A number of readers sent in links to various news items about Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who imprisoned his daughter for 23 years in his basement, sexually abused her, and fathered seven children with her. PervScan refrained from writing about it for a while for several reasons. First, the story had already saturated the media. Second, while the story was both perverse and sad, somehow it hadn’t seemed to reveal its essence yet. PervScan was waiting for something more, something different, a new detail that would crack the whole thing open.

That detail — that wealth of details — has finally been published. Dungeon Dad Fritzl On Incest, Hitler And “My Proper Family” In The Cellar tells the story in Fritzl’s own words. It also includes a number of fascinating photographs. You should go read the whole article. There are a thousand things to say about it. Not the least of these is to highlight the self-deluding irony of Fritzl’s motivation: he sequestered his daughter to shield her from “bad influences,” yet he was clearly the worst influence on her entire difficult existence — and on the lives of their seven children.

Fritzl’s references to Nazism are particularly striking. It’s not a matter of using “Nazi” as a mere synonym for sadist or brute. It’s more complicated — more insidious — than that. Have you ever read Hannah Arendt’s book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil? Arendt argues that the shocking thing about Adolf Eichmann was not his sadism but rather his banality — his unthinking, unreflective, bureaucratic approach to the perpetration of horrors. Something similar appears to have been at work in Fritzl’s insane ménage. The simple passing of years — decades — normalized what began as a monstrous crime. Eventually everyone either accepted it, tuned it out, or had no clue. “It just became a matter of course,” Fritzl said, “that I lived my second life in the cellar.”

When abuse becomes rape, parenting becomes kidnapping, and love becomes incest — and when all of these become “a matter of course” — the banality of evil snakes its way into sexuality and spawns a new phenomenon, a sort of banality of depravity.

“Posters will appear in clubs and pubs from Monday warning men against paying for sex in brothels with exploited or trafficked women. The posters, which will be piloted in men’s toilets in Westminster and Nottingham, will say ‘Walk in a Punter. Walk out a Rapist‘. They are part of a six-month home office review into tackling the demand for prostitution, which began in January, and aim to point out that trafficked women are forced into selling sex, and that forced sex is rape. ‘So if you pay for sex with a trafficked woman what does that make you?’ the posters ask. ‘Trafficking is a vile and evil trade and sex buyers must be made to think twice about the consequences of their actions,’ home office minister Vernon Coaker said in statement. ‘These women are being treated as commodities and are sold, controlled and exploited by others for a profit. This is totally unacceptable.’ The posters will be supported by online advertising and additional advice on the UK Human Trafficking Centre’s Web site. The majority of men who pay for sex are aged between 20 and 40, peaking at 34 years, according to a 2007 report by the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit. Most are employed, about half are in a relationship and more than a fifth have children, it said.” — Reuters (UK)

Here is an image of the poster. (It’s safe for work, since in England it’s being displayed in public anyway.) It shows a seedy hotel with a door that says “model employment.” And we all know what those “models” do — serve “punters.” That’s British slang for john.

You have to admit that, on the part of law enforcement, this is a clever way to try to suppress demand for prostitutes. Their argument forms a perfect syllogism: rape is non-consensual sex; slaves don’t give consent; therefore to fuck a slave is to commit rape. The syllogism doesn’t really jive with practice, however. It’s not as though these women declare to their clients that they were forced into the business. Prostitutes typically misrepresent themselves anyway — they make up names, they dodge questions about their backgrounds, and so on. So if a prostitute smiles, takes money, and performs a service, how is the client supposed to know that she’s an indentured servant? Is he supposed to ask for proof of citizenship before purchasing from her a sexual service that is already illegal (but not quite as illegal as rape)?

It’s rather ridiculous. If the goal of this campaign is really to help the poor women forced into the flesh trade, it’s doomed to fail. Few punters get caught. Now a few of those few will face more severe punishments. It’s not going to have the least on impact the sex economy as a whole. If authorities really want to root out human slavery, they should legalize prostitution. This would enable them to hold brothels to the same standards regarding conscripted labor to which other businesses must adhere. It’s not just the behavior of johns that enables brothels to enslave women. It’s the prudery of everybody else.

“An Antarctic fur seal has been observed trying to have sex with a king penguin. The South African-based scientists who witnessed the incident say it is the most unusual case of mammal mating behaviour yet known. The incident, which lasted for 45 minutes and was caught on camera, is reported in the Journal of Ethology. The bizarre event took place on a beach on Marion Island, a sub-Antarctic island that is home to both fur seals and king penguins. Why the seal attempted to have sex with the penguin is unclear. But the scientists who photographed the event speculate that it was the behaviour of a frustrated, sexually inexperienced young male seal. Equally, it might be been an aggressive, predatory act; or even a playful one that turned sexual. ‘At first glimpse, we thought the seal was killing the penguin,’ says Nico de Bruyn, of the Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria, South Africa… The 100kg seal first subdued the 15kg penguin by lying on it. The penguin flapped its flippers and attempted to stand and escape — but to no avail… The seal then alternated between resting on the penguin, and thrusting its pelvis, trying to insert itself, unsuccessfully. After 45 minutes the seal gave up, swam into the water and then completely ignored the bird it had just assaulted, the scientists report. Why a fur seal would indulge in such extreme sexual behaviour is unclear. Sexual coercion among animals is extremely common: males of many species often harass, coerce or force females of their own kind to mate, while animals are also known occasionally to harass sexually a member of a closely related species… But this is thought to be the first recorded example of a mammal trying to have sex with a member of another class of vertebrate, such as a bird, fish, reptile, or amphibian.” — BBC (UK)

You ever read George Orwell’s Animal Farm? It’s a satire in which animals play the role of revolutionaries who overthrow the human owners of their farm. When you read about a seal raping a penguin, it is difficult not to think that this is a sort of sexualized version of Animal Farm. The seal is a man, or perhaps man in general. The penguin is anything that can serve as a victim of the impulse to rape. The “inexperienced young male seal” is aggressive? So is the inexperienced young male human. The act occupies some ambiguous territory between sex and violence? Same for human rape. The seal wanders off afterward without showing the least care for his victim? Sounds familiar. In Animal Farm, the animals rise up against their oppressors. In Penuin Farm, unfortunately, the penguin can’t manage it.

Incidentally, the BBC article does feature pictures of this inter-species attempt at rape. It makes you wonder. Why would the same news outlet refrain from publishing pictures of a human doing the same thing to a penguin? We’re all just mammals.

Controversial new legislation being enacted in England does not target the production of “extreme” pornography, as some laws do, but the possesion of it. It targets not the pornographer but the consumer. In sending the link to a BBC article reviewing the obvious dilemmas raised by the law, Chad offered the following thoughts.

Hi PervScan dude…

A new law is being passed in the UK on 8 May 2008 that bans “violent and extreme pornography.” Now at first you might think, “Good! We’ll stick that sort of stuff on the same list as child porn and snuff etc.” but once you read the article you realise that “pornographic material which depicts necrophilia, bestiality or violence that is life threatening or likely to result in serious injury to the anus, breasts or genitals has no place in a modern society and should not be tolerated,” says a spokeswoman for the ministry of justice.

Depicts?

If the acts being carried out are real i.e. a real rape, a dude screwing a real corpse etc, then of course the authorities should intervine. But if pornography is made by a legitimate studio, with paid actors, who “act” and use special effects and plot etc to drive a story, then to watch it would be a crime?!?!

I’ve seen Hollywood blockbuster films with major stars that have scenes that would turn you onto a criminal if you still fucking own them? Rape scene from The Accused anyone? Boxing Helena? A Clockwork Orange?

I understand why they are introducing the law, as they think that if people watch violent porn, then they will act out in real life what they have seen and what fuels their desire… But what people should be focusing on in my opinion is what created the desire in the first place. I would think most of these people harbour a fetish for violent sex and seek this material out. I don’t belive people accidently come across violent porn and then become addicted to it, and then go on to act it out.

In fact apart from one case i’m aware of (the Graham Coutts case), i’ve never seen violent porn mentioned as a catalyst for a violent sex crime.

I think more murder and sex crime has been commited by people devoted to the bible/religious causes then pornography! (Just type “priest” and “rape” together in google and search…) But I dont see anyone in any hurry to outlaw the Bible or priests or catholics etc.

And just to finish off, I’m in no way a champion for keeping violent porn on the shelves or internet, my cup of tea is nice fit lasses with lush round bums all oiled up… oh yeah!!, I just think that when censorship or a ban comes into play, then who are the people making the laws and how in touch are they with the real world? And where does it end?

Amen, Chad. The principle behind the law is monkey see monkey do. But if people really acted out the things they see in movies and read in books, you’d have to outlaw nearly every “pernicious influence” except, uh, hell… What would be left to read? Math books? Here’s a prediction. If there were nothing left in the world to read but math books, people would learn to apply numbers to their basest urges. Calculus can be a dangerous weapon in the hands of anyone trying to plot the trajectory of a bomb. And if a rapist had no language other than trigonometry, he would dream of his evil deeds in functions and formulae.

“According to a recent study by Dr. Eric Corty, an associate professor of psychology at Penn State Erie, and student Jenay Guardiani, a seven to 13 minute quickie is the hottest way to get hot and heavy. ScienceDaily.com recently reported that researchers Corty and Guardiani surveyed 50 members of the Society for Sex Therapy and Research and found that 34, or 68 percent, of the members consisting of ‘psychologists, physicians, social workers, marriage / family therapists and nurses who have collectively seen thousands of patients over several decades’ responded that seven to 13 minute intercourse was the most desirable. The group rated this and other ‘time amounts for sexual intercourse based on penetration of the vagina by the penis until ejaculation.’ This did not include the time spent on foreplay prior to the time of penetration, and they noted that optimal times depend on couples. 1 to 2 minutes was considered ‘too short’ and 3 to 7 minutes was believed to be ‘adequate.’ What was shocking is that 10 to 30 minute sex was deemed ‘too long’ and anything longer than 30 minutes, well, that wasn’t even worth discussing… Researchers said in the ScienceDaily.com article, ‘A man’s or woman’s interpretation of his or her sexual functioning as well as the partner’s relies on personal beliefs developed in part from society’s messages, formal and informal. Unfortunately, today’s popular culture has reinforced stereotypes about sexual activity. Many men and women seem to believe the fantasy model of large penises, rock-hard erections and all-night-long intercourse.’” — eCollege Times (US)

The original research article, “Canadian And American Sex Therapists’ Perceptions Of Normal And Abnormal Ejaculatory Latencies: How Long Should Intercourse Last?,” is available via PubMed for anyone who cares to pay for it. Most news outlets covering the article truncated its results to something like “Best Sex = Fast Sex,” but really that’s misleading. “Fast” is relative, particularly since the story didn’t take foreplay into account. Maybe the best sex requires a week of courtship, an hour of foreplay, and then 7 to 13 minutes of penetration. Is that “fast?”

That being said, a scientific measurement of the optimal duration of intercourse is certainly to be welcomed. In the first place, it counters a lot of misleading propaganda. A generation ago, nobody spoke openly about sex. Nowadays we speak about sex as though it’s an extreme sport. We veered from silence to hyperbole, from “[fill in the blank]” to “stay hard all night!!!!” Perhaps expectations are coming back down to earth. After all, fucking all night is rather like playing football for eight hours straight. It’s fun but liable to leave you sore enough that you’ll want a day off afterward.

In the second place, perhaps some of this research will make itself known to the gullible idiots who respond to spam emails. If people stop responding, spammers will have less incentive to pound the world with their Viagra messages. That may even suggest an additional study. For how long will people maintain their belief that the duration of the best sex is something approaching eternity?

VideoBox

It's like the iTunes Music Store for Porn. Download unlimited high-quality video for only $9.95/month.