This week, newspapers reported that Taylor Swift’s team has purchased the domains of two internet sites which would have associated TSwift’s name with pornography.
The domains purchased were taylorswift.porn and taylorswift.adult, and more purchases are likely to follow.
Ashton Kutcher made a similar move to prevent his, and his daughter’s name from being associated with smut.
I do not typically praise Hollywood celebrities, but I like the proactive nature of these two.
The sad thing is that it will likely do very little to prevent the spread of pornography which is somehow linked to them.
Number 34 of the Rules of the Internet: “if it exists, there IS porn of it.” Whether it is Taylor Swift, Ashton Kutcher or any other celebrity, there’s going to be something that either mimics or mocks them in the porn industry. Even if the particular person is not involved at all.
Pornography has become a ubiquitous substance of the 21st century.
It’s big money for those involved, but problematic for those who want to avoid it.
Speaking as someone who would like to avoid the ever-growing cloud of pornography, I appreciate those companies or people who take steps to avoid any association with it, regardless of why they take those steps.
I appreciate it because it acknowledges that this stuff has some sort of negative consequences. It makes public what should be kept private, sometimes to the detriment, embarrassment, and shame of those involved.
One of my favorite quotes from Pope John Paul II is “Pornography is wrong because it shows too little.” It reduces the sexual act, which is meant to be a unitive experience for husband and wife and a symbol for the unity of Christ and His Bride, the Church, to merely a physical urge to be satisfied.
It completely separates the spiritual and emotional aspects of sex. There’s no love in porn, but there’s a lot of money. Money’s the only goal, regardless of who gets hurt, damaged or shamed in the process.
The fact that people have to take precautionary steps to ensure their names are not associated with pornography, even if they are not actively involved in it, is a sad statement of society these days.
When sexuality has become something that has come to merely mean profit for people, and on such a massive scale, one must wonder what will be the next precious thing we will trivialize.