Posted by DR on August 01, 2005 at 15:02 [67.83.76.91]
In Reply to: Re: So was I... posted by Victoriah Nichole Little on August 01, 2005 at 12:57
Victoriah, I respect your POV, and you're a smart contributor here, but you're wrong on this one.
Oprah did a great show a few years back on the evils of "teen model" websites in the US. Unfortunately, a loophole in the child pornography law allows sleazy producers to recruit minors for "artistic modeling" photos so long as the photos do not display nudity or sex. These producers justify their actions by saying that they are helping the teens and tweens start their modeling careers, and in almost every case, the parents consent entirely to the project.
But these producers are not at all like professional modeling agencies. First off, and unlike professional modeling agencies, these bad guys create a whole website devoted to a specific minor, or set of minors. Next, these bad guys photograph the minors in very suggestive poses and risque outfits and post them to the website. And where do these outfits come from you ask? Often they come from the paid-membership customers -- the average demographic of whom are 35-50 year old men. Unfortunately, some of these customers request (or send in) diapers for the "models" to wear, where they are copied and eventually pasted to diaper fetish websites.
You should understand -- the subscribers to these "teen model" websites are not professional modeling recruiters, modeling agents, or the like. Rather, they are anonymous men who are eager to pay a monthly subscription to see minors in risque outfits, posing suggestively.
But they aren't paying because they want to "be with" the child.
You can read further about this alarming trend at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/730491.asp?cp1=1
And while these websites are protected under the First Amendment, you can write the host providers and express your displeasure and/or write your local legislator.