This is a difficult topic to write about. But it is life, and for some, it has been a real part of there lives to which my heart grieves to hear there stories. Rape is nothing to mess around with. But with that said, for those who research our pornified culture and trends online it isn’t hard to notice that there is a genre of rape fantasy which is accessible to those wanting it, and also stumbled upon to the curious. There are a bit softer versions of this degregation porn on the popular tube sites on the internet for free, but there is one expression on this that I want to share, if for anything, for parents to be aware. Secondly, I find it always important to look into our own hearts and find the need for courage and compassion. Not that we might have it, but we need it in our world that has become very tricky to navigate in.
It’s always good to remember that all of us, including our offspring live in a physical world and a virtual one. With students spending as many as 7 to 9 hours of a day being spent on the internet, it seems vital that we continue to learn to navigate this rough terrain.
Rape themes come in the most tortuous ways online. Would you believe it, you can get rid of all the human pornography in the world and you wouldn’t touch this! The makers of it are in the family of entertainment that has brought us Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z. Yes, it’s Adult Anime, or A.K.A. Japanese animation for adults. I certainly don’t mean to say that all Anime has rape themes, for that is a un-truth. But the same country that brings us Anime with it’s interesting characters of fun loving young animals and people, gives us sensuality on bizarre level like never before.
Anime in general depicts young people in it’s shows. They fight off monsters and can be quite likable, but most popular Anime characters, that are human looking, appear around 12-18 years of age. As you navigate through the various Anime online you find that there are sensual themes in many. These young ladies (teens), have voluptuous breast, and skirts that are so tiny that you can, at times, see there undergarments. It seems all to weird that these are high school kids lusting after one another. Some go so far as to show everything but genitals. Most would deem it pornographic for sure. You might ask how this is legal. But from what I have read online, Japan has a different set of laws and philosophy on the nature of sex in general. You must remember that not all countries feel the same way as the U.S. about sex.
But hang on, this is only the beginning. It is easy online to jump from Anime, to it’s adult counterpart officially known as Hentai (meaning pervert). This is a word that basically means Adult Anime. The themes can be somewhat similar to it’s less sexual parallel. But it is important for us to understand that the material in Hentai is very extreme. The characters look still 12-18, there voluptuous breast got even bigger, and the violence get’s…well, move violent. Rape is a common theme in Hentai; and the most vicious kinds that I will not mention in detail. My heart breaks and is grieved by it as if I watched a clip on war or killings being done. Most girls seem to fight the sex in Hentai, meaning they verbally say, “NO.” Yet the male or beast, continues to invade. What does this communicate to a kid who is watching? This is what I do not understand; It is illegal in this country for kids under the age of 18 to watch pornography, yet there is no regulation to this material online. Though it might be also illegal to watch them due to copy-write laws, it is freely distributed by many sites with no age restrictions! So confusing.
To me, this is a form of child pornography. Many of the clips or shows depict young women, under 18 engaging in the most heart breaking sexual situations. In my own conspiracy theory brain, I see how kids that watch a certain kind of Anime can become somewhat desensitized to it’s themes that crossover into it’s adult counterpart, Hentai. Sensuality is in Anime, violence is is Anime, but it goes Godzilla in Hentai! It is also insane to think that the most hard core of porn on the internet is in animation form! Cartoon like! I am reminded that Jesus spoke of the thief as coming to steal, kill and destroy lives. What is the impact of this material on a young life? I have only looked into this material for the past two moths, can you imagine years watching this?
What I have learned is that Japanese Adult entertainment is loaded with the rape theme. Whether in animation form or not, it is commonly portrayed in videos. Watching the animation version seems a bit less deviant to me as it’s a cartoon looking person, but there is such similarity between the two. Girls can look very young with the man groping her, unwillingly.
We are against sex trafficking, yet the ideas of coercion seem self evident in so many of the Japanese material which is online and available for free! Seems so confusing don’t it. Can you put yourself in a kids shoes to navigate through the mixed messages! But it’s something we are used to in this country. Though murder is against the law, we can watch plenty of shows with it’s theme. We must learn to regulate what we take in. Asking the state to do it for us might not be the answer we are looking for, yet it would be nice if this kind of material I am writing about here was regulated better in my opinion…at the least… for kids.
Remember that as parents we need to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. We need to create a positive and healthy online environment for our kids, so look into internet filters or routers. Companies have heard the cry of many parents and overseer’s and in response have created many tools to help navigate this world of pitfalls. http://www.toptenreviews.com/software/security/best-internet-filter-software/
Lastly…
I often ask how could anyone get off on this kind of smut. Many in the Christian community certainly would not be transparent on such a admission. But in reading David Ley’s material on this subject, I was really interested in this statement.
“Some women who have experienced the tragedy of sexual assault go on to be tormented by tremendous psychological turmoil over sexual fantasies of rape and forceful sex. They feel angry and upset with themselves, confused that they and their bodies are responding with sexual arousal to a fantasy similar to an event that was so traumatic and devastating.Sexual fantasy about rape is exceedingly common among women, with as many as 25 to 65 percent of women endorsing some form of this fantasy, at least once in their lives, in one form or another.” David Ley
This really throws a wrench into thoughts and ideas that we have doesn’t it?
Can you imagine being a feminist and having such thoughts? Very paradoxical wouldn’t you say. But is it?
The Bible tells us that the heart of man is wicked. “The heart is the most deceitful thing there is, and desperately wicked. No one can really know how bad it is!” (The Living Bible)
From the moment were online we already are infected with a virus, but it’s in the mind. You see, fantasy in the mind can be independent of even our beliefs. That’s what I gather from David Ley’s quote above. What that means?; even though I might admit that something is morally bad and have not experienced the trauma of it in actually life, my heart independent of my belief could desire to engage in it; I can be tempted. Today’s online Porn perpetuates this in my opinion. Though I know it is bad to rape, I find these themes tempting, especially when presented, subtly, the way it is in Anime/Hentai. Think about it another way. Why do we love to watch action movies? We find them exciting, un-realistic for sure, yet in our hearts we find that the themes of winning and loosing resound within our hearts. We know we can’t do what is on the screen, but oh, how cool it is to wish! There is something that resounds in us. Isn’t that the same with pornography? Sex is so fun and exciting. Can’t we do the same with sexual themes as well as action and adventure? Though nobody tries to do what Thor does, we fantasize about it don’t we. And so pornography is another way for us to fulfill an idea too. Don’t people do that with erotic novels as well or sports? We long for something. We can easily go to places in our mind. As radio and TV have in the past, today’s online experience helps us to imagine.
In 2001 at the U of Vermont, research was done and found that 80% of married women fantasized about someone other than their husbands at one time and 98% of married men fantasized about someone other than their wife at one time. So it would seem to be a very common temptation that most have. That statement is from a Christian perspective though. If you believed polygamy or polyandry was ok, then desiring another would be the first step to asking the person on a date!
The Christian Scriptures tell us that all temptation is common and experienced by all of us (1st Cor 10:13). Not saying that all of us have had this particular fantasy, but just that we are human when tempted. It is “normal.” Pornography simply put, gives us a resting place for our deviant minds to act out, without actually acting out.
Porn trends are trends of our hearts! Yikes that’s a hard truth to hear. The tiniest of percentage of porn viewers actually go out and commit rape, yet how many watch it globally? Millions maybe? 377 million viewers per month visit just one of the most famous adult tube sites available on the net according to estimates on 3wsnoop.com! There are many, many viewers of pornography. And many kinds of porn. Most consumers do not look at rape porn, but of course, some do.
But even beyond that I realize that the Bible itself could be viewed in such a frame as well, with it’s Song of Solomon or characters like Samson. Certainly there are places where women are not treated the best. Actually many were sex slaves or concubines. And the greatest men of the Old Testament had them. The Bible never tells us that what they did was right, but they did do it.
So how do we change this trend? How to cut the human heart that is so filled with madness? That is the question. How to transform a heart to think differently? This is what is needed.
Jesus promises to do this. A world of people like Jesus would be a safe place.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
For parents; be aware of your kids who might enjoy Anime. Be involved in what they like to watch and help talk to them about the themes. You need to know the answer to why some things are wrong and other things are permissible. Without this kind of engagement, our kids are left to figure out the maze of the virtual world, and with it, its themes, whichever form they come in. And there are unfortunately some seriously scary ones.