Utah Senator Wants To Revive The State's 'Porn Czar' Office To Combat The Threat Of Women's Magazines
from the mortified dept
Todd Weiler, a state Senator in Utah, has appeared on our pages before. When last we checked in with the good senator, he was quite oddly attempting to purge his notoriously prudish state from the dire threat of pornography. His plan was more than a bit heavy-handed in that it centered on mandating porn-filtering software on all smartphones under his stated theory that "A cell phone is basically a vending machine for pornography." This tragic misunderstanding by a sitting state senator of what a phone is and exactly what its primary functions are aside, government mandates that infringe on free and legal expression are kind of a no-no in these here secular United States. Even setting constitutional questions aside, attempts like these are immediately confronted by the obstreperous demands from the public for a definition of exactly what constitutes "pornography."
Well, for Senator Weiler, it appears we may have something of an answer. See, Weiler has more recently decided to try to revive Utah's long-defunct Obscenity and Pornography Complaints Ombudsman position, or "porn czar", that Utah once filled but has left vacant for the better part of two decades.
For the past 14 years, Utah has made do without a "porn czar." The position—officially known as the "Obscenity and Pornography Complaints Ombudsman"—has been vacant since 2003, though it was never officially eliminated. Now state Sen. Todd Weiler (R–Woods Cross) may revive it, even as the Utah attorney general suggests legislators strike it from the books. Weiler suggests that an obscenity ombudsman could focus on things like providing guidance to retailers. But the position also has the power to monitor and punish business owners for daring to display magazines that mention sex.
If all of that seems so broad a mandate that non-pornographic magazines might accidentally be caught up in the fray, you're wrong. Those innocent magazines aren't collateral damage at all, in fact, but rather the primary targets apparently of Weiler's ire.
Weiler's definition of porn is apparently broad enough to encompass mainstream women's magazines. Weiler "says he became convinced that the obscenity and pornography complaints office may be needed because of an ad campaign attacking Cosmopolitan magazine as illegal porn," The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
"I've received some complaints...that stores are selling Cosmo at eye level to a child," he told the Tribune. "There's no blinder rack on it, even though we have some blinder rack language in the state code."
Cosmo is and has been the butt of many a joke, but pornography it most certainly is not. And, jokes aside, the magazine is a source and platform for women to discuss and learn about both women's general and sexual health. Painting a porn target on a magazine such as that says everything about why these sorts of efforts must be defeated. No matter how uncomfortable it might make a Utah state senator for women to be real live human beings with body functions about which they need to learn, and no matter how distasteful that senator might find women discussing their health and sex lives in print, it should be plainly obvious that Cosmo is not remotely pornographic by any traditional understanding.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: porn, porn czar, todd weiler, utah, women's magazines
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
The bible contains the song of songs, so will he also have put on the top shelf because of its pornographic content?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Because Jesus stated that he hasn't come to dissolve the laws and the prophets but to render them complete.
And if St Jerome saw fit to translate this into Latin, it must have been in concord with what Catholics preach.
So no, it cannot be smut. Even if it quacks like it and waddles like it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Which kind of makes sense, considering the Bible was put together by a bunch of self appointed leaders of Christianity long after the last trace of any Apostle had been killed off. They were bound to get some things wrong.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Distinction
Not to a male legislator, it isn’t.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Distinction
*points to the ankle*
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Perhaps its time to stop pretending no one in Utah looks are porn.... here are the numbers from when the Gov. declared it to be a public health crisis.
https://www.pornhub.com/insights/utahs-porn-viewers
Yeah tell your boss you went for the articles.
They like porn, but are unwilling to be judged by their neighbors... ignoring their neighbors are looking for Mormon Yoga porn to watch.
Its a pity that the pious holier than thou mask so many people wear is fake, but they lack the moral character to admit they enjoy porn & Cosmo for the sex tips that can land you in the ER if you try them.
Porn exists.
Forbidding to look at it, makes them seek it out faster.
While your wasting money on a pointless porn battle, have they solved the problem of all of them young men forced out of those polygamist compounds by the older men who just want 25 young wives?
If they need things to look at...
How about a law to protect nurses from cops arresting them for getting in the way of them trying to blame the victim of their actions.
How about making sure the home of vulnerable children isn't still a hunting ground for pervs?
https://www.propublica.org/article/yet-another-scandal-rocks-utah-home-for-vulnerable-children
Maybe get someone into Congress who isn't about using his position to take out rivals and settle scores?
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/04/jason-chaffetz-oversight-chairman-retiring-congre ss-trump/
Maybe find an AG who isn't on the take?
http://www.wpxi.com/news/national-news/ap-top-news/key-figure-in-utah-political-scandal-appeals -conviction/616028684
But porn... porn is bad...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
The nations that have the most vile porn also have the fewest sex offenders. That makes porn good.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Whoosh
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The big blind spot.
They are arguably more harmful as they pass themselves off as feminist magazines pretending to be something friendly and harmless.
At least everyone knows to be wary of and distrust the more blatant stuff.
An "objective standard" is really something nobody wants to acknowledge.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: The big blind spot.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Would you just look at the November cover of the Food Network Magazine!!!! BREASTS!!! Uncovered and on full display!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/magazine
(yes you know its gonna be turkey breasts)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
http://reservationsbvi.com/dearmissmermaid/turkey%20recipe.html
And for those who are so inclined, Thanksgiving is only about a month away....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Maybe they are in competition.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
American dream
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: American dream
You could replace that SEC worker had where he had browsed porn for and thought the porn filter was just a challenge.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140810/09552328168/more-federal-employees-caught-using -work-computers-to-access-porn-claim-boredom-made-them-do-it.shtml
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Porn czar....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Porn czar....
They can take my pr0n when they pry it from my warm sticky fingers.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Porn czar....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
There is Google Cardboard.
It might be best to not put something like this on your head while driving. Stick to the small screen of a cell phone. A safe following distance is calculated as two seconds plus the average time interval between when you look up from your phone to glance at the road.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
That ... that is obscene.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
With a live feed on the internet?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
There they go again
/s
Censorship is a tool for the feeble and the power hungry. Or both.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: There they go again
Don't tell that to the orange twitterer.
Can't states selectively override parts of the constitution, such as the 1st amendment, that they don't like? /s
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Women's Magazines ???
Of course, too bad for the men who happen to like Women's Magazines.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Women's Magazines ???
It's bad enough if women learn how to look like harlots. If the men start putting on eye shadow and lipstick, in no time will a Utah town hall be indistinguishable from D.C. Congress.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Women's Magazines ???
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Women's Magazines ???
No, those would be in the "blinder racks" he mentioned.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q76H7tP7Ig
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Oh crap
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Oh crap
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Vending machine
By "misunderstanding", you mean the idea that one would have to buy the pornography?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
When is censorship due to religion good?
Oh, wait, it's Mormon law that's being forced on everyone? Never mind. There's nothing to see here since this is a "good" religion.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Traditional understanding is actually part of the problem
Cosmo is not remotely pornographic by any traditional understanding.
Actually, traditional understanding of pornography put men or women walking around in long sleeved "underwear" as pornography. So Cosmo absolutely does qualify under some traditional definitions of it.
This of course only serves to expose the problem with trying to legislate it. Whose definition do you accept? I personally feel that complete nudity should not be on public display, but then there are many that would argue against me on that.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Is PORN on phones even a thing? I don't recall ever having any type of porn on my phone To small of a screen. Besides I want to relax in my own place in front of a big screen. A smart phone just seems silly. Maybe VR Porn. I assume there's even less of that. Do people want to be VR porn outside the home? Clearly no one can glance over and see that.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Of course that would leave maybe three or four people in office, but it's a dream worth dreaming.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
There was a time when models were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when they told me self-love would make me blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong
I dreamed a dream in times gone by
When porn was hidden and procreation not mentioned
I dreamed, that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And porn was made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No lube unsqueezed, no handgrip untested
But the Mormons come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your porn apart
As they turn your fetish to shame
Victoria Secrets catalog slept a summer by my side
and filled my nights with endless wanking
Nat Geo took my childhood in his stride
But the czar outlawed it when autumn came
And still I dream PornHub will come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are moral panics we cannot weather
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now the Czar has killed the dream
I dreamed
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Where Do You Think Girls And Women Get Poor Body Image From?
If you want to complain about male-oriented internet porn, first note that it comes in every conceivable variety. Basically, whatever shape a woman is, some group of men will find her attractive.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Well that explains it
They do this so they can show prospective clients how effective their advertising is.
On a recent trip into the city I saw a billboard that said Cosmo is porn! with a phone number.
Silly me. I thought it was one of the signs from the advertising company.
It never entered my thought process that it might be a legit attempt to convince people to support Todd Weiler.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Most likely you also saw a vagina when you were born and breasts when you were breastfed.
Women, lady parts and sex exist. You can't regulate that away.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
This full well knowing that 90%+ of kids have already seen porn images by the time they are in high school. So they are basically telling them they are all guilty and will become mass murderers like Ted Bundy.
But they are good people right? I mean only some of their kids kill themsevles when they can't take it anymore and their women are all only cowtowed and act like abused animals.
Good people stuck in a bad religion is the best and the worst is rampant molestation, spousal abuse, and rape covered up to keep them looking pure and ready for the temple.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
That. of course, came pre-internet. It came when communities were defined by physical location, and not by how people group together. So that standard has pretty much evaporated. No sane prosecutor would be willing to work on the basis of community standards.
But hey, SLC and Utah are special, in that short bus kind of a way. They are sort of like the Amish, stuck in another century.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: [prosecuting porn judged by community standards]
Of course he will, that is the only basis on which he can bring a case. In some areas, he will bring it, because a large portion of the population there are blue-noses. Sure, that can turn out to be a mis-calculation; does anyone remember [Fla. 7th Cir. SA] John Tanner?
And an enthusiastic state's atty can get convictions, too. Remember that the jury pool is drawn from the same crop of blue-noses that elected him.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Public Engineering: the Morality Con
Religiously indoctrinated Morality;
How I think You should act-
How I think You should dress-
How I think You should speak-
How I think You should think-
-Made law.
We never learn from our mistakes.
In ancient times, when shit went south - famine, drought, plague, pestilence - the leaders ALWAYS claimed 'the Gods were angry because the public was acting, speaking, dressing, thinking immorally'.
A large portion of the public has always willingly fallen for this line of BS, because it lets them blame all the bad shit on those who dress, speak, or behave in ways they consider improper, as taught by their religion.
The Authorities love this BS line, because it places the full responsibility for whatever fiasco happens to be affecting the society at the time, squarely on the shoulders of the public. And once the public is pushed by its "morally responsible members" into a regimen of legislated "See and Tell" to root out the immoral evil doers, authority gets to become more ruthless and intrusive (and profitable), "as demanded by the public."
Authority knows from experience that the regimen of anti-immorality legislation never actually lessens the problems faced by the society, but this is good for business-as-usual because the authorities now have a publicly acceptable "rationale" for all their oppressive tactics, going forward.
Time has had zero effect on this con and today its being used for everything from vaccines to terrorists.
Stoopid Hoomuns.
---
[ link to this | view in chronology ]