrophilia, bestiality, or a whole host of other things. However, I was active - along with very few others (mainly lawyers, in fact) in opposing the way in which the child porn law was framed.
> Why? Because what it did was push UK law far further than it had gone before in terms of criminalising thought. Worse than that, it set a precedent which we expected to see later applied to other areas such as bdsm. As it now is.

Manniq I couldnt agree more! This is the kernel, the very heart of the matter...the right of government in a free western society to legislate over what we view.

Like Darkness, many of us will be concerned at some of the practices which take place like child abuse, like animal abuse. However the fundamental issue HAS to be opposing the right of government to criminalise what we WATCH.

If we , as Darkness suggests, begin by supporting certain of the elements within the government's proposals in order to show good faith the campaign will founder simply because no two people will agree on the elements we should or should not support.

We HAVE to have a solid focus that says unless the government can prove that a criminal sexual act is being committed within the viewed material ..and the onus should be on them to prove it...then viewing is NOT illegal.

This country has a record of ambiguous legislation around the area of pornography to the extent that Customs officers have arrested video shop owners for importing Lupus spanking films 'because they show harsh and unacceptable punishment'. Police arrest for merely the possession of pictures which show children on a nudist beach. They may not get a conviction but people are still subject to the stress of legal proceedings.

These current proposals use the term 'realistic depictions of sexual violence'. This sort of terminology is why we must oppose this whole concept. I dont agree with rape in real life but I wouldnt arrest someone for looking at images of rape or rape movies. What about Manga and other erotic comics? Do they count? Why is realistic simulation or the viewing of it, a crime? There will be disagreements over this which is why we have to concentrate on what unites us and allow individuals to make their own moral viewing decisions.

I believe we need to solidly oppose all these wooly statements and , even if we fail to stop all the legislation, strive to get the final wording absolutely watertight so that these proposals are watered down to something finite against which the authorities can be legally challenged

Sorry Ive rambled on

Alex


stripey, 03 Sep 2005 18:06:55

In message <20050903160332.92610.qmail@web25501.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>,
darkness^ writes
>
>I am delighted to see that these proposals cover
>bestiality. I am involved in animal rescue and this is
>something that my organisation has been campaigning
>subtley for for some time.
>
>I personallly plan to push the proposal to go further
>than it currently does so that it covers "crush"
>sites.
>
>Animals cannot give consent anymore than children can
>and are in an even more vulnerable and disempowered
>position. I would hope that our alliance of SM-related
>organisations would condemn bestiality and fetishistic
>animal abuse in the same way that they would
>pedophilia when distancing ourselves from these areas.
>
>I have read the proposal, as I am sure most of us
>have. I think it is inconsistant in places, but is
>generally a good idea. I was initially concerned about
>definitions of serious sexual violence, but tend to
>think that the definition of GBH is a reasonable place
>to draw the line.


I disagree.

The last thing I want to do is endorse giving the government yet more
control over what we can and can't obtain on the internet. I'll make my
own mind up on what I consider is appropriate material, I don't need the
government to make that decision on my own behalf.

If you, as an individual, would prefer a "pick & mix" approach to the
proposals, that's your prerogative. What you write to your MP and to the
consultation should be your own position, just as mine will be.

I agree with Manniq's formulation - by all means let them control the
MAKING of such material but letting them have yet more control over what
people VIEW is a bridge too far.



--
stripey


Tanos, 03 Sep 2005 18:26:43

darkness^ wrote:
> Quick domain check...
>
> consent.me.uk is available. All other possible domains
> gone.
>
> consentuk - all domains available
>
> I promised you a site for Monday...so we need a domain
> name asap. Thus, I need to know what to register.
>
> If anyone has any thoughts or ideas about domain names
> or PR concepts, this would be a good time to raise
> them.

I'd prefer a domain name that didn't include the word
"consent" spelled out in full. I don't see any confusion
from using it in an abbreviation though.

Regards,

Tanos

-------------------------
www.informedconsent.co.uk


Tanos, 03 Sep 2005 18:47:29

darkness^ wrote:

> If anyone has any thoughts or ideas about domain names
> or PR concepts, this would be a good time to raise
> them.

I'd go for an .org.uk if you can since it says UK and
something non-profit right from the start.

cafe-campaign.org.uk isn't taken (CAFE = Consenting Adults
for Freedom of Expression.) cafe.org.uk is taken but
unused, which is convenient.

I think backlash sounds a bit aggressive and out of
control.

Regards,

Tanos


Thunder, 03 Sep 2005 19:29:17

In message <4319E19D.7030309@tanos.org.uk>, Tanos
writes
>darkness^ wrote:
>
>> If anyone has any thoughts or ideas about domain names
>> or PR concepts, this would be a good time to raise
>> them.
>
>I'd go for an .org.uk if you can since it says UK and
>something non-profit right from the start.
>
>cafe-campaign.org.uk isn't taken (CAFE = Consenting Adults
>for Freedom of Expression.) cafe.org.uk is taken but
>unused, which is convenient.

Hmmm Conservatives Against A Federal Europe I believe :)
--
^Thunder^


Lothario, 03 Sep 2005 21:00:08

darkness, I've got to disagree regarding bestiality. Bestiality is a
despicable act which I am wholly opposed to and I find people looking
at such material deeply offensive. But viewing such material doesn't,
in my estimation, harm either the viewers or the animals. Committing
bestiality and publishing pictures of it is already illegal. The only
argument in favour of creating such an offence is the one that the
government is making, "sending a message to society that it's
unacceptable". Well, in common with the most, if not all, the proposed
categories of prohibition, society isn't in any doubt what it thinks
about these activities. We don't need government to tell us what we
already know, nor do we need them to lock up those that don't conform
to majority tastes.

Bestiality isn't suddenly going to become socially acceptable just
because the government decides to "do nothing" and not legislate
against viewing it. In essence, your argument is similar to those that
would ban viewing images of consensual SM: it offends our taste,
therefore we must punish those that do not conform to our taste.

Note I draw a crucial distinction between producing these images and
consuming them. The case falls apart entirely when you start to ban
simulated images. Are you in favour of that, too? Because however
distasteful, there certainly aren't any animals being harmed by it and
the argument that consuming such images necessarily leads to
committing an offence against acutal animals remains at the very least
to be proven.

Creating the offence of viewing bestiality pictures (real or
simulated) would lead to a bizarre situation where someone could be
locked up for three years (with all that it would entail for their
personal life and reputation) for looking at pictures of someone else
having sex with an animal, while at the same time the state (ie.
taxpayers) would be paying to serve up dead animals on their plate
every day for dinner. As we all know, animals do not consent to being
killed for food and we will all disagree on whether such an activity
should be permitted in society. But the fact remains that it is
permitted, and for as long as it remains so, jailing people for
viewing bestiality pictures is as pointless, preposterous and
contradictory as it sounds.

On the more general points, the government is proposing to create new
crimes and I am searching very hard for the supposed potential victims
of those crimes. It breaks down like this:

Participants (those engaging in the activities of which pictures are
made): no victims in the case of simulated images; no victims in the
case of consensual adult activity; non-consensual adult participatnts
would be victims; animals are victims in the case of actual
bestiality; unclear how a corpse would be a victim in the case of
necrophilia; entire "participants are victims" idea premised on the
idea that demand for images creates supply, which isn't proven; the
activities themselves may be illegal but benefits of criminalising
viewing images of them not clear.

Victims of adult viewers: based on the unproven hypothesis that people
viewing these images will necessarily go out and commit offences in
significant numbers against other people, animals or corpses.

Adult viewers: no evidence that people who choose to view such images
are harmed; furthermore, the principle that in many substantial
respects people have the right to harm themselves is well established,
though one the current government is working hard to erode. Regular
viewers of such material presumably predisposed towards it and cannot
be corrupted. Accidental viewers not covered by proposals.

Child viewers: more credible that children, particularly young
children, could be harmed (ie. inadvertently disturb themselves) by
viewing such images. However, the child themselves would then be
committing a crime - would punishment be an appropriate response?

Society: is society harmed by tolerating something distasteful in its
midst? Here we get into the semantics of "offence". Various recent
laws have moved away from the principle of objective evidence of harm,
to a victim's subjective propensity to find something offensive,
distressing or distasteful. It is not what you do but how what you do
is perceived that is the nature of the offence.

The narrow campaigning focus of consent doesn't counter the main
proponents' arguments in favour of these laws: that there are some
things so distasteful that society should ban them, even when there is
no direct or conclusive evidence of harm. Hence the inclusion of
simulated images in the proposals. Campaigning for consensual images
to be permitted will just come up against the brick wall of "the
majority of society finds it abhorrent", and then you get into a
numbers game which you will lose. From there on in, you could in
principle ban a whole range of SM activities for the same reasons.

People have asked about slogans: "no harm, no crime" has to be the
centrepiece of anything that's defensible. Show me the harm, show me
the victims and I will support the law. Without the harm and the
victims, you are legislating on matters of taste, even if it happens
to be the taste of the majority. The role of government is to protect
citizens from others harming them objectively, not to protect them
from being "offended" by others. Those that are offended by the idea
that some of their fellow citizens enjoy things they themselves find
distasteful should be respectfully encouraged to mind their own
business and most definitely shouldn't expect the state to intervene.
If we accept any law that embodies that principle (ie. in cases where
the activities don't meet our own tastes), then BDSMers might as well
emigrate now.


Manniq, 03 Sep 2005 21:12:27

Author wrote:


Lothario, I very rarely find myself being quite so uncritically in agreement with things I find written on the net. Congratulations (and please take this in the spirit meant): I am very impressed by your analysis of what is happening here - and the focus of the proposals and therefore the fight back.

Two small additions. First: I rather suspect that within these proposals is the view, derived from some schools of feminism, that victims of certain crimes cannot possibly consent - and only do so because they have been battered down by patriarchal oppression, etc., etc. This is my interpretation of the point about 'notional or genuine consent' - and suspect it is a stalking horse for a potentially much broader crackdown on bdsm.

Second, I think we do ourselves a disservice if we fall into the trap, as some have, of agreeing with the government that some activities are obnoxious - and therefore the shape of the legislation used to clamp down on them does not matter. Hence, why we need to oppose EVEN the provisions about bestiality and necrophilia.

And whilst I suspect I would find few in the bdsm community advocating the latter, it is possible that some do not wholly appreciate the breadth of the 'necro' kink. In practice, it shades into areas referred to as 'sleepy', which in turn involve images of sleepy sex, hypno sex, drugged sex. All of these are legitimate fantasies and subjects for role play - and given the media obsession with things like rohypnol, obvious next targets if they wished to extend legislation.

Regards,

M


SnowdropExplodes, 03 Sep 2005 21:56:30

For me, the issue is not one about depictions of
consensual acts, and it is not one about where a line
should be drawn. Depictions of rape, extreme
torture, beatings, even executions, need not be
censored.

Consent is the keystone issue for the campaign, I
feel, but I think it should be quite clear that the
only justification for restricting the images should
be on the grounds that the participants are clearly
unable to give consent to creating the images. In
images depicting rape, we do not contend that an
actual rape took place, but that two models simulated
a rape (and the same goes for "snuff" material, it is
not the case that someone actually got killed, they
just made it look that way).

However, an animal cannot give informed consent to
being used sexually, nor can a dead corpse (although
theoretically,





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fuschia, 03 Sep 2005 22:01:10

In a message dated 03/09/2005 17:47:29 GMT Daylight Time,
darkness_f28@yahoo.co.uk writes:

I assume he is already on here...

Adrian - what has been registered? Are we using it?

Website plan...

Short term - register domain (Adrian). I have agreed
to throw together some flat html which Adrian will
host on his UF account. Due live for Monday - so
please send any content asap. Post here or email
direct to darkness_f28@yahoo.co.uk

Medium term - I will set up a website with a content
management system based on Plone technology. This
needs specialist hosting which Tanos has agreed to
provide on his IC server. Once it is set up, anyone
will be able to submit content to the site, but
reviewers will determine what goes live on the site.
Timescales for this are at least 10 days from now.

Sorry to be so short and to the point. I dont intend
to be a web-nazi. Am just in a hurry to go play with
my horses tonight!


Fantastic. Adrian has registered backlashuk or backlash-uk.org.uk I believe.

Page to be snazzy meeting announcement, for now.

Speakers etc imminent, we hope

Attachment:.
message.html (text/html)

SnowdropExplodes, 03 Sep 2005 22:02:25

(Oops, hit the wrong key...I'll continue the argument
where I was so rudely interrupted...)

--- -OJT- wrote:

>
> For me, the issue is not one about depictions of
> consensual acts, and it is not one about where a
> line
> should be drawn. Depictions of rape, extreme
> torture, beatings, even executions, need not be
> censored.
>
> Consent is the keystone issue for the campaign, I
> feel, but I think it should be quite clear that the
> only justification for restricting the images should
> be on the grounds that the participants are clearly
> unable to give consent to creating the images. In
> images depicting rape, we do not contend that an
> actual rape took place, but that two models
> simulated
> a rape (and the same goes for "snuff" material, it
> is
> not the case that someone actually got killed, they
> just made it look that way).
>
> However, an animal cannot give informed consent to
> being used sexually, nor can a dead corpse (although
> theoretically,

(although theoretically, I would guess, the corpse's
consent might not be the issue, but the consent of the
owners of the corpse, which presumably would be
considered to be the next of kin)

The other argument, and one that is likely to have a
lot more weight in terms of legal professionals (in
which I include most particularly the House of Lords
as well as those drafting the proposals and running
the consultation), is the one of the government
intrusion into private affairs.

Someone blogged on IC that their law studies course
material states that the judiciary is increasingly of
the opinion that what consenting adults do in private
and in their own home, is no concern of the Law.
This opinion appears to validated by the fact that the
Spanner Trust website reports that in recent years,
two cases of BDSM have been rejected by judges as not
of interest to the court.

So that is the strongest argument we have, and
conceding it will only make it far harder to protect
what we do.

Ta,
SnowdropExplodes



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fuschia, 03 Sep 2005 22:03:41

In a message dated 03/09/2005 17:27:25 GMT Daylight Time,
darkness_f28@yahoo.co.uk writes:

Or is the proposal a backlash
against us? Yes

Re positive versus negative marketing....Positive
marketing is generally more effective I think,
particularly when targetting a wide demographic who
dont like to feel challenged. We could argue the toss
for hours I expect!



Hmm, manyof the campaigns I have been involved in (Clause 28, Fight the
Alton BIll etc) were single issues, against specific attacks.

Attachment:.
message.html (text/html)

domino, 04 Sep 2005 10:05:49

On Sat, 3 Sep 2005 21:56:27 +0100 (BST), -OJT-
wrote:

>For me, the issue is not one about depictions of
>consensual acts, and it is not one about where a line
>should be drawn. Depictions of rape, extreme
>torture, beatings, even executions, need not be
>censored.

Agreed

>Consent is the keystone issue for the campaign, I
>feel, but I think it should be quite clear that the
>only justification for restricting the images should
>be on the grounds that the participants are clearly
>unable to give consent to creating the images.

I don't think any images should be restricted. How many of us have
viewed images shown in news channels in countries where the government
is not so determined to restrict what it's voters can say think and
do. I've seen judicial whippings, limb amputation and decapitation
like that. Didn't turn me on (although IMHO that is neither here nor
there) but under the proposed legislation they would be illegal,
wouldn't they?

And if they weren't, and if I got my kicks from seeing them - would
that make it any better or worse than my viewing any other image for
sexual pleasure?

>(although theoretically, I would guess, the corpse's
>consent might not be the issue, but the consent of the
>owners of the corpse, which presumably would be
>considered to be the next of kin)

It depends... the law (as usual asinine) is murky on this point.
Legally, your wishes need not be followed after your death. Legally,
no-one owns a corpse, although common law allows next-of-kin to
determine what happens to it.
http://www.ethox.org.uk/education/teach/transplant/transplant5.htm

Apart from that however - I do not think any picture should be illegal
to own, possess or view. WHen you think about it - all it is is an
image. If that image portrays a criminal activity (which can be
proven) then the perps of that activity should be traced and
prosecuted, but merely viewing the picture should not be a crime.

Really the main drive is the notion that folk get sexual pleasure from
these images... suppose I see a violent crime happening - I notify
police but (being unable to physically intervene for any number of
reasons) until they get there I video what is going on (so it can be
used in evidence). I give the police a copy and keep a copy for
myself. Under the proposed legislation that would make me a
criminal...

Additionally, as I'm sure others have mentioned - if we start banning
that sort of image... when I was a child, I had an illustrated bible,
which showed, among other things, Judith holding aloft the head of the
king she had just decapitated... Should we ban the bible?

And... if these images are so damaging that they incite folk to go
out and commit crimes - then aren't we condemning the censors to lives
of depraved crime - after all if htey have to review all this material
then they must be the most depraved criminals in the land...

regards
domino


Lothario, 04 Sep 2005 10:45:41

Paragraph 51 says, "The offence would be limited to explicit
pornography material, that is material produced solely or primarily
for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification."

Material that is journalistic, academic, scientific or artistic in
intent is specifically excluded.

I presume that this would lead to a peculiar situation where someone
could legally view images from a website whose material was drawn from
real-life media and CCTV sources that depicted actual rapes and
murders, but someone couldn't legally view material from a site where
it was evident that the material had been acted, but that was
presented for sexual gratification. Go figure.

On 9/4/05, domino wrote:
> On Sat, 3 Sep 2005 21:56:27 +0100 (BST), -OJT-
> wrote:
>
> >For me, the issue is not one about depictions of
> >consensual acts, and it is not one about where a line
> >should be drawn. Depictions of rape, extreme
> >torture, beatings, even executions, need not be
> >censored.
>
> Agreed
>
> >Consent is the keystone issue for the campaign, I
> >feel, but I think it should be quite clear that the
> >only justification for restricting the images should
> >be on the grounds that the participants are clearly
> >unable to give consent to creating the images.
>
> I don't think any images should be restricted. How many of us have
> viewed images shown in news channels in countries where the government
> is not so determined to restrict what it's voters can say think and
> do. I've seen judicial whippings, limb amputation and decapitation
> like that. Didn't turn me on (although IMHO that is neither here nor
> there) but under the proposed legislation they would be illegal,
> wouldn't they?
>
> And if they weren't, and if I got my kicks from seeing them - would
> that make it any better or worse than my viewing any other image for
> sexual pleasure?
>
> >(although theoretically, I would guess, the corpse's
> >consent might not be the issue, but the consent of the
> >owners of the corpse, which presumably would be
> >considered to be the next of kin)
>
> It depends... the law (as usual asinine) is murky on this point.
> Legally, your wishes need not be followed after your death. Legally,
> no-one owns a corpse, although common law allows next-of-kin to
> determine what happens to it.
> http://www.ethox.org.uk/education/teach/transplant/transplant5.htm
>
> Apart from that however - I do not think any picture should be illegal
> to own, possess or view. WHen you think about it - all it is is an
> image. If that image portrays a criminal activity (which can be
> proven) then the perps of that activity should be traced and
> prosecuted, but merely viewing the picture should not be a crime.
>
> Really the main drive is the notion that folk get sexual pleasure from
> these images... suppose I see a violent crime happening - I notify
> police but (being unable to physically intervene for any number of
> reasons) until they get there I video what is going on (so it can be
> used in evidence). I give the police a copy and keep a copy for
> myself. Under the proposed legislation that would make me a
> criminal...
>
> Additionally, as I'm sure others have mentioned - if we start banning
> that sort of image... when I was a child, I had an illustrated bible,
> which showed, among other things, Judith holding aloft the head of the
> king she had just decapitated... Should we ban the bible?
>
> And... if these images are so damaging that they incite folk to go
> out and commit crimes - then aren't we condemning the censors to lives
> of depraved crime - after all if htey have to review all this material
> then they must be the most depraved criminals in the land...
>
> regards
> domino
>
>
>
>
> --
> If you want to share pictures, use the calendar, or start a vote
> visit http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/Backlash
>
> To leave the Group, email: Backlash-unsubscribe@smartgroups.com
>
> Report abuse http://www.smartgroups.com/text/abusereport.cfm?gid%3D3271426&mid%3D97
>


darkness, 04 Sep 2005 15:52:46

Dear Lothario,

> entire "participants are victims" idea
> premised on the
> idea that demand for images creates supply, which
> isn't proven;

Are you really questioning the "supply and demand"
model of business?

I think that demand stimulates supply and that supply
stimulates demand. I would say this is particularly
true of fetishistic behaviour. I realise that the idea
of "supply stimules demand" is more contentious than
"demand stimulates supply".

Inevitably in a civilised society, the rights of one
group must be balanced against the rights of another.
In the case of Bestiality, the right of the voyeur to
consume the images is balanced against the right of
the animal to not be abused.

I cannot claim to be an expert on the sex industry,
but it seems a simple matter of business logic that
images are created to satisfy a consumer demand. By
cutting off some of the consumer demand, the proposals
could lead to fewer images being created. In
Bestiality terms, that means less animal abuse.

I care passionately about animal welfare. I am a lot
more interested in supporting a proposal that will
lessen animal abuse than I am in protecting the
voyeuristic rights of people who I despise beyond
description.

For me, it is animal welfare that hits my emotive
buttons. For other people it will be child welfare,
rape or abuse.

I am a very happy sadomasochist, but I have not yet
been convinced by the arguments I have read here in
favour of dropping the entire proposal. If you cant
convince me, how are you going to convince the public?

From where I sit, it looks like BDSMers are not seeing
beyond protecting their own narrow set of priorities,
but are dressing it up in intellectual debate. I dont
think that will convince the public, who will just see
a bunch of perverts trying to defend their rights to
do the terrible things they already think that we do.
This could be our big opportunity to tell the public
that our lifestyle is based on consent, but I fear we
are going to miss it and appear to align ourselves
with the extremist abusers that we would prefer to
seperate ourselves from.

I can support a campaign that seeks to have the acts
of consenting human adults excluded from targeted
material. I cannot support a campaign that seeks to
get the entire act dropped.

It looks like I am alone in this position. I think it
is best if I withdraw from this campaign group as I
dont share the view of the otherwise fairly unanimous
majorty. Fuschia asked me to join the group to
provide web development resource. Despite my
reservations, I thought there would be no harm in
helping get debate happening. I hadn't expected
opinion to be so unanimously in favour of opposing the
entire proposal. There are other web developers in
this group and in the scene. I think it would be
better if one that shares the campaign vision take on
the task of developing the campaigh website.

Please dont take this personally. There are several of
my friends in this group. Friends can have different
ideas about something. I hope you will understand that
I can't support something that I am morally opposed
to.

Regards

darkness^














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fuschia, 04 Sep 2005 17:08:29

In a message dated 04/09/2005 15:53:12 GMT Daylight Time,
darkness_f28@yahoo.co.uk writes:

I hadn't expected
opinion to be so unanimously in favour of opposing the
entire proposal.


Well, I'm not sure I am, see my previous posts about picking out the key
issues, which seem to be consensual SM and "no harm" - both of which, if we
focuseed on them, would allow us to ally with people ranging from the out and out
libertarian (Lothario) and the animal-welfare person (darkness) not to
mention the vanilla civil rights person.

I think the debate rather proves that we need to select a campaigning focus
around which we can rally a braod swathe of opinion.

Please dont leave us darkness, I don't think we have at all reached a
position where your views are not campatible with our likely campaigning approach!

Attachment:.
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dan brusca, 04 Sep 2005 17:26:26

> I have read the proposal, as I am sure most of us
> have. I think it is inconsistant in places, but is
> generally a good idea. I was initially concerned about
> definitions of serious sexual violence, but tend to
> think that the definition of GBH is a reasonable place
> to draw the line.

I think everyone would agreee that we don't want images of GBH floating
around, but the difficulty is that what BDSM players may regard as
GBH/ABH could well be different from what the police or CPS view as GBH/ABH.


> I think the only real task for the BDSM community in
> all this is to highlight the concept of consent.

The consultation document only mentions consent in passing. My reading
of this is that the government doesn't consider consent to be a material
factor.

The consultation document focuses on the possible effect extreme porn
can have on the viewer, and whether or not such material is morally
acceptable in today's society. Consent doesn't have much of a bearing on
either of these areas. If consent is present or not, the images are the
same.

For me, it would be better to attack the proposals on the twin bases
that material shouldn't be banned because it *might* have negative
effects on those who view it, and that the government can't prohibit
freedom of expression of a minority because a majority deems what is
expressed to be objectionable. Freedom of expression isn't the sole
preserve of a 'moral majority'.

--
dan brusca
http://pandemos.net - Domina directory, fetish resource
http://pandemos2.net - femdom and fetish photo site


Thunder, 04 Sep 2005 17:40:53

In message <431B2022.20404@pandemos.net>, dan brusca
writes
>The consultation document focuses on the possible effect extreme porn
>can have on the viewer, and whether or not such material is morally
>acceptable in today's society. Consent doesn't have much of a bearing on
>either of these areas. If consent is present or not, the images are the
>same.

The "Lady Chatterley" and similar trials a generation ago failed because
there was no proof that such writing "depraved and corrupted those
reading it".
--
^Thunder^


dan brusca, 04 Sep 2005 17:45:43

> consent.me.uk is available. All other possible domains
> gone.

me.uk isn't intended for this kind of thing...

--
dan brusca
http://pandemos.net - Domina directory, fetish resource
http://pandemos2.net - femdom and fetish photo site


dan brusca, 04 Sep 2005 17:50:06

> The "Lady Chatterley" and similar trials a generation ago failed because
> there was no proof that such writing "depraved and corrupted those
> reading it".

It would be good if we could source material relating to these and cite
case history in our responses to the consultation.

--
dan brusca
http://pandemos.net - Domina directory, fetish resource
http://pandemos2.net - femdom and fetish photo site


dan brusca, 04 Sep 2005 17:59:39

> Creating the offence of viewing bestiality pictures (real or
> simulated) would lead to a bizarre situation where someone could be
> locked up for three years (with all that it would entail for their
> personal life and reputation) for looking at pictures of someone else
> having sex with an animal, while at the same time the state (ie.
> taxpayers) would be paying to serve up dead animals on their plate
> every day for dinner.

I don't see any conflict here. You're trying to connect two issues with
have nothing to do with eachother, aside from involving animals.


> Participants (those engaging in the activities of which pictures are
> made): no victims in the case of simulated images; no victims in the
> case of consensual adult activity; non-consensual adult participatnts
> would be victims; animals are victims in the case of actual
> bestiality; unclear how a corpse would be a victim in the case of
> necrophilia; entire "participants are victims"

The consultation has nothing much at all to say about participants at
all really. It's not about protecting people from being abused or harmed
by appearing in extreme porn, it's supposedly about protecting people
who may view that porn from harm, or being harmed by people who view it.


> The narrow campaigning focus of consent doesn't counter the main
> proponents' arguments in favour of these laws: that there are some
> things so distasteful that society should ban them, even when there is
> no direct or conclusive evidence of harm. Hence the inclusion of
> simulated images in the proposals. Campaigning for consensual images
> to be permitted will just come up against the brick wall of "the
> majority of society finds it abhorrent", and then you get into a
> numbers game which you will lose. From there on in, you could in
> principle ban a whole range of SM activities for the same reasons.

Agreed :D

Consent is a major red-herring here. The cynic in me might even suggest
that the word only appears in the consultation paper to misdirect the
consensual S&M lobby.

--
dan brusca
http://pandemos.net - Domina directory, fetish resource
http://pandemos2.net - femdom and fetish photo site


Thunder, 04 Sep 2005 18:08:15

In message <431B25B2.5000805@pandemos.net>, dan brusca
writes
>> The "Lady Chatterley" and similar trials a generation ago failed because
>> there was no proof that such writing "depraved and corrupted those
>> reading it".
>
>It would be good if we could source material relating to these and cite
>case history in our responses to the consultation.
>

Have a look at
http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,6761,367917,00.html for a
start

--
^Thunder^


Graham Marsden, 04 Sep 2005 20:32:21

Lothario UK wrote:

> Paragraph 51 says, "The offence would be limited to explicit
> pornography material, that is material produced solely or primarily
> for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification."
>
> Material that is journalistic, academic, scientific or artistic in
> intent is specifically excluded.
>
> I presume that this would lead to a peculiar situation where someone
> could legally view images from a website whose material was drawn from
> real-life media and CCTV sources that depicted actual rapes and
> murders, but someone couldn't legally view material from a site where
> it was evident that the material had been acted, but that was
> presented for sexual gratification. Go figure.

That is about what the situation is at the moment.

The argument goes basically that it's ok to show violence/ rape/ murder
whatever *provided* the victim isn't enjoying it, because if they're
shown as enjoying it then some deranged/ sociopathic individual can use
it to justify to themselves the fact that "they're enjoying it, so it
must be ok, so I can do it".

Of course this is, frankly, a load of dingoes kidneys, because that
deranged/ sociopathic individual is *still* going to find a way of
justifying their actions to themselves no matter what, but try to
convince our Nanny State of that...!

Cheers,
Graham.


Graham Marsden, 04 Sep 2005 20:52:24

darkness^ wrote:

>>entire "participants are victims" idea premised on the
>>idea that demand for images creates supply, which
>>isn't proven;
>
> Are you really questioning the "supply and demand"
> model of business?
>
> I think that demand stimulates supply and that supply
> stimulates demand. I would say this is particularly
> true of fetishistic behaviour.

I can agree with the first statement, ie if someone wants something
there will almost certainly be someone out there who will supply it
(generally, but not always) if they can make a profit.

Supply stimulating demand *can* also occur, but not so often and not,
IMO, in the case of fetish style material, it's more a case of an
advertising campaign creating the latest "must have" craze. If I have a
fetish for X and I create a website for it, really it's only the other
people who also have an interest in X who will visit.

Even if I spam millions of people very few are likely to come to that
site unless they have some interest in X as well.

> Inevitably in a civilised society, the rights of one
> group must be balanced against the rights of another.

Of course. "My right to swing my fist ends at the tip of your nose".

> In the case of Bestiality, the right of the voyeur to
> consume the images is balanced against the right of
> the animal to not be abused.

Most of such material that I've come across of this type is of women and
animals and, as such, I can't exactly see how how the animal is being
"abused" since they are hardly being forced into something they don't
want to do.

Ok, I can see how you could make an argument the other way around, ie
men penetrating animals, but even then, despite jokes about Welsh
shepherds, any animal that didn't want to participate would most likley
make its displeasure known by fighting like mad to get away.

I'd also note that back in the 70's when the Danish reviewed all their
sex laws, they move bestiality from standard "sex" legislation to the
under the heading of "cruelty to animals", ie if what you were doing
wasn't cruel to the animal it was ok.

> it seems a simple matter of business logic that images are created
> to satisfy a consumer demand. By cutting off some of the consumer
> demand, the proposals could lead to fewer images being created. In
> Bestiality terms, that means less animal abuse.

Sorry, but the logic of this simply does not follow.

Consider for a moment child abuse images. These are generally a
by-product of abuse, rather than an end in themselves. AIUI much of this
material was (and, almost certainly, still is) distributed effectively
free of charge (via mailing lists, p2p, newsgroups etc) rather than for
profit.

I think that abusers would still be taking these pictures and abusing
children whether this distribution existed or not, and all that is
happening when it is distributed is someone saying "look what I've got/
done/ whatever" and showing off for their peers. Even if they weren't
doing this, the abuse would still happen.

Now replace "child" with "animal" and I think the logic still follows.

> I care passionately about animal welfare. I am a lot more interested
> in supporting a proposal that will lessen animal abuse than I am in
> protecting the voyeuristic rights of people who I despise beyond
> description.

In which case I suggest you contact your MP and campaign for stronger
laws to protect animals but which will *NOT* affect those into
consensual (if extreme) BDSM, rather than putting your support behind
this bill in what I think is an well intentioned but misguided belief
that it would actually do what you want.


Graham Marsden, 04 Sep 2005 20:57:51

dan brusca wrote:

> For me, it would be better to attack the proposals on the twin bases
> that material shouldn't be banned because it *might* have negative
> effects on those who view it, and that the government can't prohibit
> freedom of expression of a minority because a majority deems what is
> expressed to be objectionable. Freedom of expression isn't the sole
> preserve of a 'moral majority'.

I can agree with this.

As I said before, this material may be a symptom but it is not a cause
and to try to solve a problem by infringing the rights of a few in the
hope of protecting the majority simply risks criminalising those few
with no benefit to anybody.


SnowdropExplodes, 04 Sep 2005 22:02:29

--- dan brusca wrote:

> The consultation has nothing much at all to say
> about participants at
> all really. It's not about protecting people from
> being abused or harmed
> by appearing in extreme porn, it's supposedly about
> protecting people
> who may view that porn from harm, or being harmed by
> people who view it.

This is incorrect. Read paragraphs 28 and 34. here
it states explicitly that harm to the participants is
a key factor in the proposals.

Read also the section entitled "Evidence of Harm".
here the paper states categorically that, since there
is no proof, nor any convincing evidence, that porn
causes harm, that is absolutely not the basis of their
proposals.

Ta,
SnowdropExplodes





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darkness, 05 Sep 2005 01:51:55

Dear Graham,

> Supply stimulating demand *can* also occur, but not
> so often and not,
> IMO, in the case of fetish style material, it's more
> a case of an
> advertising campaign creating the latest "must have"
> craze.

This is the entire principal of marketing. A lot of
businesses dont know the difference between
advertising and marketing. Marketing is about creating
a market. It is a highly effective business technique.
Take a stroll around Sainsbury's after Delia has done
a new series. Suddenly a certain demographic just
*has* to have a particular baking dish and obscure
ingredients like glycerine become sold out up and down
the country as millions of Delia viewers are making
her new chocolate torte. Advertise glycerine and no
one will be interested. *Market* it via Delia and it's
a different story.

Within BDSM, I think we see a lot of fetishes being
defined by what other people have decided constitutes
a fetish. How many wool and cotton fetishists do you
see? Very few I think. All the porn involves leather
and latex, club dress codes expect mainly leather and
latex...so that's what we come to associate with our
pleasures and fetish is developed. It isn't hard to
create fetish in a person. Simply link their sexual
behaviour to the intended object of fetish.

It's almost worth trying to prove this effect. Let's
think up a surreal fetish, build a website, cynically
market the fetish through sexual imagery and the
various tools of marketing....and see if we can create
a market for a new fetish. I reckon we would find
success - and it wouldnt just be the people who had
the fetish already.

> Even if I spam millions of people very few are
> likely to come to that
> site unless they have some interest in X as well.

I disagree. People can be inspired by new ideas. They
can hit your site by accident, curiosity or
misdirection. Some, a minority (but marketing normally
deals with small percentages and large volumes - so a
2% result is considered good), will stay a while and
maybe return.

> Of course. "My right to swing my fist ends at the
> tip of your nose".

LOL - good line...:)

> Most of such material that I've come across of this
> type is of women and
> animals

MOST?!?!??!?! How much have you come across? I
hesitate to make what I would consider a serious
accusation, but your statement and following views
worry me.

> and, as such, I can't exactly see how how
> the animal is being
> "abused" since they are hardly being forced into
> something they don't
> want to do.

That's right up there with "She was begging for it
your honour!" as an argument. Animals do have sexual
behaviour that it is possible to stimulate and
engage....just as children do. That doesn't make it
right to do so.

I wouldn't recommend using your "they are hardly being
forced" argument when dealing with the public.

Graham, with some of the views you are expressing, you
will align BDSMers with pedaphiles, bestialists and
rapists in the public eye.

Make no mistake, if we get as far as engaging the
government in debate on this issue, the debate will
not be a reasoned and intelligent examination of the
issues. The public will not read the proposal. I doubt
many journalists will either. It will be a brief PR
battle, fought in the media, which we will lose
entirely if we dont find some way to engage public
sympathy.

Even public sympathy is unlikely to do us much good. I
refer you to the RIP bill and the invasion of Iraq.
With the RIP bill, a lot of people didn't think it a
great idea to give the government access to all their
internet activities and data. Yet it went through,
using Gary Glitter and September 11th as suspiciously
convenient smoke screens.

The invasion of Iraq - huge public marches, massive
resistance to the notion in opinion polls - yet the
government just did what suited them, with little
regard for the will of the people.

If they want to put this bill through, they will. It
is consistant with RIP and child porn legislation and
they probably want a full set of legal tools to give
them the control over the internet that Mr Blair vowed
he would achieve some time ago.

I don't think BDSMers will have success getting the
entire proposal dropped - nor do I personally believe
they should try. They might be able to protect the
acts of consenting human adults though...which I
thought was the general concept behind our lifestyle?

Regards

darkness^








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Tanos, 05 Sep 2005 02:38:38

darkness^ wrote:

> Within BDSM, I think we see a lot of fetishes being
> defined by what other people have decided constitutes
> a fetish. How many wool and cotton fetishists do you
> see? Very few I think.

Enough to have their own paysites. For example,
www.sweaterbabes.com

> All the porn involves leather and latex,

See above.

> club dress codes expect mainly leather and latex...

Club dress codes have nothing to do with fetish. Try
going to a strict dress code club saying you have a
woolly sweater fetish. Club dress codes, like almost
all dress codes, are about filtering out "the wrong
kind of people" and making certain kinds of people
feel unwelcome.

> so that's what we come to associate with our
> pleasures and fetish is developed. It isn't hard to
> create fetish in a person. Simply link their sexual
> behaviour to the intended object of fetish.

Except that happens before adulthood with most people's
fetishes.

If what you're saying is true, where did all the
fetishists come from before fetish magazines were
widely available?

Consider the rubber mackintosh fetishists, for
instance, who mostly grew up in an age where lots of
women wore rubber macs in the rain. But now that
rubber macs are rare, there are far fewer twenty-
something rubber mac enthusiasts.

I think the evidence is pretty strong that fetishes
are something that people pick up from associations
in the vanilla environment (which now includes Cat
Woman etc, but also attractive women in sweaters or
underwear in Kay's catalogue that adolescents can
easily get hold of) rather than from what any kind
of fetish industry _decides_ is a fetish.

So the government proposals are right in saying
that available images influence people's sexuality,
but that's what fantasies they get turned on by,
rather than whether they go out and start strangling
people.

Regards,

Tanos


Graham Marsden, 05 Sep 2005 02:58:00

darkness^ wrote:

>>Supply stimulating demand *can* also occur, but not
>>so often and not, IMO, in the case of fetish style
>>material, it's more a case of an advertising campaign
>>creating the latest "must have" craze.
>
> This is the entire principal of marketing. A lot of
> businesses dont know the difference between
> advertising and marketing. Marketing is about creating
> a market.

Yes, but nobody's "marketing" anything in the context of the material in
this discussion, are they?

> Within BDSM, I think we see a lot of fetishes being
> defined by what other people have decided constitutes
> a fetish. How many wool and cotton fetishists do you
> see? Very few I think.

Interestingly enough, in older "fetish style" magazines I've seen a fair
bit about wool fetishm, but then it just vanishes.

> All the porn involves leather and latex, club dress codes expect
> mainly leather and latex...so that's what we come to associate
> with our pleasures and fetish is developed.

Sorry, but I don't see that this follows and I don't agree that you can
"create" a fetish in someone who doesn't have some sort of inclination
to that already.

>>Even if I spam millions of people very few are likely to come to that
>>site unless they have some interest in X as well.
>
> I disagree. People can be inspired by new ideas. They
> can hit your site by accident, curiosity or misdirection.

Yes, ok, you can get them to the site by hook or by crook, but virtually
all of then apart from a tiny minority, will immediately leave again.

> Some, a minority (but marketing normally deals with small
> percentages and large volumes - so a 2% result is considered
> good), will stay a while and maybe return.

I think a 2% result would be considered exceptional! Advertising often
works on figures of 0.5% or less.

In this case, however, I think it would be more like 0.05% at best and
probably much less than that.

>>Of course. "My right to swing my fist ends at the tip of your nose".
>
> LOL - good line...:)

I forgot to look up the source before, apparently it's from a US Judge,
Oliver Wendell Holmes.

>>Most of such material that I've come across of this
>>type is of women and animals
>
> MOST?!?!??!?! How much have you come across? I
> hesitate to make what I would consider a serious
> accusation,

Darkness, before you even *CONSIDER* *considering* making any "serious
accusations" I suggest you think *VERY* carefully about what you are doing.

Even though this technically an open group, I would consider that for
anyone to even suggest or imply that they might reveal details of what
is said in here outside of the group to be a very serious mistake.

As to the subject, I get a lot of porn through a site called GUBA
(Gigantic Usenet Binary Archive) which, even though they try to keep
"unacceptable" material out of it, eg bestiality, child porn etc,
because it is simply archiving what is on Usenet, they rely on
subscribers pointing out when there is a problem.

Consequently this material *does* appear occasionally and, naturally,
whilst reporting it, you can't help but look at it.

> I wouldn't recommend using your "they are hardly being
> forced" argument when dealing with the public.

I had not planned on doing so. This discussion is primarily about the
portrayal of "violent pornography", not the reasoning or justifications
that may be used for bestiality etc.

> Graham, with some of the views you are expressing, you
> will align BDSMers with pedaphiles, bestialists and
> rapists in the public eye.

I think you'll find the tabloid media will do that perfectly well
without any help from me or anyone else.

> Even public sympathy is unlikely to do us much good. I
> refer you to the RIP bill and the invasion of Iraq.
> With the RIP bill, a lot of people didn't think it a
> great idea to give the government access to all their
> internet activities and data. Yet it went through,
> using Gary Glitter and September 11th as suspiciously
> convenient smoke screens.

Might I comment that using expressions such as "suspiciously convenient
smoke screens" is liable to cause the public to align anyone making such
remarks along with crackpots and conspiracy theorists.

> If they want to put this bill through, they will. It
> is consistant with RIP and child porn legislation and
> they probably want a full set of legal tools to give
> them the control over the internet that Mr Blair vowed
> he would achieve some time ago.

This may well be the case. It doesn't mean we shouldn't fight, nor that
we should approve of some parts because they fit in with a single issue
that we may personally consider important.

> I don't think BDSMers will have success getting the
> entire proposal dropped - nor do I personally believe
> they should try. They might be able to protect the
> acts of consenting human adults though...which I
> thought was the general concept behind our lifestyle?

Darkness, you have issues regarding animal welfare. Fine, that's your
right and I believe they are laudable, however this bill will *NOT*
protect animals, it will *NOT* prevent them being abused and we should
*NOT* allow our views on the whole of it to be swayed by one small part
that fits in with a personal crusade.

I think we most certainly *should* aim at getting the entire proposal
dropped, lock, stock and barrel. Any other campaigning can and should be
done separately, not as a part of this main aim.


dan brusca, 05 Sep 2005 07:23:34

> This is incorrect. Read paragraphs 28 and 34. here
> it states explicitly that harm to the participants is
> a key factor in the proposals.

Point taken.


> Read also the section entitled "Evidence of Harm".
> here the paper states categorically that, since there
> is no proof, nor any convincing evidence, that porn
> causes harm, that is absolutely not the basis of their
> proposals.

Indeed, I've already accepted that the Evidence of Harm section provides
a good basis for attacking the proposals, but I don't agree that the
consulation document says it's not the basis of the proposals under
consideration. This is clear from paragraph 34.

The proposals seem to be based on a presupposition that extreme porn
causes harm to the viewer, despite the fact no such harm can be
demonstrated. Very much an achilles heel.

--
dan brusca
http://pandemos.net - Domina directory, fetish resource
http://pandemos2.net - femdom and fetish photo site


darkness, 05 Sep 2005 11:08:54

Dear Graham,

> Yes, but nobody's "marketing" anything in the
> context of the material in
> this discussion, are they?

The extreme websites are a tool for the marketing of
the material they present, in my opinion.

I don't
> agree that you can
> "create" a fetish in someone who doesn't have some
> sort of inclination
> to that already.

Then we must agree to differ in our opinion on that.
Suppose I accept what you say, doesn't that still
leave the extreme sites in the position of developing
existing inclinations?

As Tanos pointed out, people pick up fetish influences
from their environment. By removing extreme material
from that environment, do we not reduce the
probability of certain unacceptable fetishes
developing?

> Darkness, before you even *CONSIDER* *considering*
> making any "serious
> accusations" I suggest you think *VERY* carefully
> about what you are doing.

You misunderstand me. I will be more direct. You
commented on "most of the material" that you have seen
and went on to express opinions that suggest animals
wouldnt comply if they didnt want to. I question how
you are exposed to so much material of that nature.

> Even though this technically an open group, I would
> consider that for
> anyone to even suggest or imply that they might
> reveal details of what
> is said in here outside of the group to be a very
> serious mistake.

That was not my implication. And do not for a second
attempt to threaten me.

> As to the subject, I get a lot of porn through a
> site called GUBA
> (Gigantic Usenet Binary Archive) which, even though
> they try to keep
> "unacceptable" material out of it, eg bestiality,
> child porn etc,
> because it is simply archiving what is on Usenet,
> they rely on
> subscribers pointing out when there is a problem.
> Consequently this material *does* appear
> occasionally and, naturally,
> whilst reporting it, you can't help but look at it.

That is a pretty pathetic excuse, in my opinion. Do
they send you child porn too? Have you considered not
subscribing to a site where such material gets
distributed?

My "serious accusation" is that you don't seem to
value the welfare of animals enough to affect your
internet usage patterns. You may not find that a
serious accusation. I do.

> Might I comment that using expressions such as
> "suspiciously convenient
> smoke screens" is liable to cause the public to
> align anyone making such
> remarks along with crackpots and conspiracy
> theorists.

Obviously. I made that comment in the context of why
we will lose this campaign (if we try for too much).
That is hardly a good opening line to present to the
public is it?! I say it here because I think we need
to know what our chances of success with different
strategies are.

> This may well be the case. It doesn't mean we
> shouldn't fight,

That I agree with. Sometimes one has to be strategic
in ones battles however.

> nor that
> we should approve of some parts because they fit in
> with a single issue
> that we may personally consider important.

I think you misunderstand me. As I said, I think there
is a balance of liberties at stake - one that the
disempowered have hitherto been losing.

> Darkness, you have issues regarding animal welfare.
> Fine, that's your
> right and I believe they are laudable,

Thank you.

> however this
> bill will *NOT*
> protect animals, it will *NOT* prevent them being
> abused

I obviously disagree, but we must agree to differ in
our opinions in this matter.

> and we should
> *NOT* allow our views on the whole of it to be
> swayed by one small part
> that fits in with a personal crusade.

That's fair enough. I have already said that I think I
should step out of this campaign because I seem to be
alone in my opinion that we should campaign for
exclusion of the acts of consenting human adults from
the targetted material...and everyone else wants a
total drop of the proposal.

> I think we most certainly *should* aim at getting
> the entire proposal
> dropped, lock, stock and barrel.

Go for it then. There is a possibility you will
succeed, in which case we will maintain the status quo
and the world will be no worse than it currently is.
If you fail, then I am happy to accept the result of
the full proposal going through. Personally I am not
into porn, so wont mourn the loss of even the
"reasonable and consenting" material. It would have
been nice to have protected that material for the sake
of principal though.

Regards

darkness^



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Graham Marsden, 05 Sep 2005 11:56:42

darkness^ wrote:

>>Yes, but nobody's "marketing" anything in the context of the
>>material in this discussion, are they?
>
> The extreme websites are a tool for the marketing of
> the material they present, in my opinion.

There is a big difference between "making something available" and
actively "marketing" it.

>>I don't agree that you can "create" a fetish in someone who doesn't
>>have some sort of inclination to that already.
>
> Then we must agree to differ in our opinion on that.

Fair enough, however I suggest you read the extracts that Laurence
posted regarding prohibition et al which may do more to convince you to
change your opinion.

>>Darkness, before you even *CONSIDER* *considering*
>>making any "serious accusations" I suggest you think
>>*VERY* carefully about what you are doing.
>
> You misunderstand me. I will be more direct.

In which case I suggest you be "more direct" in the first place in
future since the apparent implications of what you said were disturbing.

> You commented on "most of the material" that you have seen
> and went on to express opinions that suggest animals
> wouldnt comply if they didnt want to. I question how
> you are exposed to so much material of that nature.

And I explained.

>>Even though this technically an open group, I would consider that for
>>anyone to even suggest or imply that they might reveal details of what
>>is said in here outside of the group to be a very serious mistake.

> That was not my implication. And do not for a second
> attempt to threaten me.

Me "threaten" you?

Curious, it seemed from my reading of your comments about "serious
accusations" that the threats were coming from the other direction.

>>As to the subject, I get a lot of porn through a site called GUBA
>>(Gigantic Usenet Binary Archive) which, even though they try to keep
>>"unacceptable" material out of it, eg bestiality, child porn etc,
>>because it is simply archiving what is on Usenet, they rely on
>>subscribers pointing out when there is a problem.
>>Consequently this material *does* appear occasionally and, naturally,
>>whilst reporting it, you can't help but look at it.
>
> That is a pretty pathetic excuse, in my opinion. Do
> they send you child porn too? Have you considered not
> subscribing to a site where such material gets
> distributed?

That is not an "excuse" and your opinion seems to be based on false
assumptions and lack of knowledge. They do not "send" me anything. I
suggest you pay a visit to http://www.guba.com where you can get a
better understanding of the site.

They simply archive usenet binary groups. It is most certainly not the
intention of that site to distribute unacceptable material, however
given the massive amount of material that is posted on these groups it
is impossible for them to filter or block everything unacceptable, hence
when I visit that site and view an archive of particular group, I may
find that "unacceptable" (and, of course, off topic) material has been
posted to that group, at which point I report it.

In this process, naturally, I have "viewed" this material (it would be
impossible to report it had I not!) but it is not as if I was actively
seeking it out, nor do I visit that site in the hope of finding images
of bestiality, child abuse or similar content and I do my part in
ensuring that if it is on there, it is removed forthwith.

None the less, however, it's not as if I can delete the memory of what I
have seen from my brain, hence I have formed an opinion based on what I
have, albeit inadvertantly, seen.

> My "serious accusation" is that you don't seem to
> value the welfare of animals enough to affect your
> internet usage patterns. You may not find that a
> serious accusation. I do.

I find that to be a completely erroneous accusation as I have explained
above.

>>nor that we should approve of some parts because they fit in
>>with a single issue that we may personally consider important.
>
> I think you misunderstand me. As I said, I think there
> is a balance of liberties at stake - one that the
> disempowered have hitherto been losing.

And I agree that imbalance should be rectified, however this legislation
is *not* the way to do it, since it is much more likely to result in an
even greater imbalance.

>>we should *NOT* allow our views on the whole of it to be
>>swayed by one small part that fits in with a personal crusade.
>
> That's fair enough. I have already said that I think I
> should step out of this campaign because I seem to be
> alone in my opinion that we should campaign for
> exclusion of the acts of consenting human adults from
> the targetted material...and everyone else wants a
> total drop of the proposal.

Yes, because, with all due respect, I don't think that we would have a
chance of achieving that specific "exclusion" on its own so the only way
to stop this legislation is by tearing it up by the roots.

>>I think we most certainly *should* aim at getting
>>the entire proposal dropped, lock, stock and barrel.
>
> Go for it then. There is a possibility you will
> succeed, in which case we will maintain the status quo
> and the world will be no worse than it currently is.
> If you fail, then I am happy to accept the result of
> the full proposal going through.

I'm sorry, but you're committing the same mistake as those who
formulated the questions in that "consultation", ie (hopefully
unwittingly) using the logical fallacy of the False Dilemma, offering
two options as if they are the *only* possibilities.

It is not a matter of "either we defeat it *or* it goes through in full
and unchanged", we may not be able to get the entire proposal dropped,
but that does not mean that we should not try to do so and, who knows,
maybe as a result of our actions we achieve the "exclusion" you want,
but if we only took that as our starting position, we would not have any
chance of blocking the entire bill.

> Personally I am not into porn, so wont mourn the loss of even the
> "reasonable and consenting" material. It would have been nice to
> have protected that material for the sake of principal though.

That sounds distressingly and disappointingly like "I'm alright, Jack".

I'm not personally into "violent porn", I've seen sites and images that
show apparently dead girls, plastic bag asphyxiation etc etc and they do
nothing for me, however *my* principles are against censorship of things
that involve consenting adults and, as such, I will fight this
legislation even though its primary target is nothing I am interested in.


Thunder, 05 Sep 2005 12:29:47

In message <431C24A3.6020606@affordable-leather.co.uk>, graham
writes
>darkness^ wrote:

[..]

Knowing both of you (and also darkness' love of animals) can we please
stop this line of argument please.
--
^Thunder^


darkness, 05 Sep 2005 13:02:16

I am happy to leave it there. It has become too
personal and all we are achieving is to annoy each
other at this stage I think!

d^

--- ^Thunder^ wrote:

> Knowing both of you (and also darkness' love of
> animals) can we please
> stop this line of argument please.
> --
> ^Thunder^






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Thunder, 05 Sep 2005 13:29:32

In message <20050905120206.33249.qmail@web25504.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>,
darkness^ writes
>I am happy to leave it there. It has become too
>personal and all we are achieving is to annoy each
>other at this stage I think!
>
>d^

Good, I agree and from "another place" I know Graham can be tenacious in
his arguments (which Graham is NOT a criticism of you :))
--
^Thunder^


Manniq, 05 Sep 2005 14:21:28

Author wrote:
> In a message dated 04/09/2005 15:53:12 GMT Daylight Time,
> darkness_f28@yahoo.co.uk writes:
> I hadn't expected
> opinion to be so unanimously in favour of opposing the
> entire proposal.
> Well, I'm not sure I am, see my previous posts about picking out the key
> issues, which seem to be consensual SM and "no harm" - both of which, if we
> focuseed on them, would allow us to ally with people ranging from the out and out
> libertarian (Lothario) and the animal-welfare person (darkness) not to
> mention the vanilla civil rights person.
> I think the debate rather proves that we need to select a campaigning focus
> around which we can rally a braod swathe of opinion.
> Please dont leave us darkness, I don't think we have at all reached a
> position where your views are not campatible with our likely campaigning approach!

Fuschia,

I think you are right in saying that there are many possible campaigning focuses. I would place myself alongside Lothario and the civil liberties lobby. I also think people need to sink their differences for the time being.

Two points, I guess. First, although I will sink and work with, I do think that you may be strategically wrong to try and narrow the focus. This legislation does not appear in a vacuum, but is part of a trend begun by government some time back to bring certain principles into UK law. They succeeded initially by picking on a very unpopular group - although arguably they should have been stopped then.

Darkness, unwittingly, advances the government's case for them.

Second, my take on Darkness approach is similar to what I used to say when someone phoned up a colleague at work with some amazing special offer. Aforementioned colleague would approach me and ask if we should consider it...to which my reply was ususlly, if you didn't think you needed it before, why do you think you need it now?

This legislation is a wholly poisoned chalice - and the government would be pleased even to get part of it through (because they will be back with more later).

If Darkness - or anyone else feels the need for specific legislation to protect animals, they should decide WHAT legislation is needed and propose THAT, rather than throw their lot in with a very manipulative government.

Regards,

M


rosalee, 05 Sep 2005 14:53:41

I agree. Although it is the part of the document that relates to SM that really worries me, the apparent thinking behind the whole thing is bad and needs to be challenged. It's not about protecting anyone or anything. It's about trying to control what we can all think about, look at and do for our own good, by, as you say, a very manipulative government.

Ginny

----- Original Message -----
: manniq@hotmail.com, 05 Sep 2005 14:53:41
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2005 2:21 PM
Subject: Re: [backlash] RE: Bestiality, Consent




Author wrote:
> In a message dated 04/09/2005 15:53:12 GMT Daylight Time,
> darkness_f28@yahoo.co.uk writes:
> I hadn't expected
> opinion to be so unanimously in favour of opposing the
> entire proposal.
> Well, I'm not sure I am, see my previous posts about picking out the key
> issues, which seem to be consensual SM and "no harm" - both of which, if we
> focuseed on them, would allow us to ally with people ranging from the out and out
> libertarian (Lothario) and the animal-welfare person (darkness) not to
> mention the vanilla civil rights person.
> I think the debate rather proves that we need to select a campaigning focus
> around which we can rally a braod swathe of opinion.
> Please dont leave us darkness, I don't think we have at all reached a
> position where your views are not campatible with our likely campaigning approach!

Fuschia,

I think you are right in saying that there are many possible campaigning focuses. I would place myself alongside Lothario and the civil liberties lobby. I also think people need to sink their differences for the time being.

Two points, I guess. First, although I will sink and work with, I do think that you may be strategically wrong to try and narrow the focus. This legislation does not appear in a vacuum, but is part of a trend begun by government some time back to bring certain principles into UK law. They succeeded initially by picking on a very unpopular group - although arguably they should have been stopped then.

Darkness, unwittingly, advances the government's case for them.

Second, my take on Darkness approach is similar to what I used to say when someone phoned up a colleague at work with some amazing special offer. Aforementioned colleague would approach me and ask if we should consider it...to which my reply was ususlly, if you didn't think you needed it before, why do you think you need it now?

This legislation is a wholly poisoned chalice - and the government would be pleased even to get part of it through (because they will be back with more later).

If Darkness - or anyone else feels the need for specific legislation to protect animals, they should decide WHAT legislation is needed and propose THAT, rather than throw their lot in with a very manipulative government.

Regards,

M








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