Protecting Porn

If it seems like I mention pornography a lot, it's because I find it fascinating that America embraces the porn industry, letting it flourish on the Internet, in hotels, in video stores, on cell phones, and on cable television, yet women are not allowed to sunbathe topfree in most areas of the country.

I mean, people are being paid to do just about every sex act imaginable, and it's being taped and sold to just about anyone (I'm not anti-porn necessarily, I'm just saying). And I think it's safe to say that the primary purpose of porn is to serve as masturbatory material. One would think that in a country where strip clubs are embattled, nude beaches are threatened, television and radio is heavily monitored and censored, that porn would be a target for family values crusaders, prosecutors and law enforcement. It was enlightening to come across this article in the Village Voice about a porn shoot in California.

Just like "regular" moviemaking, in Los Angeles as elsewhere, filming porn requires you to apply for and receive a permit from the city (or county). If you're in a residential neighborhood, the neighbors are notified in advance, and sometimes you also have to reach out to the community or homeowners' association in advance. There are rules about when you can film, where you can park, etc.—and for porn, you always have a clause that says nudity and sex cannot be visible or audible to people outside the house.

By regulating the porn industry, the government is actually sanctioning and protecting it.

I don't know, all nudists and naturists want is a little place in the sun to be nude and free. If the government wants regulation, perhaps nudity in one's back yard, or on a stretch of beach, or on a hiking trail, can be done by permit. If the state can make a few dollars, perhaps nudism would begin to gain favor. It always seems to come down to the almighty dollar these days, anyway.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked